Beacon Hill property awaits luxurious development
After a new State House was completed atop Beacon Hill in 1797, the land surrounding the hill became a most desirable site for grand homes for the city’s leaders, especially Beacon Street overlooking Boston Common.
These mansions initially stood apart from each other, surrounded by gardens and courtyards.
In 1805, Harrison Gray Otis, lawyer, congressman, U.S. senator and Boston mayor, commissioned Charles Bulfinch, who had designed the State House, to build a new home for him. (It was the third that Bulfinch had designed for Otis.)
This handsome Federal four-story brick home at 45 Beacon St. is now home to the American Meteorological Society. At the easterly side was a wide bow, overlooking a garden.
About 10 years later, another elaborate house was built at 42 Beacon St. for Colonel David Sears. Designed by Alexander Parris, this one was granite, with a swelled bowfront.
By 1831, Otis agreed to sell half of his garden to Sears, who subsequently expanded his mansion, doubling its size. The façade mirrored the earlier building. (Since 1872 it has been the Somerset Club.)
Otis, however, built a separate house, in keeping with the style of his own home. This house was for one of his daughters, Sophia H. Ritchie who with her husband Andrew raised two sons and a daughter.
Its address is 44 Beacon St. The first story is white granite, and the three upper stories are brick, with brownstone lintels and sills. The fifth level has dormers.
For many years this building was a single-family home, but in the 1920s, it became an apartment house.
It has a two-car garage, with access from Spruce Court, a private way.
Built in 1832, this property at 44 Beacon St. on Beacon Hill possesses a premier location.
Michael Tammaro of The Beal Companies LLP is marketing the property at $8.95 million as an opportunity to return the home to its original grandeur or to convert it to fabulous condominiums.
That’s not to say that the interior is not grand. Although it needs updating in the kitchens and baths, many of the architectural details have remained throughout its 178-year history.
Three granite steps lead up to the recessed entry, framed by a pair of Corinthian columns. Inside is a vestibule with colored tiles. A second door with sidelights and a lovely fanlight opens into a gracious foyer with a hardwood floor with intricate inlays.
The home has a side hall floor plan, and straight ahead is a gorgeous staircase with an open balustrade that curves gracefully.
To the left is a large room with two six-over-six windows and a marble fireplace. This room is presently used as a dining room for Unit 1, which occupies two floors.
The front room on the first floor presently is used as a dining room for the duplex apartment.
A shallow, convex china cabinet is built against the party wall of No. 45, a reminder of the adjacent Otis House contours.
A kitchen and a laundry lie beyond this room. Farther along is a bedroom or library with a two windows that look out onto a courtyard. One wall is exposed brick, painted white, and a large cast iron stove is built into it.
A hallway continues to the rear of the house and includes space for an office and storage.
The main staircase ascends to the second floor, which is stunning. This is the piano nobile, the original formal space reserved for entertaining.
A large area, perfect for displaying art, is at the top of the stairs, and a domed ceiling has been painted with clouds.
The parlor at the front of the house has a ceiling height that soars to 13 feet.
A magnificent staircase leads to the upper floors.
The room is illuminated with recessed lighting, and the three triple-sash windows looking out at Boston Common and the Frog Pond facing south draw in abundant natural light.
Outside the windows are small cast iron Juliet balconies. These windows, like those throughout the house, possess the original built-in shutters.
Ornate crown molding with gold garlands rim the living room, which is further enhanced by wainscoting and picture rails. The fireplace features a red marble mantelpiece, and the border of the floor around the room has an intricate inlay pattern.
At the far end of this level are a bedroom, a full bath and a spacious dressing room.
On the third level is a one-bedroom apartment. One of the stunning architectural elements on this floor is the laylight in the hall amid a scallop-curved dome.
In front of the hall is a living room with a fireplace and two bays. Off to one side is a small sitting room with a bath.
The top floor has two bedrooms, each with an en suite bath. This bedroom also has a fireplace.
“This would have been the master bedroom of the original home,” said Tammaro.
On the other side of the hall is a bedroom with a fireplace, a linear bath with a marble-topped vanity and a dressing room with bow windows and a small black marble fireplace.
The fourth and fifth floor is a duplex and has a similar layout as the floor below, although a dining area with a compact kitchen has been created in the hall. The living room has a wet bar and built-in shelving; opposite is a marble fireplace.
The master bedroom on this level includes another marble fireplace with a coal grate insert and built-in storage.
The top floor has two bedrooms, each with two dormers and en suite baths, and is air-conditioned. Tammaro said that this space originally had four rooms, which were for the servants.
The walls are exposed brick, and the rear bedroom has a fireplace with a white marble mantel that was removed from one of the other floors. The front bedroom has a huge walk-in closet. And, there is storage beneath the eaves.
There is another apartment in this building, above the spacious two-car garage. The living room has five windows with two exposures and a fireplace built into a corner. The kitchen has a gas range and a pass-through to the living room.
In the large bedroom are two windows; some panes are original glass. Also, there are two closets and a full bath.
A private brick courtyard is with landscaping extends to Spruce Court, a private way.
DETAILS
Address: 44 Beacon St., Beacon Hill
BR/BA: Six-plus bedrooms, six-and-a-half baths
Size: 10,779 +/- square feet (including garage)
Age: 1832
Price: $8.95 million
Taxes: $24,217
Features of property: Four-unit apartment building with high ceilings, intricate moldings, many built-ins, 10 fireplaces and inlaid floors; brick courtyard and two-garage with room for two outdoor parking spaces.
Close by:Boston Common and Public Garden; State House; Massachusetts General Hospital; easy walk to Back Bay, Downtown, Financial District and Theater District, MBTA Red, Green, Orange and Silver Line stops and easy access to Storrow and Memorial Drives and Route 93.
Contact: Michael Tammaro, The Beal Companies LLP, 177 Milk St., Boston, MA 02109. Phone: 617-451-2100.
This property may be seen by appointment.
