A new chapter in a landmark building’s history

The Park Street Historic District is home to King’s Chapel, the Park Street Church, the Old Granary Burial Ground... and Twenty Beacon, the Claflin Building. One of Boston’s finest surviving Queen Anne commercial buildings, the exterior details of Twenty Beacon’s brick façade remain virtually intact, from its graceful arches and bay windows to its varied use of texture and materials. And, as is true of the interior renovation, the detailing is magnificent – wrought iron corbels, inset terra cotta medallions of the artists Anthony van Dyck and Albrecht Dürer, even the insignia of Boston University.

In 1873, the University commissioned William G. Preston to design its new School of Religious Education and Social Work. Trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, Preston was already well known for having designed the New England Museum of Natural History, now home to Louis Boston. B.U. named its new building after one of its three founders, Lee Claflin, and his son William, a former Governor of Massachusetts and a longtime B.U. trustee.

Over the years, the upper floors of the Claflin Building became home to many university departments and professors, including Alexander Graham Bell, while the first two floors housed commercial concerns, most notably antique dealer Koopman & Company and Goodspeed’s, one of the nation’s finest antiquarian bookshops.

Today, Twenty Beacon sits proudly across from the State House in a row of landmark buildings that includes the Boston Athenaeum and the Chester Harding House. Outside, its beautiful façade speaks to its fascinating history. Inside, the past is present only in the enduring appeal of classic good taste. The four gracious homes of Twenty Beacon are waiting for you to write your own history within and upon them.