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185 Mass. 223

Clark v. Lee

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided February 27, 1904

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1904-02-27

Bill in equity, filed April 28, and amended June 15, 1903, to enforce an equitable restriction imposed by a certain deed on the defendant’s house lot on Walnut Street in Brookline. The case, came on to be heard before Morton, J., and, at the request of the parties, was reserved upon the bill,, answer, facts admitted, photographs and plans for determination by the full court, such disposition to be made of it as to the full court should seem meet.

Relies on Nowell v. Boston Academy of Notre Dame

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1904-02-27

How this case has been cited

Cited by 16 later decisions — most recently July 1995

16 state decisions

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Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Lathrop, J.

¶1In the defendant’s deed to the plaintiff’s grantor, it was provided that, on the defendant’s remaining land, lying southerly of the land conveyed, no dwelling or other house or building or any part thereof or projection therefrom should be built thereon within sixty-five feet of the easterly line of Walnut Street, or within fifteen feet of the southerly line of the premises conveyed; and that not more than one house and no house except a single detached dwelling house should be erected thereon. We regret that we have not been furnished with a copy of the deed, which should have been annexed to the bill, so that the exact language could be given; but we have stated the substance of the language used, as we gather it from the bill and answer.

¶2It is admitted that the defendant has built his house in conformity with the language of the deed ; and the only complaint is that he has erected certain walls on his land, which it is said are in conflict with his covenant not to build, or are contrary to the restriction imposed by him on his remaining land.

¶3We are of opinion that the covenant or restriction applies only to the house to be built upon the land, and not to a wall, even if the wall extends from the house into the restricted space. Such a wall as was here built extending from the house cannot be deemed to be “any part of, or projection” from, the house. These words evidently refer to bay windows or porches, or things of that nature.

¶4That a wall cannot be held to come within the term “ building” is in our opinion conclusively settled by the cases in this Commonwealth. Thus in Truesdell v. Gay, 13 Gray, 311, it was said by Mr. Justice Bigelow: “ The word ‘ building ’ cannot *226be held to include every species of erection on land, such as fences, gates or other like structures. Taken in its broadest sense, it can mean only an erection intended for use and occupation as a habitation or for some purpose of trade, manufacture, ornament or use, constituting a fabric or edifice, such as a house, a store, a church, a shed.” See also Nowell v. Boston Academy of Notre Dame, 130 Mass. 209, which seems to us conclusive of this case.

¶5Bill dismissed.

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