42-43 Beacon Street
Boston, MA, USA

David Sears House

The David Sears House is a historic house located along Beacon Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The three story house was built in several stages between 1816 and 1875. Now a National Historic Landmark, it was one of the first houses built of granite in the city, and was designed by Alexander Parris for David Sears, a prominent merchant, philanthropist, and landowner. The carved granite panels that adorn the facade were carved by Solomon Willard.

The original 1816 house was a two-story L-shaped structure with a hip roof, with a facade that was seven bays wide. In c. 1824 Sears had the building nearly doubled in size, adding three bays to the facade, and moving the front door to its present location. In 1875, after the building was acquired by the Somerset Club, the third floor was added, changing the roof from a hip to a gable. This work also included renovations to the interior of the first two floors. The building was again enlarged to the rear in 1900, adding additional space for servants.

The house is still owned by Somerset Club, and is not open to the general public. It was designated a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

Designed and built by Alexander Parris in 1816 and enlarged in 1824 and again in 1875, the David Sears House is an early and magnificent example of a monumentally-scale Adamesque-Federal-styled town house constructed of granite. The use of this new building material imposed rigid restrictions on conventional detailing. But in this house Parris demonstrated how to make of these restrictions an opportunity to develop a highly original sort of basic classicism.

History
Plans for the house, one of the first in Boston to be built of granite, were prepared by Alexander Parris, noted Boston architect, and the exterior granite panels were carved by Solmon Willard in 1816 Around 1824 David Sears, the owner, nearly doubled the size of his residence by adding a second great curved bay. The existing third story was added to the structure when the house was acquired by the Somerset Club in 1875. The building has been used since that year as a private men's club.