New Bradley Mansion offers unique Boston homes

At the turn of the last century, when the Gilded Age enveloped Boston, prominent businessmen were seeking out the city’s premier architectural firms to design homes for themselves in the westerly portion of the Back Bay.

Three of those grand mansions endured many changes during the 20th century and are being transformed again on a quiet, tree-lined section of Commonwealth Avenue, between Massachusetts Avenue and Charlesgate East.

The first of these houses is 409 Commonwealth Ave., designed by Peabody and Stearns in 1898 for William Minot, a real estate and trust lawyer.

A year later, No. 411, designed by Little and Browne, was constructed for Robert Stow Bradley, who was a manufacturer of agricultural chemicals. In 1901, Little and Browne designed the house at 407 Commonwealth Ave. for William Amory, a textile manufacturer.

The facades comprise limestone with ornately carved decorations, although one building has yellow brick on the upper floors. The buildings extend to Marlborough Street. The two attached buildings that flank No. 409 have wide, red brick bow backs; one has three windows, and the other has four.

These homes ultimately were converted to school dormitories and classrooms, first by the Garland School of Homemaking in the 1940s (which became Garland Junior College) and later by Simmons College.

Today, these three buildings have been combined to create a dozen magnificent residences in a complex to be called the Bradley Mansion or, simply, the Bradley.

The address for all of the units will be 409 Commonwealth Ave.

“There is nothing else like this in the city,” says Tracy Campion of Campion and Company Real Estate who has been marketing these Park Avenue-style condominiums, which are priced between $2.55 million and $4.35 million.

Only two remain. One buyer is combining two units, and one buyer is combining two units.

The Holland Companies, which has specialized in redeveloping significant historic properties in the Back Bay, especially along Marlborough and Beacon streets, is the developer of the Bradley.

Guy Grassi of the Grassi Design Group, John Holland of the Holland Companies and Stephen Hart of Hart Associates Architects in Belmont collaborated on the designs.

This illustration depicts the elegant lobby of the Bradley Mansion. At the back is a passageway to the elevator.

All agreed that the lobby in No. 409, already a sumptuous space with marble tiles, tall pilasters with Corinthian capitals, baronial fireplaces and a sweeping, curved staircase with a balustrade of ornamental ironwork, should remain.

Interior designer Klaus Fuchs, who designed the gorgeous lobbies at Trinity Place and at the Bryant, has outdone himself in creating an even more exquisite reception hall.

The lower lobby will have checkerboard marble, surrounded by a custom-designed mosaic of gray and pale pink marble, and the walls will be upholstered with a subtle gray silk.

New, curved marble steps will ascend to the upper lobby, which will have a large marble medallion in the center of the floor, surrounded by concentric lines and edged with a white border.

The existing niches with scallops and the carved oak fireplace will be refurbished.

The ornate ceiling plaster in the living room of one of the residences is original.

Custom lighting will include a 5-foot-high, 18-light chandelier of hand-blown glass from Murano, Italy, in the lower lobby, and a smaller chandelier will be hung in the upper lobby, says Fuchs.

He describes the furnishings as “extreme elegance.” At the back of the lobby will be a custom-designed console table with antiqued mirror baguettes and antiqued mirror wall panels.

Campion says that buyers like the idea of having a say in the selection of finishes in their state-of-the-art kitchens and spa-like baths to be constructed. Custom-designed millwork and finishes are included in the allowances, says Joseph Holland, the on-site project manager.

A couple of the buyers want to keep the original finishes, at least in some of the rooms, he says.

For example, a music room will be restored that has a soaring 14-foot ceiling with giltwood pier glass between three sets of French doors and two large fireplaces with huge mirror overmantels.

The view from the roof deck ofo Unit G includes the Prudential, 111 Huntington Ave. and the John Hancock towers.

This room is in a four-bedroom condo that has views of Marlborough Street, he says.

In another four-bedroom unit, a mahogany-paneled room with four bow windows that look out to Marlborough Street will be refurbished as well. With a baby grand piano, it will be perfect as a music salon.

The design of the Bradley is unlike any other condominium complex. On either side of the entry lobby are Units A and B, which have their own private entrances (the original entries to Nos. 407 and 411). These are parlor- and garden-level duplexes that are floor-throughs with private patio gardens. Most of the living space is on the upper level.

The second and third floor each have expansive floor plans to take advantage of the combined 86-foot-width of the buildings.

Only two units are on each of these floors, so that the frontage is on either Commonwealth Avenue or Marlborough Street.

The fourth and fifth floors have six penthouse duplexes that face either Commonwealth Avenue or Marlborough Street.

The carved Carrara marble medallions in the vestibule of the main entry will be preserved.

Unit E, which overlooks the canopy of trees along Commonwealth Avenue, is listed at $4.35 million. With 3,725 square feet of living space, it has five bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths. It also has a Juliet balcony, and two deeded parking spaces are included in the below-ground heated garage.

The other remaining home is Unit G, a three-bedroom, three-bath penthouse duplex with 2,189 square feet of living space, plus a terrace off the top-floor bedroom and a roof deck with bluestone. It is listed at $2.85 million.

The Bradley promises to dazzle. It is close to all the city’s cultural attractions, the Charles River and to the Back Bay Fens, one of the jewels in Frederic Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace.

DETAILS

Address: The Bradley Mansion, 409 Commonwealth Ave., Back Bay

Unit E: Five bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths; 3,725 square feet; $4.35 million

Unit G: Three bedrooms, three baths; 2,189 square feet; $2.85 million

Age: Circa 1900; 2010-2012

Taxes and condo fees: To be determined

Features of building: Three elegant, Gilded Age buildings combined to create 12 outstanding condominiums and a below-ground garage; majestic marble lobby with grand original staircase; to be staffed by concierge.

Features of Unit E: A Park Avenue-style residence that faces Commonwealth Avenue with Juliet balcony; high ceilings; living room fireplace; state-of-the-art kitchen and bath with finishes, appliances and fixtures to be chosen by buyer; two deeded parking spaces. 

Features of Unit G: A duplex that faces Commonwealth Avenue with terrace and private roof deck of bluestone; high-end kitchen and bath fixtures, finishes and appliances to be selected by buyer; deeded parking.

Close by: Back Bay restaurants and shops, Fenway Park, Back Bay Fens, Charles River Esplanade; easy access to Storrow Drive, Routes 90 and 93.

Contact: Tracy Campion, Campion and Company Real Estate, 172 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116. Phone: 617-236-0711 (office) or 617-851-3506 (cell).

Websites: www.thebradley.com or www.campionre.com

This property may be seen by appointment.