20 Caroline Street
20 Caroline Street is something of an architectural anomaly in the Five Sisters Neighborhood, an early to mid-20th century residential development in the south end of Burlington which consists mostly of single-family houses, quite a few of them kit homes from Sears Roebuck, Aladdin, and the Gordon-Van Tine Company. An excellent survey of the neighborhood was produced in 2008 by Devin Colman, presently State Architectural Historian for Vermont.
20 Caroline Street gives the word “eclectic” a new meaning. It might have been made for storage, or a store, and it has been a home for students and various other citizens; it’s called “non-contributing”, but the place is interesting in its history. The lower level appears to have a concrete block base. These blocks had a brief period of use in early 20th-century Burlington.
20 Caroline Street is in the section of the Five Sisters that was once part of the Buell estate. The Buell- Hungerford house still stands at 303 Pearl Street. Maria Buell Hungerford and her husband, the Rev. Edward Hungerford divided their land into building lots, the final plan being filed in 1898.
Frank McCaffrey, one of the developers, bought lots #12-#17 from the estate of Eliza Buell, Maria’s mother. These lots face on Howard, Caroline, and Catherine Streets. #15 is the lot on which 20 Caroline Street and 62 Catherine Street were built; Frank and William McCaffrey acquired it in 1907, and Frank bought William’s share in 1919.
In July of 1924, Frank sold lot #15 to Fred N. Bilodeau and his wife Alice. It was the northeast corner lot, 40 feet fronting on Catherine Street, and 146.07 feet on Caroline Street. The deed specified that no foundation should be less than 20 feet from the northerly line of Caroline Street, and proclaims that these are not homestead premises, which is rather puzzling.
Fred was a French-Canadian immigrant. He and Alice (maiden name Vallee) were residents of the Northeast Kingdom, particularly Barton, VT, and they had a daughter Jeannette. By the publication of the 1925 city directory, Fred Bilodeau, carpenter, was living at 62 Catherine Street. He had chosen a Sears kit home, the Manchester, for their dwelling. Comparing the original plans and the present building shows that the front of the building has been brought forward on both the first and second stories; otherwise, the shape of the house seems to adhere to the original Manchester bungalow plan. The plan is for a two-family house, one family on each floor. Possibly this put the house in compliance with the no- homestead stipulation. The house first appears on the April 1926 Sanford fire insurance map with what looks like a small building behind it, similar to one of the garages there today.
The 1927 directory lists Fred N. Bilodeau, carpenter and contractor, see p. 528. Page 528 features an ad for Fred’s business: Fred N. Bilodeau / Carpenter and Contractor / 62 Catherine Street / Burlington VT / General Jobbing / Painting and Papering / Floor Surfacing Machine & Concrete Mixer For Rent / Telephone 2814-Y
This ad remained in each city directory for the next six years. One might wonder when additional building was done in the section of the lot facing Caroline Street, possibly for storage of construction equipment. 20 Caroline Street was built, at least partially, at this time. However, no maps which might assist dating exist for this period. The Bilodeaus lived at 62 Catherine and rented their other apartment, first to Urbain H. Beaupre, an agent for Metropolitan Life, then to Charles Zeilman, assistant foreman at the E.B. and A.C. Whiting factory on Pine Street, presently the site of Dealer.Com. From 1932 through 1934, Nellie C. Field, bookkeeper for the E.S. Adsit Coal Company, was their tenant.
Then on April 18, 1934, Fred Bilodeau died of bronchopneumonia. He was buried back in Barton. For the first time, 20 Caroline Street appears in the city directory, as the grocery store of Wesley E. Prior, who lived at 32 Caroline Street, apparently a rental. It was during the Great Depression, not the greatest time to start a neighborhood grocery. In 1935 and 1936, Alice Bilodeau leased the store to Kenneth M. Purinton, grocer, of 69 Charlotte Street. By 1937, Purinton’s store was at 147 North Winoooski Avenue and 20 Caroline was empty, as it still was in 1938.
Alice Bilodeau had moved from Catherine Street after her husband’s death, renting it to Thomas Sheehan, a salesman, and Harold G. Austin, a salesman with Herberg’s Auto Service Company. By 1937 she was back on Catherine Street with her new husband Edward M. Abair, who had worked in the Winooski woolen mill, with Thomas Sheehan in the other apartment. In 1939 the Abairs moved to 20 Caroline, renting their other house. Alice and her daughter and son-in-law worked out a trusteeship with their lawyer, and Edward Lawrence Hebert as their trustee. Alice’s main goal was that her husband have a good home for the rest of his life, and that the property would be managed. Most years found them living on Carolyn Street, with a brief period around 1943 spent on Catherine Street. Possibly they were making changes on Carolyn Street then, because after this there seems to be room at # 20 for another tenant.
On July 6, 1946, Edward Abair died of a coronary thrombosis. By September 30, Alice regained control of her property from the trusteeship; by October 18, 1947, she had sold the property to William H. Stringer. After this, she disappears from Burlington records. She may have gone to live with her daughter in Woodstock, VT.
On the 28th of November, 1947, Stringer sold the northern section of the property to Harriet C. Lander of Milton, dividing the lot to its present dimensions. Harriet worked for Queen City Memorials. Harriet lived in one unit of the building with Perley Ruell as her tenant. He was an employee of the Carmote Paint Company.
In 1956 Roy H. Pierce and his wife Sybil bought the house via a quit claim deed from Harold J. Arthur. Mr. Piece is listed as a resident until 1972. “Students” were living there from 1973 through 1976. After that the building stood empty. The present owner, Carolyn Bates, bought the property from Ruth Pierce Butler in May of 1978. She was living elsewhere until 1990; the city directory has no report on the house during those years. Now that Carolyn has been a resident for years, she has been able to use her considerable talents on her interesting house.
Image credit: Google Streetview
REFERENCES
Burlington Land Records
Burlington City Directory, 1924 onward
Burlington Survey of the Five Sisters Neighborhood: Survey Report: Devin Colman; October 26, 2008
Chronicling America: various items re Fred and Alice Bilodeau from Vermont newspapers 1937