Ellen Swallow Richards House

The Ellen Swallow Richards House at 32 Eliot Street in Jamaica Plain is a residence with Italianate architectural features including a low-pitched hip roof and decorated eaves with polygonal bay windows. The interior contains advanced plumbing systems and ventilation improvements that Richards herself had installed.

This residence was home to a scientist from 1876 to 1911 who became the first female instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She developed new approaches to household research here that opened the way for a new branch of applied science.

This house represents a place where science was brought into everyday domestic life, showing that household management could be treated as serious research. Visitors can see a space where women demonstrated their capacity to lead in technical and scientific fields.

The building is easily accessible in a residential neighborhood of Boston and is well maintained. Visitors should know that as a historic residence, there are specific guidelines to follow when viewing the interior.

The residence served as an informal laboratory where household devices were tested to evaluate their efficiency and design. This systematic approach to product testing was unusual for the time and represented an early form of consumer research.