Curry & Richards

About this Property

#Redevelopment

The former Curry & Richards jewelry manufacturing building sits on a quiet one-way residential section of Pine Street on the edge of a commercial and industrial section of the Stewart, Broad, Pearl, and Pine Street quadrangle. Therefore, this project was slow to attract our attention during the busy years of 2005 to 2008. We managed to snap some photos while a redevelopment was in progress in 2006. A few years later we revisited and discovered that the project was complete and now known as Davis Lofts.

The residential units were condos and at the time, their sale prices were reasonable for the space and amenities. The building had 18 units, 2 of which were townhouses. Exposed brick and beams, original hardwoods, arched windows, new kitchens and bathrooms, elevators, and in-unit washer and dryer were part of the package.¹ The architect for the redevelopment was Saccoccio & Associates, a local firm with many recognizable projects in their portfolio.

#Current Events

Units come up for sale from time to time. The building continues to be in good repair.

#History

From the “Industrial Sites and Commercial Buildings Survey (ICBS)” by PPS and the AIA, 2001-2002

This four-story flat-roof building was constructed ca. 1875 when it first appears on the Hopkins map of that year. The complex itself is comprised of two four-story, rectangular, brick blocks connected by a four-story hyphen. The 4-by-11-bay structures are embellished with a wood cornice and dentils at the cornice line. The building stands on a granite foundation and features segmental-arch window openings with a combination of 12/12, 2/12, 12/2, and replacement 1/1 sash with granite sills. Several windows have been boarded up. A pedestrian entrance is offset on the eastern bay of the facade (south elevation). A paved parking lot bound by chain link fencing is located to the east.

The original owners of the property were Curry & Richards, who used the building for the manufacture of jewelry. The property was transferred to Leander R. Peck in 1890 and in 1909 the property was transferred to Peck Realty, who appears as the building’s owner on the 1918 map. Peck Realty retained ownership of the building through to 1946, while the building was rented out to numerous firms. The 1919 directory lists Henry A. Davis and Sons, shoddy manufacturers at 4 Meadow Street, which stands to the rear (northwest) of the Pine Street building. The 1919 Sanborn map confirms the presence of Davis & Sons on Meadow Street and possibly occupying some portion of the Pine Street building. The first floor of the structure was used as a machine shop, the second was used for a braid factory, the third was a jewelry shop, and the fourth floor was vacant. The 1937 map identifies the building as Henry A. Davis as does the 1944 map.

Some of the tenants throughout the structure’s history include the Burton Shoe Company (1907), American Hand Laundry (1911), Eastern Jewelry Company (1927), and the Providence Felt Slipper Company (1927). In the mid-1980s the building contained a loft apartment on the fourth floor, a musician’s loft on the third, a photo studio on the second floor, and an architect’s office on the first.

From the Pine Street Historic District nomination form, 1978

407 Pine Street, Factory, c. 1875. A 4-story, flat-roofed, brick building with regularly spaced segmental windows and a corbel cornice, used for jewelry manufacturing.