Bi-Weekly Newsletter

5/4/2024

Ames-Webster Mansion
The Ames-Webster Mansion is located at the corner of Commonwealth Ave and Dartmouth Street in Boston's prestigious Back Bay neighborhood. In the 1880's it was the winter home of industrialist and congressman Frederick L. Ames, "who engaged the finest craftsmen and artists to create a true architectural masterpiece and Gilded Age icon." (Campionre) Mr. Ames's family/country home was located at Langwater in North Easton.

The original mansion was designed in 1872 by architects Peabody and Stearns. In 1882 the home was enlarged for Mr. Ames by architect John Hubbard Sturgis who also designed the Museum of Fine Arts. In the house were 50 rooms, 28 fireplaces and various hidden passageways. The beautiful home was inhabited by the Ames and Webster families for ninety years. Inside are masterful works of art including stained glass by John LaFarge and murals by Benjamin Constant.

In 1972 the mansion was converted to serve as offices and was used as such until 2014 when the building was bought by Dr. Fahad El Athel, who began restoration. Under the supervision of the architectural firm Hamady Architects the stained glass and murals were cleaned and restored. A reinstatement of its original gated carriage entrance and a new garden were added. The old Ames-Webster building was now a three-unit condo building with parking in the basement and common spaces that are true to the history of the space.

"Heir to railroad fortune, Mr. Ames served as vice president of the Old Colony Railroad and Fall River Steamboat Line. He was also an art collector, with holdings that included porcelains, paintings, crystals and jades, according to a New York Times Obituary in 1893. The Ameses were entertainers and would host grand parties in the oak great hall, with the orchestra playing above in the music room, according to Mr. Hamady's research. Mr. Hamady found old photographs of Mr. Ames dressed up as a Shakespearean character at a costume party, most likely Henry VIII." (Wall Street Journal)

Thus another interesting connection to North Easton and the illustrious Ames family.

Anne Wooster Drury
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