It is not always the architect-designed, high-style buildings that give a place character. The North End is a neighborhood almost entirely built of working-class tenement housing, but its density, immigrant history, and vernacular, make it one of the most visited and unique in the city. Michael Slattery, an Irish-born teamster, and his son, William, a grocer, developed this handsome block of tenement housing on North Margin Street in the North End neighborhood of Boston. The row of apartments stands out for its elevated design elements, including the projecting metal oriels with decorative wreath and swag motifs, arched openings, and brick corbeling at the cornice. The apartments here were rented by the Slattery family until the mid-1920s when the buildings were sold to Italian-Americans who continued to rent the buildings to lower-income residents. There is something about the North End’s vernacular that is so charming.
What is your favorite pizzeria in the Boston area? For many, it is likely to be Regina Pizzeria, but specifically this location in Boston’s North End. The building was originally constructed in 1886 for the Boston Cooperative Building Company, a charitable organization which built and rented tenement housing for low-income residents in the city. Many recently arrived immigrants would have lived in the building and paid a nominal rent, giving them the opportunity to work and grow their savings to move into better, more permanent housing. The Association was incorporated in 1871 and its original stockholders represented the financial elite of Boston. As a result of their financial backing, the association was able to hire the white-shoe architectural firm of Cabot & Chandler to design this tenement block in 1886. While not ornate, the building fits within the late 19th century vernacular of brick tenements of the North End. The building is now best known as the home to Regina Pizza, which was founded in 1926 by Luigi D’Auria, who was born in Campania, Italy, who purchased the building around that time. Regina Pizza (translated to “Queen Pizza” in Italian), was sold to the Polcari family in 1956, who have operated the restaurant since. The pizzeria with its prominent blade sign is one of the best landmarks in the North End.
Originally built in the 1870s, and largely remodeled in the early 1900s, this charming building has been known locally as “The Last Tenement” of the old West End of Boston. Once part of an unbroken a row of 30 brick tenements along the east side of Lowell Street, this building typified much of the West End of Boston, a vibrant and dynamic immigrant neighborhood. Dwarfed by larger, modern apartment towers and highway off-ramps, this stand-alone building is a survivor, and should really be preserved! Here is a little history on The Last Tenement that I found. The building was originally built as a three-story residence just after the Civil War by furniture dealer, George M. Rogers. The building was rented to four families in the 1880 census, showing the diversity of the region with 20 people residing in the building of Irish, English, and German-Jewish backgrounds. At the turn of the century, an elevated rail line was laid out down Lowell Street. After WWII, the neighborhood would see a terrible demise, that has been widely told. City leaders effectively considered the vibrant immigrant neighborhood a slum, and in an effort to redevelop it to bring back middle-class families (and their tax dollars) handed much of the neighborhood to developers to start over, with little more than lip service for the displaced. This building, now with an address of 42 Lomasney Way, was occupied for some time by “Skinny” Kazonis, a low-level Mafia associate of the Angiulo Brothers, which was a leading gang in the North End until the Winter Hill Gang decided to run rackets in the area. The property sold, and residential units have been rented and the building maintained, with the assistance of a billboard for additional income for the owner. The Last Tenement showcases the strength and resilience of the old West End and will hopefully remain as a reminder of the vibrant neighborhood that was razed and replaced with mediocrity.
Buildings of New England 