Gamwell v. Bigley
Gamwell v. Bigley
Opinion of the Court
The parties derive title from a common grantor. The deed to the defendant, which is the first in time, contains the following reservation: “ Reserving herein to the grantor and his heirs and assigns a right of way ten feet wide over a portion of the easterly side of said land
It is found by the master, that on the date of the defendant’s purchase, there was standing within the way a one-story brick structure used for the sale of baker’s products, and referred to in the report as a “ store,” which has not been removed or destroyed. A two-story frame structure just northerly of the store was directly joined thereto. It was divided in the centre of the first floor by a partition, to the west of which was the defendant’s bake shop. The part on the east with two upper rooms was used as tenements. The frame building, with the exception of twelve or fifteen feet which were of brick, was built of wood with a shingle roof. A piazza on the easterly side extended about six feet into the way, and a covered stairway within the limits of the way ran to the second floor. The entrance to the bake shop was through a door in the rear of the store. The en
While the parties are not in controversy over the store, the plaintiff alleges, that the defendant has destroyed the original frame building by substituting an entirely different structure. If, however, on the date of purchase the store and frame building constituted but one structure, then, notwithstanding the changes in the frame building, to which we shall subsequently refer, the building viewed as a unit has not been destroyed or removed. But the reservation refers to the structure then existing as “ buildings,” and the parties are bound by their own description. The question, whether the store and main building were a unit, or physically separated into a brick store, and a frame building, was one of fact. The master finds that they constituted distinct buildings, one the brick store, and the other “ the frame structure used for tenement and bake shop purposes.” This finding being well supported by his preceding findings is conclusive. Shepperson v. Pearse, 170 Mass. 206, 210.
We discover no error of law in the overruling of the plaintiff’s exceptions to the master’s report in so far as argued. The court however ruled, that on the facts found by the master, the buildings have not been removed or destroyed. The ruling, if confined to the store, was right. But as to the frame building it was wrong. The master explicitly states that the defendant has annexed to the north, or rear of the frame building a brick section two stories in height which does not encroach on the way; but in making this addition he removed the rear wall of the frame building. It was taken down because the defendant intended to strengthen the building for use in his business. The defendant having decided to put in heavier machinery and to store more goods, also planned to change substantially the frame walls by the substitution of brick, to put a stronger flooring for the second floor, and to replace the wooden girders by steel beams. Pursuant to this plan, the defendant at the date of filing the bill had taken down the lower portion of the easterly wall up to the second story, where it extended into
It follows, that the plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief, the details of which are to be settled in the trial court. Downey v. H. P. Hood & Sons, 203 Mass. 4. Siegel v. Starzyk, 238 Mass. 291, 297, 298.
Exceptions sustained.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cecil C. Gamwell v. Christopher I. Bigley
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published