Unique Places Boston

Forest Hills Cemetery – Louis Mieusset Memorial, “Boy in the Boat” // 1886

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Louis Ernest Mieusset (1881-1886), just shy of his fifth birthday, died of Scarlet Fever and nephritis. His mother, Madame Louise Mieusset, took every penny she had saved for her son’s education and put it towards a commission of a funerary sculpture, depicting her late son’s playful spirit. The memorial of four-year-old Louis Mieusset is marked by a brilliant white marble figure depicting the young boy in a boat with a tennis racket in one hand and a shell in another. Marble was popular during the mid-19th century but it was understood that marble was too soft to stand up well outdoors, so it was additionally enclosed in a bronze and glass vitrine to protect it from acid rain and staining. Carved into the base, it states, “MY ONLY AND DARLING CHILD…A MOTHER’S TRIBUTE OF AFFECTION”. Madame Mieusset worked as a hat-maker in Boston, and after the death of her son, she struggled financially to support herself between frequent visits to mourn her son, even decades after his death. Louise planned to be buried next to her son, but died penniless in 1936. As she did not leave funds for burial in Forest Hills Cemetery, her body was buried in a pauper’s lot, until (legend says) Boston Mayor James Curley paid her burial expenses, funding the relocation of her body, allowing for her eternal rest with her late son Louis.

A similar monument, known as the “Girl in the Glass” is also found at Forest Hills.

Deutsch House // 1915 & 1981

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Originally built in 1915 as a two-car garage, this fanciful and diminutive residence was created atop the former garage in 1981 to become one of Boston’s best examples of Post-Modern architecture. Located at the corner of Beaver Place and Beaver Street on the Flat of Beacon Hill, the one-story brick garage was constructed behind 91 Beacon Street for Helen and Robert Emmons to store their personal automobiles. By 1981, the garage parcel was separated from the Beacon Street address and owners, Ira and Margaret Deutsch filed to build a one-story addition to the garage to create a residence. The couple worked with architect, Graham Gund, who designed a vertical, second-story addition to the brick garage, creating one of the most whimsical and unique buildings in Boston. The stuccoed walls with gables are covered with a projecting trellis which is set behind the framing of the windows to create a three-dimensional facade element.

Rhodes Building // 1905

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The Rhodes Building in Brookline Village is an exuberant example of a Colonial Revival style commercial block in an playfully eccentric way. Built in 1905, the block feels almost Post-Modern in style, which highlights ironic elements through the use of historical references, like here with the oversized swan’s neck pediment. The structure was designed by architect, William C. Collett, and was rented to Edgar and Leonard Rhodes, dealers in groceries and provisions and housed the Rhodes Brothers grocery store.

Hilt-Rayner Houses // 1844

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This is your reminder to get lost and explore your city or town. Tucked off Boylston Street sits Boylston Place, a short, dead-end way that is passed by thousands every day, many not knowing about the little enclave of surviving 19th century buildings there. At the end of the street, the Hilt-Rayner Double House remains in great condition and a reminder as to the residential character of the area in the first half of the 19th century. The houses were built by Henry Hilt, a housewright who owned one unit after completion. The other unit was owned by Thomas L. Rayner, who appears to have rented the unit out. The late example of the Greek Revival style in the rowhouse form is well preserved through nearly 200 years of use. Beginning in the 1920s, the two homes were acquired by the Tavern Club, a private social club established in 1884 in the house next door. It remains owned by the Tavern Club today.