The Appleton-Parker House, 39-40 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the famous Scholar, Poet, and Harvard professor, would walk from Harvard University, across what was known as The Cambridge Bridge in the mid 1800’s, to arrive at the Appleton-Parker House, at 39-40 Beacon Street. Longfellow made the trek between Harvard Square and Beacon Hill to visit his love, Fanny Appleton, the daughter of textile baron, Nathan Appleton, so frequently that the structure was eventually renamed for Longfellow and is now know as the Longfellow Bridge. Longfellow would arrive at the granite steps of this handsome and stately Greek Revival brick building resting prominently on the southern slope of Beacon Hill along the Western edge of Boston Common. This grand exterior was designed by world renowned Architect Alexander Parris. Parris was commissioned by hotel magnate and textile entrepreneur Daniel Pinckney Parker and Nathan Appleton in the early 1800’s, to construct the double townhouse which is now known as the Appleton-Parker House.
The Architect
For Alexander Parris, a younger contemporary and associate of Charles Bulfinch, the Appleton-Parker houses hailed the beginning of a long and successful career. While he was working on these houses, he was also overseeing the construction of the classical David Sears house, now the Somerset Club at 42 Beacon Street, and he went on to design such purely Greek Revival buildings as Quincy Market, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Boston Navy Yard.
The Land
The land on which the houses stand was once the property of John Singleton Copley, the American Painter who went to England in 1774 never to return. Copley left behind a sizable estate-three houses plus outbuildings and eighteen acres of rough upland pasture on the south slope of Beacon Hill overlooking Boston Common. Within twenty years, the value of this Beacon Hill acreage attracted speculation. In 1795 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts purchased land from the estate of Copley’s neighbor John Hancock upon which to build a new State House, and surrounding acres were ripe for development. That same year Copley sold his “farm” to the Mount Vernon Proprietors, a group of developers who aimed to subdivide the hillside into good-sized plots for the free-standing mansions of Boston’s new and wealthy merchant class.
The Founding Families
Nathan Appleton was born in 1779, the ninth of twelve children in a small-town New Hampshire family. By midlife he had accumulated a vast fortune, first as a merchant and later as a principal investor in the early textile industry in Lowell, Massachusetts. He was forty when he built this Beacon Street house, and he lived here until his death in 1861, entertaining such luminaries as Daniel Webster, Edgar Allen Poe, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1843 the front parlor was the scene of Longfellow’s marriage to Appleton’s daughter Fanny. Nathan Appleton’s son, Thomas Gold Appleton, was an amateur painter influential in the early history of the Museum of Fine Arts; his grandson William Sumner Appleton, founded the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Daniel Pinckney Parker is the more anonymous of the two partners. Also of humble origins, he was born in 1781 in Southborough, Massachusetts, the descendant of at least two generations of farmers. He entered the merchant’s trade at an early age and by 1810 was a business partner of Nathan Appleton. The partnership was short-lived but the two men remained friends-and neighbors-the rest of their lives. As a merchant, Parker continued to prosper. His obituary in 1850 credited him with having owned at one time or another almost forty vessels, including the clipper ship “Probus”, the “finest and fastest ship ever in the China Trade.” Parker’s daughter Lucilla married a son of Boston mayor Josiah Quincy.
Past Owners
Number 40 Beacon Street was most recently acquired by James A. Pappas of Boston, in 1992 with the vision to restore this once grand structure. Previous owner’s included the Women’s City Club from 1914 until the Pappas purchase. Prior to the Women’s City Club ownership, 40 Beacon was lived in by Daniel Parker until his death in 1850. Upon Mrs. Parker’s death in 1863 the house passed to Henderson Inches and then in 1898 to the interior decorating firm of Alley and Emery. It served the two decorators as both home and office, they adding a good number of decorative details to their taste. Since 1914, the Women’s City Club had carried out a number of interior alterations to accommodate Club activities: additional floors over the servants’ quarters in 1920; a new assembly hall and roof deck garden in 1937.
