Church Street / Coburn Area

The Church Street / Coburn Area is one important area in Weston where the rural landscape has been prominently preserved. 

Church Street is a main connecting road between North Avenue (Route 117) and Weston Center. (See also adjacent Kendal Green Area).

The view along Church Street of the irregularly massed, red-painted Coburn Barn from across acres of meadow may be the best-loved vista in the town. When seen from upper Church Street, the barn and ca.1726 white clapboard Whittemore House are the only structures visible for a radius of more than 180 degrees. 

The area contains only four houses, along with the large barn and several smaller outbuildings, on a total of over 60 acres of pristine land.  

Edward Coburn and friends on the porch of the house at 171 Church Street

Data Sheet

The following is an excerpt from the 1994 MCRIS Church Street-Coburn Road Area Form (PDF). Recorded by the Historical Commission and includes the complete text, data sheets, and photographs.

A white house at 153 Church StreetArchitecture

The houses in this area date between about 1726 and 1902 and are frame, clapboard examples from the Colonial, Greek Revival, Mansard and Colonial Revival periods. 

The ca.1726 house is one of the earliest and most intact examples in Weston, and the Mansard cottage is one of only three Weston examples of this type. The Coburn Barn, one of the largest in Weston, is the most prominently sited and best known of the town’s remaining barns. 

Stone walls, both historic and of more recent construction, run through the area.

Topography of Church Street

The topography of the area enhances its natural beauty. To the west is Pigeon Hill, rising behind the Coburn Barn at the western edge of the area. 

On the north side of Church Street is 44 acres of conservation land, of which about 30 acres is included within the boundaries of this area form. The conservation land includes meadow and also the stream bed of Stony Brook, which meanders through the area at its eastern edge. Along the stream are groves of deciduous trees marking the wettest portions of the land.

Church Street/Coburn Area Map

A sketch map of the Church Street Area