Checking Out America's First Condo Complex

From Dave Brigham:

It was love at first sight for me with the Beaconsfield Terraces apartment complex in Brookline, Mass. Seriously.

Developed between 1889 and 1892 by Eugene Knapp along Tappan Street and Garrison Road just behind the Beacon Street Star Market, the complex was designed by the architecture firm of Fehmer and Page, per Wikipedia. "The houses were built of cream-colored brick and of gray stone and the design was independent of all the classic forms," according to this document on the Brookline Historical Society web site. "It was rather a combination of the English and German Mediaeval castles' architecture, modified to ensure all the modern conveniences in the interior arrangement of the rooms."

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Beaconsfield Terraces is considered America's first suburban condo complex. The development originally included a playground, a park, stables and a playhouse, according to Wikipedia. Only the apartment buildings remain. Developer Eugene Knapp was a wool importer who grew up poor and, after developing Beaconsfield, lost his fortune and eventually had to sell the development for $500,000. He lost that money as well in the Panic of 1903, according to this Boston.com article.

For a look inside one of the apartments, check this link.

I first noticed these buildings in the fall of 1990 when I moved to Boston's Brighton neighborhood, not too far from Beaconsfield. I would pass the development as I rode the trolley into Boston and then back to my apartment. My then-girlfriend (now wife), Beth, and I shopped at Shaw's a few times and I just found these buildings so fascinating. They looked like something out of a fairy tale and I imagined that only the fanciest, most magical people lived in them.

Around the corner on Beacon Street stands one more building that, while part of the original Beaconsfield Terraces complex, isn't part of that neighborhood's historic district. Rather, it is included in the Beacon Street Historic District.

As you can see, the materials and style are a bit different, but this building is still stunning.