Recorded in 1978 to the Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historical Places, because of the significance of the structure, historical events, and original owners, the Appleton-Parker House is rich in history. With the Parker family residing in 40 Beacon Street, and the Appleton Family living at 39 Beacon Street, the original structure was built as an identical three story building and it was not until 1888 that the fourth floor was designed and added by Boston Architects H.W Hartwell & W.C Richardson above the original cornice. The Appleton house was further altered from its original Parris design by the addition of centered windows to the bow on each of the four floors, while 40 Beacon Street maintains the original façade as Parris had intended.
In 1914, Helen Osborne Storrow, the wife of James Storrow, purchased 40 Beacon Street and used this building as the home of the Women’s City Club. The Women’s City Club was a meeting place for Boston women of varied social backgrounds where they could exchange ideas and discuss topics of community and general interest. This historic structure remained the home to the Women’s City Club until 1992 when it was purchased by a local Boston developer. Currently used as a single family residence, this structure has been formally divided into five condos. This palatial building consists of more than 18,000 square feet of living space.
From the brick sidewalk of Beacon Street, granite steps lead one to an oversized door that is surrounded by original window panes which have been designed with intricate lead detail. Once greeted into the foyer, an antique black and white marble floor leads to an elegant and dramatic spiral staircase which is draped across the three original floors of 40 Beacon Street. The “Peace Button” still remains in the newel post of this grand staircase. This structurally significant spiral staircase is crowned with a spectacular domed skylight that drowns the staircase with natural light. This graceful yet effortless staircase was designed by Charles Bulfinch.
The formal foyer is adorned with a centered chandelier, detailed molding, and tall ceilings. Follow this architectural masterpiece to the second floor, which was the primary living and entertaining level for the Parker Family.
One is instantly lured into the formal living room with its intricate moldings, enormous floor to ceiling windows, and gleaming hardwood floors. This room is illuminated by a magnificent brass and crystal chandelier that is surrounded by a center medallion plaster molding. A marble surround fireplace is consistent with the Greek Revival style of this home with its white columns and cherub details. This sun flooded formal space offers breathtaking views over the historic Boston Common and holds a true air of renaissance sophistication which has been lost in many of Boston’s historic buildings. Separated by oversized mahogany pocket doors that have a rare curved design, is the formal dining room. This room also offers antique moldings and details including extraordinary and unique scallop shell crown molding and a marble surround fireplace. Also on this level adjacent to the formal living room is the den. This large and dramatic room offers elegant details such as hardwood floors, enormous sun inviting windows with stunning park views of their own, crown molding, another original marble mantled fireplace, as well as powder room.
From the formal dining room on the second level of the building, one can access the home’s primary kitchen. This oversized kitchen has been designed for today’s chef and entertainer, with its stainless appliances, granite counters, glass front cabinetry, and tile flooring. From the kitchen one can access the enormous sun drenched terrace. This sprawling private outdoor space offers beautiful landscaping and is a serene abode that has showered by direct sun in the middle of Beacon Hill. A large family room off the kitchen has a built in wet bar and a wall of windows offering access to, and charming views of the private terrace. The rear of the building is currently used as a two bedroom guest annex with its own fully applianced, galley kitchen on one level, and a fitness room on the upper level. This section of the building also has a private sun deck, and a roof deck atrium that overlooks the private terrace. This portion of the building is easily accessible by a private staircase that also leads to the garage and rear foundation.
On the third floor of the Appleton-Parker House one will find six bedrooms and a study including the enormous Master bedroom with sensational views over Boston Common and his and her baths, and two enormous walk in closets. The fourth floor of the building is currently used as multiple private offices with a galley kitchen. An enormous roof deck has unsurpassed 360 degree views over the Common from Kenmore Square to Back Bay across the Park to Boston’s Downtown Financial District.
Two separate foundations, one in the front of the home provides for storage for the homes systems including the elevator, individually metered hot water heaters, and gas fired boilers, the hot air seating systems, and central cooling systems. The rear foundation consists of two levels with the upper level offering generous laundry facilities and provides for bounds of storage. Both the upper and lower levels give access to an enormous temperature controlled wine cellar. The lower level of the foundation offers additional storage. From Walnut Street a private drive laid with granite pavers leads to a wrought iron gate giving access to a large three car garage and an enormous parking lot with six plus outdoor parking spaces.