Colonial Revival

Sack-Prince-Score Antique Shop // c.1895

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

One of the many charming buildings on the Flat of Beacon Hill can be found here at 73 Chestnut Street, which has long been one of my favorites when strolling in the neighborhood. The building was constructed around 1895, replacing a wooden stable on the site, and appears to have been built as a stable and converted soon-after to commercial use. In 1917, the building was leased to tradespeople, and included a plumbing shop and cabinetmaker, but as the area gentrified after WWI, the building was purchased by Israel Sack, an antique dealer as his new store. Israel Sack was born in Lithuania and emigrated to the United States, first working as a cabinetmaker and later becoming an instrumental force in the antiques world, where he assisted with developing the private collections of Henry Ford, Henry Francis du Pont, Ima Hogg, and other leading collectors and supplying the Americana collections of many major museums. A year prior to buying and renovating this building, in 1924, Sack purchased the Robert “King” Hooper House in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and turned the 18th-century mansion into a showroom for his antiques. Israel Sack gave the building at 73 Chestnut Street its distinctive Colonial Revival facade with its urn finials and Bullfinch-eque Federal Revival storefront. Later operators of antique stores within the building include: Louis D. Prince and Stephen Score, until recently when it was converted to a residence, with the owners removing bright blue paint from the brick and restored the facade, down to the iconic wooden statuette on the second story.

Harding-Hall House // 1914

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This narrow three-story, two-bay brick house on Byron Street on the Flat of Beacon Hill, is one that I had never noticed before, but it instantly became one of my favorite houses in Boston. Built in 1914 as a two-story residence for Charles Lewis Harding (1879-1944) a wool merchant and agent for mills in the New England area. It appears that Mr. Harding had the building constructed but never resided here and may have rented out space or kept his vehicle inside. After his death in 1944, the property was owned by Ariel Hall and her husband, painter and etcher Frederick Garrison Hall. She removed the garage replacing it with a large window, and added the mansard roof, converting the entire building into a single-family residence from plans by architect, William Chester Chase. They likely expanded the second-floor windows to the present configuration for an art studio for Mr. Hall before his death in 1946. It is unclear the vintage, but the building also features a painted statuette of a Chinese figure, mounted on a pedestal in the space between the arches of the windows at the second floor.


Eleonora R. Sears Studio and Garage // 1929

Buildings of New England2 Comments

In 1929, Eleonora R. Sears (1881-1968), a tennis champion and great-great-great granddaughter of President Thomas Jefferson, had a 19th century stable she inherited from her late father, demolished and replaced with this stunning residence with garage on Byron Street in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. The present three-story building was designed by Henry Forbes Bigelow, who lived a few blocks away in his own mansion, as a unique Colonial Revival style building with symmetrical facade. Eleonora Sears was one of the first American women to drive an automobile and fly a plane and lived here with her chauffeur when she was not at one of her other properties. After Eleonora died in 1968, her Beacon Hill residence was converted into condominiums, while the facade retains its architectural features when built nearly 100 years ago.

Toy Theatre – Copley Theatre // 1914-1921

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment
Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library collections.

When the Toy Theatre on Lime Street in Beacon Hill (last post) was formed in the early 20th century, the members of the small theatre group of well-connected artists and actors had their sights on something with permanence. By 1914, the group had funding and acquired land on Dartmouth street, a block away from Copley Square, and ground was broken to build a large new theatre. Designed by the architecture firm of Putnam & Cox, the fashionable Colonial Revival style building featured a large, rounded facade and was constructed of brick with a marble base and detailing. The theatre was designed with a retail space for supplemental income. Inside, decorations were refined and also included a staircase and railings donated by Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Fenway Court mansion, that were removed when she created the Tapestry Room in her home. The organization could not support running the building through shows, and the space was sold and rebranded as the Copley Theatre within a couple years. Continuing the bad luck, the City of Boston decided to extend Stuart Street by 1921, and this building was along the proposed route. The Toy Theatre was demolished in 1921, after just seven years.

Chestnut Street Rowhouses // 1917

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Similar to the Brimmer Street Terrace development nearby, this set of three rowhouses on Chestnut Street on the Flat of Beacon Hill, is an excellently designed development of residences as a collection rather than individually designed townhomes. The Chestnut Street Rowhouses replaced a stable formerly on the site, and were designed by the architectural firm of Richardson, Barott & Richardson, made up of Philip Richardson, Chauncey Edgar Barott, and Frederic Leopold William Richardson. Philip and Frederic Richardson were sons of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, but they did not reach the same level of notoriety as their late father, and charted their own course. The rowhouses read as a single composition with a unique center section flanked by two matching wings. The center house has a three bay front façade with the first-story clad in limestone which is all recessed and supported by Doric columns.

