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
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.
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