"Faulkner Farm" (Brookline, Massachusetts)

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Originally built for Charles F. Sprague by architects Little,Brown & Moore with landscaping by Charles Platt. Later known as the Brandegee estate. Link to 1904 book with information and photos of Faulkner Farm -
www.archive.org/details/americanestatesg00ferr

Charles Franklin Sprague was the son of Seth E. Sprague and Harriet Boardman Lawrence. He attended Boston schools and the Phillips Exeter Academy before enrolling at Harvard in 1875. He studied at Harvard Law School in 1891 and 1893 and became a member of the Suffolk Bar. After that he embarked on an illustrious political career: He was member of the Boston Common Council in 1889 and 1890; member of the State house of representatives in 1891 and 1892; served as chairman of the board of park commissioners of the city of Boston in 1893 and 1894; served in the State senate in 1895 and 1896; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1897 - March 3, 1901). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1900

Sprague married Mary Bryant Pratt in 1891. Mary was the granddaughter of William Weld and inherited a fortune variously reported between $3,000,000 and $20,000,000. Their daughter Marion was born in 1893 and daughter Eleanor was born in 1898.

When Sprague was elected to Congress in 1896 he was rated as the richest man in the National House of Representatives with a fortune estimated at $7,000,000. He was the owner of the Faulkner Estate in Brookline. When he moved from Boston to Washington, a special train of nine cars carried his household goods.

Sprague suffered from brain disease and after his death at the young age of forty-four, the Harvard Alumni Association paid this tribute:

"One of Sprague's strongest characteristics was his keen sense of humor, and this, together with his attractive personality, caused him throughout his life to be much welcomed at all social gatherings. Perhaps no one in the Class had a popularity so widely spread. It may be truly said of him that he added to the sum of the world's happiness by the enjoyment that his mere presence and conversation afforded, and that this, of nothing else, gave a value to his life. While not given to very serious study during his college course, he showed, immediately after graduation, his determination to take a part in the affairs of the world. He was honest and conscientious in the performance of his public duties, and trusts, and had he lived, would doubtless have attained the higher positions to which his ambitions pointed."

The Boston Herald reported in the April 20, 1896 on Sprague's move from Boston to Brookline. They noted that "Mr. Sprague is a member of several prominent clubs in this city. The family is identified with the leading social elements in Boston and Brookline. The craze for athletics has never attacked Mr. Sprague. He likes to ride a horse and is fond of his bicycle, but his inclinations run in the direction of no particular fad. To him life is a serious business not to be frittered away in idleness and pleasure."