Ripley Apartments // 1925

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

One of the taller apartment buildings constructed on Beacon Hill in the inter-war period stands at 81-82 Beacon Street, providing residents with sweeping views of the Boston Common, Public Garden, and the ever-growing city of Boston. The ten-story building replaced two, four-story townhouses formerly on the site owned by members of the Thacher family. The two parcels were purchased by James H. Ripley of the New York-based real estate firm of Goggin & Ripley, who then hired Boston architect, Joseph Daniels Leland, who founded the firm of J. D. Leland & Company. The building was originally planned as a seven-story co-op but was later expanded to a ten-story tower with one apartment on each floor, making the building a luxury residence for its residents. The two-story limestone base with side entrance, flemish bond brickwork, iron balcony, and traditional double-hung windows all showcase how the Colonial Revival style works well with multi-family housing.

David Sears Mansion – Greek Consulate // 1911

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The David Sears Mansion (now the Greek Consulate) at 86 Beacon Street in Boston, is a large, architecturally significant example of a mansion built in Beacon Hill in the early 20th century for a member of a prominent local family. In 1910, Dr. Henry Francis Sears (1862-1942), who had inherited his father’s property on this site, that included two townhouses and a double-stable at the rear, demolished the two houses and built a new mansion on the double lot. The architectural firm of Wheelwright & Haven was hired to furnish plans, which resulted in the symmetrical, four-story mansion with fifth floor mansard punctuated by dormers. The brick structure is trimmed with marble, including at the entry portico, keystones and headers at the windows, and the ornamental panels between the second and third floors in alternating wreath and swag motifs. In the 1920 census, Henry F. Sears lived here with his wife Jean, their four children, his older brother David Sears, and nine domestic servants. After Dr. Sears’ death in 1942, the property was conveyed to the Charlotte Cushman Club of Boston, a boarding house for touring actresses needing respectable, inexpensive, safe lodgings as single women performers were unwelcome in many hotels. In the 1950s, the property became the Katherine Gibbs School, a satellite campus of the higher education institution founded by Katharine Gibbs with the goal to provide educational opportunities to women, eventually becoming Gibbs College. The most-recent chapter of the mansion’s history began in 1993 when the building became home to the Consulate General of Greece in Boston, with the consulate occupying the first two floors of the interior, with condominium units above.

Burnham Townhouse – Engineer’s Clubhouse // 1911

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Located at the boundary of the Beacon Hill and Back Bay neighborhoods, this prominent townhouse on a corner lot at Beacon Street and Mugar Way was built in 1911, replacing an 1840s townhouse of the same form. The Colonial Revival style townhouse was built for Henry D. and Johanna H. Burnham from plans by the architectural firm of Wheelwright, Haven & Hoyt. Henry Burnham was the son of cotton broker, John Appleton Burnham and was in the real estate business. Henry and Johanna lived at 96 Beacon Street through at least 1938. The house was bought by the Engineer’s Club, a social and professional organization, in 1947. In the 1950s, the formerly mid-block townhouse suddenly became a corner lot with the construction of Storrow Drive, its off ramp as Mugar Way, and the addition of the Fielder Footbridge connecting Beacon Hill to the Esplanade. The Engineer’s Club took over renovations at the interior, which were done to adapt the former single-family residence for clubhouse functions, including a large banquet hall. In the 1960s, the property was acquired by Emerson College and used it as a college center and cafeteria until the early 2000s when it was converted into condominiums by Grassi Design Group, adding new openings to the formerly solid brick side wall.

Bayard Thayer House – Hampshire House // 1911

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This iconic building at 84 Beacon Street in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, is best-known for its bar, which in 1982, became world-famous as the locale for the bar in the television sitcom Cheers, one of the most-watched programs in television history; but its history begins earlier. This five-story building was constructed in 1911 as a mansion for Bayard Thayer (1862-1916), who split his time between Boston and his country estate in his home-town of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Thayer hired architect, Ogden Codman Jr., a favorite designer of Boston and New York high-society, to design his Boston mansion, which is an expressive and overscaled example of a Colonial Revival style townhouse. Bayard Thayer died in 1916 and his widow, Ruth Simpkins Thayer, lived here with her granddaughter, Ruth, and nine domestic servants. After Ruth Thayer’s death in 1941, the property was conveyed to the Colonial Properties Trust in 1944, operating the building as a small luxury apartment hotel. From this point on, the hotel became known as Hampshire House. In about 1969, the basement space in the Hampshire House opened as the Bull & Finch Pub, which later became the inspiration of the iconic sitcom Cheers. Pictures of the exterior of the building were used in the show’s credits and scene changes, and the interior was faithfully replicated from the set in Hollywood, where the show was actually filmed. The Bull & Finch Pub has permanently been renamed Cheers Pub and visited by many who wish to visit the place where “everybody knows your name”.

Brimmer Street Terrace // 1912

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

An interesting ensemble of seven rowhouses running along Brimmer Street in Beacon Hill, the Brimmer Street Terrace development showcases the rebirth the “Flat” of Beacon Hill encountered in the early 20th century from livery stables and carpentry shops to high-end housing and artist’s studios. Built on the site of a large livery stable, Brimmer Street Terrace was developed in 1912 by Gerald G. E. Street and William C. Codman, developers who sought to enhance this section of Beacon Hill and protect it from unsympathetic development, and hired architect Richard Arnold Fisher to design the houses. The rowhouses were originally rented to upper-class families but later were sold off as individual properties. Colonial Revival in style, the row is built of the iconic Boston red brick, Federal Revival style fanlight transoms over the entrances, include shutters, and all sit atop a stone basement. The row is anchored on each end by residences facing north and south with large symmetrical facades with the five more narrow rowhouses connecting them along Brimmer Street. 

