A prominent architect-builder in Boston, Jabez Sears built a reputation on the design and construction of industrial buildings. He had participated in the California Gold Rush and worked as a builder before returning to Boston, where he likely designed the large Gothic Revival house that he built for himself on Dorchester Street, now a funeral parlor. He exploited all of the ornamental trim, including vergeboards with trefoils, label moldings, and lancet arched windows, available to the architect-builders at the time. Sears lived here for ten years before selling it to Solomon Woods, who built machinery for the manufacture of architectural woodwork.