Melbourne Hall: An actress's seaside summer retreat in Duxbury

Newport has its mansions, but the South Shore has its own grand historical homes where the public can marvel at the lives of the upper class. Most of these “cottages” were stately homes designed by notable architects. This is the last installment of The Patriot Ledger's summer series "Summer Houses with History."

DUXBURY − It could be said that Fanny Davenport was born to the boards.

Born in London in 1850 to celebrated actor parents, she came to Boston six years later. The following year, she made her stage debut at Boston's Howard Athenaeum, launching a career that lasted more than four decades, touring coast to coast.

In 1891, Davenport came to Duxbury to visit her sister May Davenport Seymour, who had a summer house on Washington Street.

"She loved it here and bought some land here and built her summer house here," said Tony Kelso, Duxbury's town historian.

Melbourne Hall is born

The result was Melbourne Hall, a sprawling Victorian residence overlooking Duxbury Bay and across the street to her sister's house. The house gets its name from her husband and leading man, Melbourne MacDowell, whom she married May 18, 1889.

The house became something of a sanctuary for Davenport.

"When Fanny was in Duxbury, it was a respite from her rigorous touring schedule," Kelso said. "They say she preferred her vine-covered porch and being out on her boat."

MacDowell became the first commodore of the Duxbury Yacht Club.

Kelso said MacDowell lost the house in a mortgage sale. In the 1920s, it became a small hotel named The Eagle Tree Inn.

Kelso said Melbourne Hall seemed to stay largely intact until the 1940s, when the Victorian style fell out of favor. Much of the house was pulled down, but a portion still remains as a private home at 157 Washington St. The boathouse and the carriage house also remain and were made into houses.

Duxbury's long history as a summer magnet

In the 1890s, Duxbury was becoming known as a place to come for the summer, Kelso said.

The 1890 federal census placed the town's population at about 2,000, or about one-eighth of the town's present population. A new rail line from Cohasset made it easier to get to Duxbury.

Kelso said Davenport was a major star during her career, although not well known in Duxbury.

She made her New York debut at the age of 12, playing King Charles in the comedy "Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady."

Davenport "started in ingenue roles and moved on to weightier roles as she aged," Kelso said. "She was known as the "American Sarah Bernhardt" as she played many of the roles in America that Sarah played in Europe."

A Davenport-Bernhardt rivalry

At one time, both Davenport and the French actress were playing Cleopatra in New York City, he said.

"They publicly fought over the interpretation of the role," Kelso said.

Davenport was mentored by writer Charles Dickens and actor Edwin Booth, Anthony Sansonetti writes in the article "Ambassadors of Empire: Child Performers and Anglo-American Audiences, 1800s-1880s."

Sansonetti said that when Davenport moved to Boston, her celebrated actor father, Edward Loomis (E.L.) Davenport, made sure his daughter obtained child roles in productions.

Her mother, Fanny Vining, was an actress from a noted family of actors and was an influence on her daughter's career, Sansonetti wrote.

Davenport's last performance was at Chicago's Grand Opera House on March 25, 1898.

Kelso said she had fallen ill with pneumonia.

"She had exhausted herself touring a production of 'Joan of Arc' that had gotten bad reviews in Boston and she was trying to get better reviews," he said.

She died at her Duxbury home Sept. 26, 1898, of a heart problem. She was 48.

After his wife's death, MacDowell continued to act, moving into silent movies and a single "talkie" short before retiring in 1932. He died in 1941 at the age of 84, having married four more times.

Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Actress builds herself a house by the sea in Duxbury