Boston townhouse with courtyard is exquisite

Sometimes a townhouse, a single-family home, is almost beyond words or photographs to depict its true essence.

Such is the case of the distinctive Queen Anne style brick and sandstone bow front home at 410 Beacon St. in the Back Bay, constructed in 1886. Cabot and Chandler designed the four-story mansion for I. Tucker Burr Jr., a banker. C.A. Dodge was the builder.

It stands in quiet elegance on the riverside of tree-lined Beacon Street, concealing a stunning interior comprising a gracious reception hall off which are the formal living room and dining room, a beautiful library and a unique penthouse with outdoor terraces looking out to the Charles River and M.I.T. or, in the other direction, to the neighborhood rooftops and Back Bay skyscrapers.

Shelagh Brennan of Cabot & Company has listed this magnificent home at $9.65 million.

The current owners purchased this home 18 years ago and engaged Linea 5 Inc. architects and Marc Truant & Associates, general contractors, in an 18-month-long total renovation and restoration project to create state-of-the-art living space.

The meticulous work included installing new plumbing and electrical service, plus an elevator, adding custom millwork and building a mezzanine on the penthouse level while at the same time preserving many of its 19th century details.

A landscaped courtyard and a two-car brick garage were built as well.

The sun-filled living room accented with a chair rail and picture and crown molding has a high ceiling.

The reception hall is an architectural gem; the grand carpeted staircase is wide, and the spindle balustrade enhances the entry. Opposite the staircase is a grand fireplace with a red marble surround and a columned mantelpiece built against an ellipse that rises to the second floor stair hall.

To the right are French doors that open into a formal living room with three bow front windows that fill the room with natural light, enhanced by recessed lighting. Crown molding, augmented by picture molding and a chair rail, rim the room, which has a large wood-burning fireplace.

To the left of the foyer is the formal dining room, which is similarly adorned, although the crown molding has an added row of dentil molding.

Three windows are set into a bay that overlooks a beautiful courtyard. The fireplace has a stone mantelpiece.

Off the dining room is a butler’s pantry with built-in cabinetry and a deep sink.

The formal dining room boasts a high ceiling with crown molding and dentil trim and a large fireplace.

The area in front of the sink is cut out and looks below to the main kitchen. This room also gives access to a second full staircase, where the original call buttons for service are still in place.

This home also has an elevator that ascends to all six floors. In the foyer its door looks like it belongs to a closet and is next to a powder room.

The kitchen on the garden level is spacious and presently accommodates a dining table that can seat 14.

Custom-designed white oak cabinets combined with some faced with opaque glass and stainless steel provide abundant storage.

The enormous eat-in kitchen on the garden level is equipped with custom cabinetry and stainless steel appliances.

Stainless steel appliances include a six-burner gas range with a griddle and a big Viking refrigerator.

There is a sink on each side of the kitchen, and against one wall is an antique coal stove manufactured by Walter & Pratt.

At the back of the kitchen is an extra-wide, multi-paned French door with sidelights that draws in lots of natural light. To its left is a mudroom with an exit to the enclosed courtyard of crushed stone.

An arcade along one side shelters the passageway to the two-car garage that opens onto Back Street where there are two deeded parking spaces.

Also on the garden level is an au pair suite with a full bath; it has a separate entrance. In the middle is a large laundry room with a side-by-side washer and dryer inside the home’s original vault. 

Multi-paned doors and sidelights look out to the crushed stone patio garden with its planters.

Above the living room is a gorgeous library paneled in quarter-sawn oak with floor-to-ceiling shelves. The crown molding includes dentil trim, and the centerpiece is a lovely, wide fireplace. During the renovations, the paneling was disassembled piece by piece, numbered and reassembled.

The stair hall on this level is quite spacious, even with the open ellipse edged with English brown oak and flanked by niches with glass shelving to display objets d’art.

Also on this level is a generously sized family or media room with a marble fireplace that is equipped with surround sound. Off this room is a large closet area with a half bath.

The next level includes a huge master bedroom suite with his and her baths and walk-in closets.

One bath has a combination tub/shower, the other, a shower with glass blocks.

The master bedroom also has a fine fireplace with Chelsea tiles and a wooden mantelpiece.

A large guest bedroom, as large as the master, has a walk-in closet and a dressing room and full bath. The fireplace in this room has a wooden mantel with a brick surround.

The fourth floor comprises two more bedrooms. One, which was set up with bunk beds and closets, is now an exercise room with a mirrored wall.

This Queen Anne style mansion was built in 1886.

The other bedroom features a fireplace and a window seat that hugs the three-window bay. The bath has a separate water closet with a sink plus a shower and second sink.

The piece de resistance is the penthouse, which is an engineering feat.

The original skylight, which was the fourth floor ceiling, was raised a full story; in its place blocks of glass were installed so that the light would spill down into the lower levels. The open staircase rising from the fourth to the fifth floor has open cherry treads with tiny lights underneath.

These stairs as well as a library are suspended from steel cables, and the walls here comprise Venetian plaster. A mezzanine with built-ins, including a spacious desk, lies toward the back of this level, and French doors open onto a big rear deck with river views.

On the Beacon Street side is another set of French doors that open onto an equally large deck. Both decks have Minnesota limestone pavers and water, electric and Internet connections.

This home is the epitome of flexibility – perfect for grandiose entertaining or nestling with your family. Two of the rooms could be additional bedrooms.

DETAILS

Address: 410 Beacon St., Back Bay

BR/BA: Four bedrooms, five full baths and two half baths

Size: 9,107 square feet

Age: 1886; 1993-1995

Price: $9.65 million

Taxes: $54,133 (with residential exemption)

Close by:Back Bay restaurants, Newbury Street shops, Prudential shops; near MBTA’s Green Line at Hynes Convention Center or Copley station, Orange Line, commuter rail and Amtrak at Back Bay station; easy access to Massachusetts Avenue, Storrow and Memorial drives and Routes 90 and 93.

Contact: Shelagh Brennan, Cabot & Company, 213 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116. Phones: 617-262-6200 (office) or 617-840-6168 (cell).

Website: www.cabotandcompany.com

This property may be seen by appointment.