Historic Boston Apartments

Ripley Apartments // 1925

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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.

Hotel Lincolnshire // 1924

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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.

Studio Building, Beacon Hill // 1914

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The Studio Building on Charles Street in Boston’s historic Beacon Hill, is a unique, Arts and Crafts style building constructed of brick with stucco walls and a red tile roof. Built in 1914 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. Codman hired the young architectural firm of Loring & Leland, to design the Studio Building, which in its original configuration, contained three stores at the ground-level, two dwellings, offices and artist studios with oversized windows. Just years after the building was completed, Charles Street was widened in 1920, chopping ten feet off the facades of all buildings on the west side of Charles Street, including this building. Charles G. Loring was retained by Codman to oversee the renovations to the new facade and storefront, likely replicating what was once there. After 1920, the building was largely occupied by apartments for single women of means and remains one of the neighborhood’s most iconic and enchanting buildings.

Steuer Apartments // 1913

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In the early 20th century Brookline, Massachusetts, saw an immense increase to its population, spurred by the streetcar system and a suburbanization of greater Boston. As land is finite, developers eyed the large estates near commuter lines and built apartment buildings to supply housing to middle-income residents. Not all residents welcomed the change as density and the destruction of old estates caused concerns for many wealthy and older residents in Brookline who enjoyed the bucolic suburbs to dense city life. As a result, many Brookline developers hired known architects to design apartment buildings with high-quality materials and finishes to contribute to the rich architectural streetscapes and established neighborhoods. This apartment building, one of two at the corner of Longwood Avenue and St. Paul Street, was built in 1913 from plans by Gay & Proctor, an established local architectural firm. The developer, Bernard Steuer (1859-1921), was an Austrian-Jew that emigrated to the United States and worked in real estate and building in Brookline and Boston. The building features a heavy cornice with modillons, three-story polygonal bays that break up the massing, and cast stone detailing with Beaux Arts style entries.

West Hill Place // 1916

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West Hill Place is a small development in Beacon Hill that feels like it was transported to Boston from London! The group of 14 four-story brick townhouses that comprise West Hill Place were built on the site of a gas holder in 1916. The Georgian Revival style development was designed by the firm of Coolidge and Carlson, who aligned six of the townhomes to face west on the Charles River Embankment and arranged the remaining eight residences around a circular court. The development was inspired by Charles River Square, located to its south and built six years prior. The driveway extends off what is today Storrow Drive, with a second exit set within an arched passageway that connects through the Charles Street garage, which was built later. The dark brick with cast stone trim works elegantly with the curving facades facing the courtyard, many of which are adorned with arched doorways and the original iron lanterns. The development has been harmed by the creation of Storrow Drive in the 1950s, but it remains one of the most unique and picturesque enclaves in New England. 

Tudor Apartments // 1887

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Frederic Tudor (1783-1864) was a businessman and merchant known as Boston’s “Ice King” having founded the Tudor Ice Company and becoming a pioneer of the international ice trade in the early 19th century. Frederic Tudor lived in a house at the corner of Beacon and Joy streets in Beacon Hill, Boston, and after his death, the property was inherited by his widow, Euphemia Fenno and their children. By 1885, the old Tudor House was demolished and replaced by The Tudor Apartments, which was built between 1885 and 1887 to house twelve upper-class families who sought smaller living space as opposed to the typical townhouses in Beacon Hill. Designed by architect, Samuel J. F. Thayer, the nine-story Queen Anne/Romanesque Revival building features a brownstone base with brick walls above, combining the traditional Boston bowfront with late 19th century flair at the upper floors with the partial mansard roof punctuated with dormers and oriel windows. Thayer designed the Joy Street elevation with cascading bays to provide interiors with views of the Boston Common and ample natural light.


Hollander Apartment Buildings // 1892

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These two stunning apartment buildings were constructed in the early 1890s in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of Somerville. Known as the Hollander Blocks after their original owner, Theodore Clarence Hollander, the two apartment buildings are some of the finest in the Boston suburbs. Both detached buildings follow a traditional three-decker block massing and form, but are decorated with varied siding, two-story columned porticos, and elaborate cornice. 

New England Fireproof Construction Co. Apartments // 1917

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One of the most unique and architecturally pleasing buildings in Brookline has to be these apartments on Egmont and St. Paul streets that break the mold of traditional brick or wood-frame apartment houses. Built in 1917 by the New England Fireproof Construction Company as an example of how cheaper cement material can be used effectively and beautifully to design and construct high-quality housing. The company hired architect G. Bertram Washburn to design the buildings which utilize concrete block and cast concrete details with the facades embellished with pilasters capped with Corinthian capitals, engaged balusters, and modillioned and corniced entrances decorated with a lion’s head over each doorway. Additionally, a special touch is the recessed wells in the facade which not only break up the massing of the building, but provide additional light and air into the apartments inside. 

Longwood Towers // 1925

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No trip to Longwood in Brookline would be complete without checking in on one of the finest multi-family housing developments of New England… This is Longwood Towers. The development was originally built in 1925 from plans by architectural/engineering firm Kenneth DeVos and Co. who built three near-identical developments in the early 1920s: Detroit (1922), Brookline (1925), and finally Philadelphia (1928). The complexes were all originally called Alden Park Manor. Kenneth DeVos worked with local architects for each project to oversee construction details and furnish interior detailing as needed. For Brookline, he hired Harold Field Kellogg, who earlier served as the first director of the Boston Housing Authority. The design is Tudor Revival in style with towers connected by social spaces and a lobby linking the towers with a dining room for residents, a ballroom, lounge, day care facilities, barber and beauty shops, and a garage. The idea of a parking garage incorporated into an apartment complex was a very new idea when these were built, so much so it was written about as a new amenity for future developments to emulate. Another interesting tidbit about the complex is that it was featured in architectural journals in 1926 as it solved the “garbage problem” with trash chutes on each floor which terminated down in a brick incinerator (no longer in use). The Longwood Towers in Brookline were eyed as innovative and set trends for later developments, here’s to hoping future developers take cues to what makes good design and finishes rather than just profit with so many new boxy, uninspiring 5-over-1 apartment buildings going up all over the region.