Bopping Around Brookline Village, Part I

From Guess Who?:

One of the most affluent towns in the Bay State, Brookline was settled by Europeans in 1638 as a part of Boston known as Muddy River. In 1705, Brookline broke away and incorporated as a separate town. The town went from farming community to Boston suburb with no significant industrial period in between.

No expanses of old factories or mills to explore? No problem!

I recently cruised through Brookline Village, one of the town's major commercial areas, and home to many civic buildings, such as town hall and the main library. There, I found loads of beautiful old commercial structures; an amazing apartment building; a Civil War monument; a former bank that's now a house of worship; and much more. And -- wait, what's this? -- there's even a former telephone manufacturing facility! You'll have to wait for Part II for that one....

Welcome to the first of a two-part series about Brookline Village!

I'm gonna start on the western edge of the village, at a bakery and candy maker that has been in business for more than 100 years.

New Paris Bakery opened on Boylston Street in Boston in 1919, according to this Boston Globe article. The founder, Kosmas Constantin, moved the shop to its current location on Cypress Street 10 years later.

(I love the CONSTANTIN'S HOME MADE FRENCH CANDY sign, but I don't love my photo.)

Right around the corner, on Washington Street, is the Stephen F. Rutledge VFW Post #864

(One of the many plaques installed on the facade of the VFW hall.)

Continuing east-southeast on Washington Street, the next landmark is the former Brookline Savings Bank, which was designed in 1898 by Franz Joseph Untersee, according to the High Street Hill web site.

The bank moved to another location in 1922. I'm not sure what was there in the decades afterwards. Currently, this cool little building is home to The Christian Community, "an independent community centered around the seven sacraments in a renewed form, without attachment to any existing church or ecumenical movement," per the group's web site.

Next door to the old bank is Brookline District Court, which dates to 1941.

The building was designed by the architectural firm of Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch and Abbott. That company was in operation from 1924 to 1952, as a successor to Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, itself a successor to the practice stablished in 1874 by the legendary Henry Hobson Richardson. The firm survives today as Shepley Bulfinch.

On the opposite side of Washington Street, in front of the public library, is an impressive Civil War monument.

Completed in 1915, the Soldier's Monument shows a bugler sending out the call. The sculptor was Edward Clark Potter, who is most well known for the marble lions, nicknamed Patience and Fortitude, in front of the New York Public Library Main Branch, per Wikipedia.

Also on the north side of Washington Street, in front of the town hall, is a large bell.

I haven't found out anything about the bell, other than it dates to 1897.

Back on the south side of the street, next to the courthouse, is the combined headquarters for the Brookline fire and police departments, which features a nicely restored fire house.

Built in 1873, the station is the oldest one still standing in Brookline. I'm not sure when the renovation and addition were completed.

Next along the east-southeast path is The Wolcott, a circa-1903 apartment/office building.

The building's original owner was Alexis French, the town engineer at the turn of last century, per the Town of Brookline web site.

Moving on down, we come to a building that is currently home to DaVita Kidney Care, which provides dialysis services.

Known historically as the Morris Rudnick Building, this place was erected in 1917 as a garage and stores. Over the years, the building has been home to businesses including an auto repair shop, a plumber and a taxi company.

Right next door is the former Stone and Goodspeed Livery building.

"Once a wooden livery stable with three floors, #316-#320 Washington has been substantially altered with the addition of a story, complete change in roof design, and conversion of first floor into a parking area," according to MACRIS. The original building -- at least part of which I assume still exists -- dates to 1868. There were many owners of the stable business over the decades, the final one being Munroe Goodspeed. Goodspeed's clients included the local grocery store S.S. Pierce & Co., which kept its delivery wagons and horses at the stable, per MACRIS.

Moseying along, I was captured by 282 Washington Street, the Reuben Chace Building.

Currently home to the excellent sandwich shop Cutty's (as seen on "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives"), this building dates to 1877. Originally known as Hotel Chace, this property has been home over the decades to a bootmaker's shop, a milliner's business, apartments and restaurants. It was also the first home of the Brookline National Bank, which eventually became the Brookline Trust Company, per MACRIS.

Right next door is the Anna Kerr Building, which is actually two buildings, although that's hard to tell with that goldang tree in the way.

Now home to Framers' Workshop, the buildings were home in the early days to a furrier and a druggist, as well as apartments. The building on the left dates to 1896; the right-hand property rose in 1922. Anna Kerr and her husband were the original owners of the older building.

