Harrison Gray Otis House

Infobox_nrhp | name =Harrison Gray Otis House, (First)
nrhp_type = nhl


caption = 1st Harrison Gray Otis House, 141 Cambridge Street.
location= Boston, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 21
lat_seconds = 40.75
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 71
long_minutes = 3
long_seconds = 52.38
long_direction = W
locmapin = Massachusetts
area =
built =1795
architect= Bulfinch,Charles
architecture= Other, Federal
designated=December 30, 1970
added = December 30, 1970
governing_body = Private
refnum=70000539cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Infobox_nrhp | name =Harrison Gray Otis House, (Second)
nrhp_type =

---

caption = 2nd Harrison Gray Otis House, 85 Mount Vernon Street
location= Boston, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 21
lat_seconds = 29.89
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 71
long_minutes = 4
long_seconds = 3.22
long_direction = W
locmapin = Massachusetts
area =
built =1802
architect= Bulfinch,Charles
architecture= Federal
added = July 27, 1973
governing_body = Private
refnum=73001955cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

There are three houses named the Harrison Gray Otis House in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. All were built by noted American architect Charles Bulfinch for the same man, Harrison Gray Otis.

1st Harrison Gray Otis House

The 1st Harrison Gray Otis House is located at 141 Cambridge Street, next to the Old West Church in Boston's West End. It is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and, further, has been designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

This house is now owned by the Historic New England organization, and is open as a nonprofit museum.

Although similar to the other two houses, it is the simplest and in that way perhaps the most appealing. The design is said to be inspired by a William Bingham house that Bulfinch saw in 1789 in Philadelphia, in turned derived from a London example. The house is three stories, in five bays, with elegant string courses. Today's graceful entrance was added after 1801. Above it is a fine Palladian window, and above that a lunette. The third floor is very short; ceilings are just over 6 feet tall. Floor plan is in the Colonial fashion, with two rooms on either side of the central hallway. The kitchen was in an ell.

2nd Harrison Gray Otis House

The 2rd Harrison Gray Otis House is located at 85 Mount Vernon Street. It is a fine, large, Federal-style mansion in densely developed Beacon Hill. It is listed on the National Register.

Here Bulfinch has made the 1st floor, with his characteristic recessed brick arches, here ornamented with Chinese fretwork balconies in iron. The facade has four bays, with somewhat odd use of Corinthian pilasters on the 2nd and 3rd floors. There is a roof balustrade and a largish, octagonal cupola. Otis lived here until 1806.

3rd Harrison Gray Otis House

The 3rd Harrison Gray Otis House is located at 45 Beacon Street. Completed in 1806, it is now the home of the American Meteorological Society. This is the last and largest of the houses, also built in the Federal style, and the residence of Otis until his death in 1848. Its four stories are organized into five bays. The center entrance has a small, rectangular portico with delicate pairs of Ionic fluted columns. The modest ground floor, now faced in stone, originally had the recessed brick arches typical of Bulfinch houses. When built, the house was freestanding, surrounded by the Boston Common and English gardens.

External links

* [http://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/homes/otis.htm Historic New England: Otis House Museum, 1796]

References