Boston’s Otis House, located on Cambridge Street near Mass. General Hospital was designed by Bulfinch. The House was built in 1797 for the extremely rich family of Harrison Gray Otis, who was the 3rd Mayor of Boston. At that time, most people of Boston were living in homes that were as wide as the foyer in the new Otis house. Even an historic hotel couldn’t compete with the size of rooms the Otis house had for their overnight guests.
The Otis family actually only lived in the building for a few years before moving into an even larger mansion located on Mt. Vernon Street, which by-the-way, is still a private residence. The Otis’s still needing more room moved into an even larger mansion on Beacon Street a few year later and is now home to the American Meteorological Society, which needless to say, would have been better suited has one of the better Boston hotels .
The original Otis house, after they left it, was used as a boarding house and clinic for the middle and upper class, and then it was purchased and renovated in the Federal Style by Historic New England as it would have been when the Otis family lived there. Currently, the Otis house features some of the Otis family furniture and as well as some of Sally Foster Otis’ family including re-creations of the wallpaper, paint and carpet patterns.
The House is open Wednesday through Sunday all year round. Tours begin every half-hour between 11am and 4:30pm. Cost is $8 for adults, $4 for students and $7 for seniors. Boston residents get in for free.
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