On the corner of Washington Street and Davis Avenue is the fantastic Seamans Building.

Built in 1889, this property was designed by the aforementioned Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. Now home to Skin Center Boston, it was built as a grocery store for James Seamans. In 1912, a stationery business replaced the grocery store.

Regular readers of this blog know that I tend to feature commercial buildings, mills, murals, ghost signs, memorials, statues and the like. I don't make it a habit to showcase beautiful old homes (or creepy old homes), and if I feature an apartment building, it's generally because it's got a name carved into its facade. But I couldn't ignore the Thomas W. Clement Apartment House on Davis Avenue.

Built in 1882-3, the apartment house is "an outstanding example" of the Panel Brick style of architecture, per MACRIS. The original owner was Thomas Clement, a dentist in the area. This building is one of three along Davis Avenue (one other, located directly across the street, is featured below) that "constitute a small extension of the Panel Brick style group of buildings seen on Washington Street and in Harvard Square in Brookline Village," MACRIS continues. They really are quite stunning.

(Another great apartment building on Davis Avenue.)

On the corner of Davis Avenue and Washington Street stands the St. Andrews Building, below.

Built in 1876, this building is another Panel Brick-style structure. As with today, the building at its origin was filled with shops on the ground floor, apartments above. One of the businesses there today is Rare Restoration, which specializes in furniture, showpieces and vintage lighting, per its web site.

I love the entrance to the 4 Davis Avenue side of the building, below.

The St. Andrews Building (the original owner was Scottish) also features a Thai restaurant, Mahaniyom Boston, the entryway of which is shown below.

Continuing south on Washington Street, next up is the Algonquin Building, which dates to 1895.

Perhaps named for the Algonquin Club in Boston or the indigenous tribes of North America, the building has long housed both apartments and business of all sorts (florist, law firm, coal business, insurance office, etc.). It is currently home to The Golden Chickpea Center, a preschool that offers numerous programs; and Zhu Vegan Kitchen, which calls itself "a casual fine dining Japanese restaurant."

Moving along to...another Reuben Chace Building.

Now home to neighborhood workspace The Village Works, this handsome little building is also known as the Village Coach House, for the restaurant that once operated here. Now, y'all know I love (and totally rely on) MACRIS, the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. But every once in a while this fantastic source offers up conflicting information, such as in the case of the built-on date for this building. At one point in the listing, the author indicates the Reuben Chace Building rose in 1869, and that it is "one of the older brick commercial structures in the area." Other places in the listing indicates the bulding dates to 1880. Either way, it started as the shop for Chace, who was a prominent house painter. Over the years, it was also used as a provisions store and home to the Johnson Fish Company.

This is where I'm going to stop this installment. Make sure to come back for the second part, in which I will cover so many more great commercial buildings, as well as some of those private homes that I claim I don't write about much.

For more about Brookline, check out the links below:

March 13, 2014, "What's In a Named Building? (Part 2)."

May 2, 2017, "Who Was Emma Cummings?"

November 25, 2018, "American Church, British Style, Napolean-Inspired Name."

December 18, 2018, "Checking Out America's First Condo Complex."

May 14, 2019, "Ice Cream Works for Me."

October 24, 2019, "Times Not So Super for Brookline Superette."

Beacon Hill Randoms, Part I

From Dave "Fancy Boy" Brigham:

With a median home value of $798,000 (per Zillow), Beacon Hill is one of the most desirable neighborhoods of Boston. It is also one of the most picturesque, home to what's been called the most photographed street in the United States, Acorn Street. After a few decades of skirting this swanky address, I decided to dive in and see what this historic neighborhood is all about.

"From the time of its settlement in 1630 until after the Revolutionary War, Beacon Hill remained pastoral having only a few country estates surrounded by pastures and orchards," per this history of the area. In 1795, the Commonwealth built the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill, sparking new development that led to the shearing off of three peaks and leveling of ground for new houses, per the history article.

Beacon Hill is comprised of three distinct areas: the South Slope, where Boston's blue bloods settled in large Federal- or Greek Revival-style homes in the 19th century, and which is today the pricier part of the Hill; the North Slope, which was originally a "seedy waterfront area, with an unsavory reputation, that was popular with British soldiers and sailors," per the history article, and then became an African-American enclave, and which today is home to apartment buildings; and the Flat of the Hill, which sits close to Storrow Drive and was once home to stables and garages for the rich Brahmin residents, and which today is known for the antique stores of Charles Street and plenty of restaurants (including Cheers), as well as quaint buildings that dominate the entirety of Beacon Hill.

