The Estate at 588 Longmeadow Street

Deepwood Hall
Painting by Artist Arthur A. Hart
Source:  "1961 Longmeadow Annual Town Report" Cover
Currently- Administration Building
at Bay Path University

At the beginning of the 20th century George M. Hendee was very well known in the Springfield, MA area and also throughout the world.  As a young man he was a famous high wheeler bicycle racer.  Later, he and Oscar Hedstrom (another bicycle racer) formed the Indian Motocycle Company that was located in Springfield.  Mr. Hendee and his wife Edith C. began making plans to live in Longmeadow, MA.  In 1909 he purchased about 20 acres of land from J. B. Burbank. This land was part of the Ethan C. Ely estate located on Longmeadow Street.  Mr. Hendee removed the old S.C. Stebbins house that had been located on this property, so he could build his house.

(click to enlarge)

In 1910 the ground was staked out for the new Hendee residence.  However, the plans changed after the Hendees divorced. The residence was not built and the land was sold to David and James Hale.

In 1915 the Hale brothers sold this property to another distinguished and successful Springfield resident, Frank H. Page.  In 1916 the property was staked out once again for a beautiful house and the new residence was completed in 1917.  The Jan. 1, 1917 issue of the Springfield Republican stated, "Frank H. Page of Ingersoll grove has probably built the finest and costliest house ever put up in Longmeadow."  The property contained 20 acres of land and the house was built of Harvard brick.  The living room was located on the first floor and it overlooked Wheelmeadow Brook.  Some of the rooms in this beautiful home included a library, a billiard room, a dining room, a breakfast room and also a dining room for the servants.  There was an area for sewing and an elevator went to the third floor.  Chapman & Frazier of Boston, MA were the architects for this beautiful home at 588 Longmeadow Street.  A. G. Chapman of Springfield, MA was the contractor and the cost was $50,000.

(click to enlarge)

Frank H. Page was born in Holyoke, MA in 1864.  After graduating Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1885 he moved to Minneapolis, MN and worked in the knit goods industry. This led to his interest in candy manufacturing machinery.  In the early 1890's Frank H. Page and his wife Bertha moved to Springfield, MA and he founded the Confectioners' Machinery and Manufacturing Company in Springfield.  This company became the National Equipment Company.  It expanded and the location was on North Main Street in Springfield next to Bosch Magneto's property (near the Chicopee, MA boundary).

Frank H. Page
(1864- 1928)
Source: Unknown

The Page family lived in their beautiful home, known as Deep Wood, for ten years.  All three of their children were then married, so they sold their estate to Mr. and Mrs. Douglas V. Wallace.   

Douglas V. Wallace was the vice- president and treasurer of the Forbes & Wallace Company in Springfield, MA.  He died in 1930 and his wife Mary R. continued to live on this beautiful estate with their two sons, John R. and Mack F. Wallace.    

Time moved on and the property became the campus of Bay Path Institute of Commerce.  Thomas G. Carr was a Springfield businessman.  In 1945 he purchased Bay Path Institute that was located at 100 Chestnut Street in Springfield, MA.  After the Longmeadow Zoning Board of Appeals gave the "green light" to establish a private school for girls at this location, it moved from Springfield to Longmeadow.  Mr. Carr became the first president at the Longmeadow location and changed the name to Bay Path Secretarial School for Women.  It became Bay Path Junior College in 1949.  Years later, the name changed again to Bay Path College.  As of 2014, we know this institution of higher learning as Bay Path University.  The beautiful home that Frank H. Page built at 588 Longmeadow Street is now the Administration Building of Bay Path University. 
                                             
Sources:  Bay Path University: "Bay Path's 100-year Plus History", Springfield Republican- Oct 1, 1910, Jun 26, 1915, May 1, 1916, Jan 1, 1917, Dec 20, 1928, Jan 30, 1930, Jun 19, 1945, 1910, 1920, and 1930 U. S. Federal Census.  

~Judy Moran