CultureNOW - Shirley-Eustis House: Peter Harrison and Peter Vanderwarker

Shirley-Eustis House

Architect
Peter Harrison

Dates

Constructed, 1747

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Description

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ABOUT THE HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS/b>
The Shirley-Eustis House on Shirley Street in Roxbury remains one of the least-known masterpieces of Boston architecture, Built in 1747, it has participated in more history than almost any other building that comes to mind. It was the home of two governors of Massachusetts and was visited by the Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Daniel Webster. It was a barracks and a hospital for the British during the Revolution. In 1867 it was moved 60 feet for a new street and cut up into a dozen or more small apartments. It fell vacant in 1911 and has remained so. Now it is being renovated as a museum.

William Shirley built the house during his years as a royal governor of the colony of Massachusetts. The designer was probably Peter Harrison, the architect of King's Chapel. Harrison, employing the blocky, solid style of architecture known a Georgian, gave the house its high stone base, boxy profile, tall hip roof, and bold row of Corinthian pilasters across the front. Much damaged during the Revolution, the house was rebuilt in about 1800 by James Magee, one of the early China trade captains. Magee adapted the house to the more delicate style of architecture we now call Federal. His architect, perhaps the celebrated Charles Bulfinch, placed thinner, more refined ornament on the outside and performed an act of remarkable fakery by raising the tops of the second-story windows higher than the ceilings of the rooms within, to give the exterior a lighter appearance. The changes made the house fashionable enough to attract the house's second governor, who came along in 1819 in the person of a former continental army surgeon named Dr. William Eustis. Eustis served two terms as chief official of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The photographs show the house as it looked in 1970 and as it looks now. Since 1970, restoration has been slow but continuous; today the house is within a few weeks of being opened as museum. Sponsoring the restoration is the Shirley-Eustis House Association, a private group. New floors, ornamental plaster, woodwork, and paint and wallpaper have been added, all carefully authenticated by preservation experts. Donors have offered funds, furniture and objects.

The new photo shows some of the restoreres. From left are Frederic Detwiller, architectural historian and director of the house association; Mannie Payne, the painter who matched the antique colors; Marlowe A. Sigal, treasurer of the association David Mittell, its president; and Anthony Cassisi, the plasterer who restored the moldings and ornamental detail.

-Robert Campbell and Peter Vanderwarker, "CITYSCAPES - History lives Here",Boston Globe, 27 October 1985

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Location
Shirley St & Clifton St
Roxbury, MA 02119
United States

Nearby Items
Old Howard 0.6 miles
Upham Corner Station Historic Murals 0.7 miles
Dorchester Voices / Dorchester History 0.9 miles
Columbia Road at Dudley Street 0.9 miles
Copenhagen Foundation 1 miles
The Word 1.1 miles
Roxbury Canal (Albany Street at Massachusetts Avenue) 1.1 miles

Old Howard		0.6 miles
Upham Corner Station Historic Murals		0.7 miles
Dorchester Voices / Dorchester History		0.9 miles
Columbia Road at Dudley Street		0.9 miles
Copenhagen Foundation		1 miles
The Word		1.1 miles
Roxbury Canal (Albany Street at Massachusetts Avenue)		1.1 miles