In this first of three parts, I will cover funky houses and office buildings; plaques/doorbells; storefronts; a mural; a converted fire station; an old rooming house; a hidden oasis; and more.

The photo above gives you an idea, if you've never been to Beacon Hill, what the neighborhood looks like: lots of brick row houses; steeply angled streets; quaint, charming details; expensive cars.

And the photo below shows you how important design, style, color and understatement often are in Beacon Hill.

But in this neighborhood of similarly well-appointed apartments, condos and single-family homes, which at every turn looks like a movie set, there are places that stand out.

Located on the corner of Beaver Street and Beaver Place, this unique residence is a former carriage house. Built in 1870, the place was redesigned by well-known architect Graham Gund in 1983. Known as the Deutsch House, this funky residence features a music room and a two-story living room.

Like the Deutsch House, the Sunflower Castle (below) is located in the Flat of the Hill.

Built in 1840 as an apparently much plainer building, the Castle has been capturing eyeballs since the late 19th century. "In 1878 Charles Luce renovated the house in the Queen Anne style, which is based on buildings constructed in England during the Elizabeth and Jacobean periods. One characteristic of this style is bold and unconventional color schemes. Others are asymmetry, contrast and elaborate decorative motifs," per this article on The Next Phase Blog. Various artists have lived and worked here over the years. It is currently a private home.

While the Sunflower Castle may be the most eccentric place on Beacon Hill, I submit the house below as the cutest.

Built in 1880, a time when Beacon Hill's North Slope was home to newly freed African-Americans and working-class folks, this place on South Russell Street, is almost too quaint to believe. I haven't found out any history of the place; it is currently condos.

I love neighborhoods like Beacon Hill because they are quaint and historic, but also quirky and offer surprises around just about every corner. The close quarters of the houses and narrow streets evoke European cities and bring forth in my mind images of colonists in tri-corner hats, breeches, bonnets and long dresses going about their business.

I wonder how many interesting characters have walked by or lived in the house below.

Located on Spruce Court, this two-family house looks like it was once a garage or carriage house. Allegedly built in 1900 (this seems to be the default date when realtors don't know the actual year), this place was assessed in 2014 at $1.1 million.

I didn't realize until I walked through all three areas of Beacon Hill how many of the places people live now -- and pay good money for -- were once much more common buildings. As you might imagine, there is no shortage of renovation and rehabbing going on in this neighborhood.

Built in 1899, 49 Brimmer Street in the Flat is a real estate mullet of sorts: old lady in the front, metrosexual dude in the rear. I took this photo of this apartment building several months ago; I don't know if this project has been completed.

Another thing I love about walking through Beacon Hill is the tantalizing glimpses of privilege.

This is Charles River Square, a Neo-Georgian cul-de-sac built in 1909 that borders on Storrow Drive. Homes here go for millions of dollars. To see what the interior of one of the homes looks like, check this link.

The building below is one of my favorites in Beacon Hill.

Sure, it's not the most beautiful place, and likely not the most expensive abode on the Hill (that latter distinction probably goes to someplace in Louisburg Square, which I'll get to in another Beacon Hill post). But it's distinctive and, if you're paying attention, tells you that it used to be something else. Also, it has the amazing detail shown in the photo below.

I'm not sure whether that's a pig or a dog at the point where the arches meet. So what's the story with this place? I'm glad you asked.

"The trio of Romanesque Revival stables converted to residences at 11, 12, and 13 Byron Street was originally designed in 1895 to serve as a fire house," per a National Park Service National Historic Landmark Nomination form for the Beacon Hill Historic District that I found online. "Its use in this capacity was short-lived because neither its garage portals nor Byron Street itself are wide enough to accommodate motorized fire engines introduced to Boston fire stations around 1910. Yellow bricked, these 1 1⁄2-story buildings have granite trim in roundels carved with the original street numbers of the stables and the date 1895, the same year the yellow brick addition to the State House. The row is articulated by four broad arches ornamented with corbelled brick. This group is among the best preserved of the converted stables."

I just love being able to find out the history of places like this, and even more I love the idea of rich folks living in converted stables. According to a Redfin listing online, 13 Byron Street last sold for $2.125 million. The condo has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, two fireplaces, central air, an internal courtyard with a retractable glass roof and a large mahogany roof deck.