Hotel Lincolnshire // 1924

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Hotel Lincolnshire is a stunning eight-story apartment building on the west side of Charles Street in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. The building was developed in 1924 by William Coombs Codman, a real estate developer and member of the Beacon Hill Associates, a group of preservationists who bought and resold properties in the neighborhood with the aim to limit unsympathetic development. The group helped the Beacon Hill Flat area, which was a higher concentration of former stables west of Charles Street, a gentrified artist and residential enclave. The Hotel Lincolnshire was marketed as a residential apartment hotel, with furnished and unfurnished apartments with greater amenities than a traditional apartment building. Beacon Hill resident and architect, Richard Arnold Fisher, was responsible for designing the building, where he employed the use of courtyards (similar to his design nearby at 101 Chestnut Street) and walls of brick with cast-stone details. Of special interest is the use of perforated terracotta panels laid in half-round forms and the stone pinnacles at the parapet.

Pendleton House – RISD Museum // 1904

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Although the Pendleton House on Benefit Street in Providence, gives the appearance of a domestic residence, it was actually built for the purpose of displaying the once private collections of Charles L. Pendleton (1846-1904), which were given to the RISD Museum in 1904. Pendleton’s bequest, which included American and European furniture, silver, glass, ceramics, textiles, and paintings, came with the stipulation that the collection remain intact and on display in a suitable building for the benefit of the public. The stipulation occurred just before Mr. Pendleton’s death in 1904 and the Rhode Island School of Design immediately hired the local architect, Edmund Willson of the local firm of Stone, Carpenter and Willson, to furnish plans for a wing to the museum. Willson was an expert in the Colonial Revival style and sought to make the private collection of the Pendleton House befitting of a grand Providence mansion. It was Willson’s last major commission before his death. The building is crafted in a refined Colonial Revival style with symmetrical facade, traditional fenestration and Palladian motif, but is beefed up internally for is museum use with brick walls over a fireproof, reinforced concrete frame. The RISD museum has continually grown over the subsequent decades with wings connecting the Pendleton House with more contemporary buildings, all-the-while retaining the residential scale of Benefit Street in this iconic structure.

College Building, RISD // 1823 & 1936

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Spanning an entire city block on College Street between North Main and Benefit streets in Providence’s East Side, the College Building at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), is a valuable lesson in urban context and design. The building was constructed in 1936 from plans by the local architectural office of Jackson, Robertson & Adams, who had years prior, designed the Providence County Courthouse standing across the street. Designed in a plainer version of the Colonial/Georgian Revival style than the courthouse, the new College Building at RISD is broken up into multi-bay wings terracing up the slope of College Street, which breaks up the solid massing of the building in a pleasing way. Additionally, the designers incorporated the Federal period western wall of the 1823 Franklin House, an early 19th century hotel on the site. The result is possibly one of the first examples of a facadectomy in New England, if not the United States!

Francis Gardner House // 1903

Buildings of New England1 Comment

This house on Gardner’s Neck Road in Swansea, Massachusetts, was designed in 1903 by Fall River-based architect, Edward I. Marvell, for Francis L. Gardner, a descendant of the Gardners for whom Gardner’s Neck is named. Francis Gardner’s father, Leland, was a successful market gardner who farmed locally with the use of greenhouses, shipping fresh produce and other goods to Fall River and transportation to other nearby cities. This business continued under his sons, Francis and Chester until about 1925, when they began selling land on Gardner’s Neck for development. Francis’ house is an excellent early 20th century residence that blends multiple styles popular at the turn of the 20th century in a square form.

Barney-Sturtevant House // c.1805

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This large mansion in Swansea, Massachusetts, was constructed in the early 1800s for Mason Barney, a shipyard owner, likely by his own shipwrights. Barneyville, formerly known as “Bungtown” in the early 1770s, was a bustling village in Swansea where young men worked from sunup to sundown sawing, filing, shaping, boring, and fastening planks and timbers together for the Barney Shipyard. The shipyard was founded in the 1770s by Jonathan Barney, a prominent boat builder in New England established the shipyard in the 1770s. The Barney Shipyard saw its greatest success under Barney’s son, Mason, in the early 18th century. When Mason Barney (1782-1868) inherited his father’s shipyard, he also had this house built for his family, just a stone’s throw from the shipyard where he could oversee the many ships built and sailed down the river to Warren, Rhode Island, for fitting. By the early 20th century, the shipyard had already closed and this property was purchased by Lorenzo P. Sturtevant, a jeweler who completely updated the old Barney House in the Colonial Revival style, adding the entry porch and oversized dormers. By the end of the 20th century and early 21st, the house was abandoned and decaying until a few years ago when new owners renovated the old Barney-Sturtevant Mansion back to a livable home.