Bayard Thayer House – Hampshire House // 1911

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”.

Former Boston Fire Department Engine House No.10 – Hill House // 1949

This iconic former firehouse at the corner of Mount Vernon and River streets in Beacon Hill, was built in 1949 and despite its relatively young age, has become an iconic landmark in the neighborhood. Since the mid-19th century, this site has been occupied by a fire station, most of which as a Second Empire, brick engine house with a mansard roof. After WWII, the Fire Department struggled to use the 1860s station which was built before the large, vehicular fire trucks replaced horses-drawn apparatus. In 1946, the Victorian station was razed and architect, John Mathew Gray, furnished plans for a new, Colonial Revival style station that could accommodate the larger fire trucks. The new station opened in April 1949 and Engine 10 remained here until 1982, when the company moved to 123 Oliver Street, Downtown. The Fire Department retained ownership of the building until 1995, and around this time, the building served as the filming location for television shows Spenser For Hire, which ran from 1985 to 1988 and the MTV series The Real World, which was broadcast in 1997. Since 1998, the property has been home to Hill House, Inc. a long-standing non-profit providing sports activities for children, adult education classes and programs for senior citizens.