Just down the street is another former stable, this one properly marked.

In addition to all the funky homes, I saw lots of cool details that people use to personalize their spaces.

I don't remember exactly where I saw this artful plaque. I imagine the person who commissioned it and had it installed thought it was a regal lion, but I just think of cowardly.

And speaking of lions, what's going on with the fellow below?

"Honey, why does our doorbell look like the Gimp from 'Pulp Fiction'?"

Below, a primly polite message, elegantly presented.

Below, a scene that wouldn't be out of place at a suburban elementary school.

I spied these synthetic flowers with bingo balls outside a small business, I believe.

While much of the architecture in Beacon Hill is elegant but understated, there are plenty of places that break that mold.

Benedict Chambers was built in 1870 on Spruce Street. It was "designed in the High Victorian Gothic Style by Boston architect Nathaniel J. Bradlee," per this excellent write-up at The Next Phase Blog. The building was designed not as a gigantic home for some uber-rich textile magnate, but rather as a residential hotel. I love the circular fire escape and the somewhat ostentatious entryway.

From that elegance, we turn to a very plain symbol of the everyday things that make Beacon Hill, and every neighborhood, function.

Who knows how long ago the Jay R. Smith Mfg. Co. installed this plumbing access panel?

My final stop on the residential part of this post is an apartment building on the North Slope with its name chiseled into stone.

I haven't found much online about the Cedar Block, as this place on West Cedar Street near Cambridge Street is called, but I did stumble across one interesting tidbit. Built in 1899, it was once home to a music store called New Scene Folklore. "New Scene seems to be becoming a folk social center of sorts," the publication Broadside wrote in this April 1962 edition. All these years later, there's almost no mention of the store on the Internet.

To make the transition out of residential and into retail and office properties, let's check out a small, green oasis in an unlikely spot.

Located at the foot if the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge, Tom White's Garden is a memorial to a longtime neighborhood character. The footbridge connects Beacon Hill with the Esplanade (home of Boston's Fourth of July extravaganza), crossing over the extremely busy Storrow Drive. The article I'd read online about the garden's namesake is no longer available, so unfortunately I can't pass along why Tom White was so beloved by the good folks of Beacon Hill.

So we've looked at some of the cool places the people of Beacon Hill live and relax. But where, oh where, do they get their booze?

Why, Simmons Liquors, of course! I have no idea how long this store has been here, but the sign looks like it goes back to at least the '70s.

While Beacon Hill's work space is dominated by the Massachusetts State House and other government and educational buildings (Suffolk University), there are some funky office joints.

This place, located on the corner of Charles and Chestnut streets in the Flat of the Hill, wouldn't look out of place in France or Belgium. Currently home to Townhouse Beauty Bar, a Sara Campbell store and Caffe Bella Vita, was built in 1880. OK, so this isn't really an office building -- it has several high-priced condos above the retail -- but it is cool and people do work there.

People also work in the warehouse space below, featuring a cool ghost sign.

Currently a maintenance facility for nearby Massachusetts General Hospital, this place on the North Slope does have some condos in it, I believe. I think it dates to 1916 and was once known as Shute's Garage. It was designed by Wesley Lyng Minor.

One of my favorite quirky spaces in Beacon Hill is the Flat of the Hill home of Hill House, a community center offering art, dance, fitness, language, theater and summer programs, and much more. It is located in the former Mount Vernon Street Firehouse.

I'm going to finish this post by showcasing some cool storefronts and other stuff along Charles Street.

I love this doorway at 119 Charles, home to at least one antique store, a type of business for which Charles Street is well known.

Directly across the street is the Charles Street Station post office.

Quaint, isn't it?

A little ways up I found one of the coolest stores I've seen in Beacon Hill or anywhere in Boston.

For more than 30 years, Helen's Leather has been outfitting locals and tourists in high-end Western coats, hats, belts, boots, shirts and more. I thought I might buy a belt buckle or something else smaller, but left empty-handed. Maybe next time. Can't beat the wallpaper in the entryway....

On the wall below the leather store's window is this plaque.

"Site of the home of

John Albion Andrew

War Governor of Massachusetts

1861-1865

Born in Windham Maine 31 May 1818

Died in Boston 30 October 1867

Placed by the City of Boston 1924"

Pretty cool. I love the plaques I find all around Boston.

In the next installment in my Beacon Hill series I will focus on more plagues, some government buildings, some signs, a named building, a ghost building and more.