Boston History Blog

Flour and Grain Exchange Building // 1892

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One of my favorite buildings in Boston (and always dressed up with a big red ribbon for the holidays) is the Flour and Grain Exchange Building in Downtown Boston. The third Boston Chamber of Commerce was incorporated in 1884 to promote just and equitable principles of trade, solve disputes between members and acquire and disseminate information related to mercantile interests. There was, however, a feeling among the members that the organization could not attain its full stature until it had a building of its own, one that would be both an ornament to the city and a credit to itself. In 1889, a triangular site was donated to the organization by members, who then hired prominent Boston architectural firm, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, the successor to Henry Hobson Richardson‘s practice. It appears the firm was inspired by H.H. Richardson’s F. L. Ames Wholesale Store which was built nearby just years before. The steel-frame building is constructed of rough hewn Milford granite pierced with engaged columns and arched openings, both common in Richardsonian Romanesque buildings. The prominent corner at Milk and India Streets features a rounded corner tower with conical roof, surrounded by a crown of dormers. The building was restored by owners Beal Properties in the late 1980s who own it to this day.

Hollis Hunnewell House // 1870

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In 1870, when Boston’s new Back Bay neighborhood was being developed, Hollis Hunnewell and his wife Louisa, decided to erect a mansion to establish themselves in the burgeoning neighborhood. Hollis was the first son of Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, the businessman and railroad tycoon who made a fortune, eventually developing a family compound in nearby Wellesley. The couple hired esteemed architect Charles Brigham to design a home on the prominent corner lot that would live up to the Hunnewell name, and he did not disappoint. Just three years after the home was completed, they added a one-story addition, adjacent to the alley to quell a wind-tunnel effect that was occurring down the alley. In December, 1876, a fire broke out in the home, trapping maid Annie O’Hara at the top floor where she died. After the fire, the Hunnewell’s decided to renovate the home, adding the prominent corner tower with cresting. Hollis died in 1884, leaving his wife and two children alone in the home (along with the housekeepers, maids, and other help) until her death in 1890. The home is an excellent example of late Second Empire architecture in Boston, and it showcases the immense wealth some distinguished families had in the region in the 19th century. Today, the 13,000 square foot home is occupied as a single family home, assessed at over $17.5 million!

Hartt House // 1899

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The area just west of Jamaica Pond between Boston and Brookline can be characterized as a neighborhood of well-preserved 19th and 20th century homes and large, former estates converted to institutional use. The Hartt House in Brookline, off Goddard Ave, was built in 1899 for Arthur Hartt and his wife Augusta Batchelder. Arthur worked as a clerk with the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company in Downtown Boston and built a couple large estates in Massachusetts, including a summer home in Marion. The Colonial Revival home sits on a hill, setback off the street, with a landscape designed by the Olmsted Brothers. The property was bought in the 1970s by the Hellenic Association of Boston, who turned the home into offices and the former barn into a chapel. The home appears to be suffering from some deferred maintenance, but is in overall good shape.

“Puddingstone” // 1927

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Located across the street from Larz Anderson Park and the former Larz Anderson Estate, this stunning Spanish Revival home, built in 1927, was constructed as a guest house for visitors of Larz and Isabel Anderson. Between 1925-29 the Andersons constructed three guest houses outside the estate on Goddard Avenue. The designs were intended to call to mind places the Anderson’s had visited. “Puddingstone”, was named for a nearby outcropping of puddingstone on the Anderson estate, and was modeled after a house the couple had seen in Santa Monica, California. The Andersons used the buildings occasionally as guesthouses for relatives or friends who came for long stays at Weld, especially when Larz and Isabel were not in residence there. But for the most part, the houses remained empty and it was only after Larz’s death in 1937 that Isabel disposed of them. She donated them to Boston University for use as the Brookline Campus, who in turn, sold them off as private residences years later. Built in a Spanish Colonial style, it features a red terra cotta tile roof, adobe-colored stucco walls, and a center entrance framed by an elaborate cast stone surround in a Spanish Baroque style. To the right of the front door, a clathri (grid/lattice in architecture) over a window can be found in a blind arch.

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Hannah Harris House // c.1772

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This cute little Georgian home in Brookline was built around 1772 for Hannah Winchester Harris, a widow at the time. Hannah’s husband, Timothy died in 1772 and it appears the widow had this small gambrel-roofed home constructed sometime soon after. Ms. Harris died in 1805 and the home was occupied by a new family, who added the saltbox addition. The home is today owned by the Town of Brookline, who maintain the building through the Brookline Historical Society. the home sits on the boundary of the old Weld Estate.

Pastan Houses // 1936 & 1963

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Located across the street from each other in Brookline, the Pastan Houses are an excellent example of how architectural tastes can change from one generation to another. The William Pastan House was constructed in 1936, and is Tudor Revival in style. The home has a projecting square entry tower with castellated roofline and interesting mixture of materials and textures. The first owner, William Pastan raised his family in the home, attending the synagogue a couple blocks away. By 1963, Pastan’s son, Harvey became a successful engineer and built a home near his parents for his own family, though in a very different aesthetic. The Modern home features boxy forms, prominent covered parking spaces, and expanses of glass.

Which house would you prefer, William’s (1936) or Harvey’s (1963)?

Commonwealth Trust Company // 1908-c.1974

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Ca. 1910 image courtesy of Boston Public Archives.

Located at the corner of Summer and Devonshire Streets in Downtown Boston, the Commonwealth Trust Company’s two-story marble banking house commanded the corner, despite its short stature. The building, completed in 1908, was constructed with Lee marble and decorated with ornate wrought and cast-iron grilles over windows. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Parker, Thomas & Rice in the Classical mode with large, fluted Corinthian columns and boxed corner pilasters framing the recessed center entrance, Corinthian pilasters ran along the side facade. At the inside, the building was coated with Cararra and Blanco marble with paneled oak offices. At the ground floor, offices and banking stations framed the outer walls, with the safety deposit boxes located on the second floor. The building was demolished by the 1970s and replaced with a one-story minimalist Modern building (I could not figure out why the former building was razed). The new building was demolished after a few decades with a larger building, better fitting the commercial district.

125 Summer Street // 1989

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The late 1980s were a time of financial success for developers and banking companies all over the country. It seems that more skyscrapers were constructed in Boston this decade than any other of the 20th century, but working within the confines of the historic downtown of the city, left architects and developers to come up with creative ways to build here. The architectural firm of Kohn Pederson Fox was hired to construct a 20+ story office tower at the southern edge of the Financial District in Boston, while preserving the small-scale commercial buildings there. A row of four-story commercial blocks constructed after the Great Boston Fire of 1872 were retained with the tower seemingly growing out of them. The process here is known as “facadism” which is a valuable preservation tool to balance preservation with density in historic downtowns, though not always done right. This KPF design with its Post-Modern tower in concrete and granite fits well within the streetscape and maintains a walkable block downtown.

What do you think of this design?

Forest Hills Administration Building & Chapel // 1884

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Located adjacent to the Entrance Gate at Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, the Administration Building and Chapel perfectly compliments the Gothic Revival collection of structures welcoming all visitors to the cemetery. Designed by the firm of Van Brunt & Howe, the building was completed in 1884, when the cemetery’s popularity with visitors (alive and deceased) was at a high. The building is in the Gothic Revival style and is constructed of
Roxbury puddingstone, with sandstone trim on the original parts of the building and yellow freestone trim on the 1921 addition. The building remains as a perfect partner to the entrance gate, serving as a physical portal between metaphorical life and death.

Forest Hills Cemetery Bell Tower // 1876

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The bell tower at Forest Hills Cemetery is an octagonal Gothic revival structure located on Snowflake Hill just past the entrance gate and administration building and was completed in 1876. The 100-foot tower is constructed of Roxbury puddingstone and trimmed with granite. The roof is clad with granite tiles and topped with an ornate copper weathervane. Originally its swinging bell tolled, but it has since been replaced with an electronic carillon. The bell tower rises dramatically from massive
outcrop of Roxbury puddingstone known as Snowflake Hill which is offset by smooth lawns and Victorian planting beds. While the large trees surrounding partly obscure the tower, it truly is a stunning building.