High and Inside: Historic Interiors of Bay State Road

Tucked between Kenmore Square and the Charles River, Bay State Road is a frequent haunt of Red Sox fans in desperate search of game-day parking. This fascinating historic district is well worth a visit in any season, however--and is particularly charming on a Sunday in early June, when the team is on the road!

The final portion of the decades-long Back Bay landfill effort, Bay State Road was developed over the 20- year period straddling the turn of the last century. As this was a heyday of architectural eclecticism, the street presents a rich stylistic array; fine houses in the Romanesque and Beaux-Arts idioms coexist alongside distinguished examples of the Georgian, Colonial and Federal Revivals.

Several of these contain extraordinary and largely intact interiors whose inventive plans, rich ornamental details and lavish materials represent the culmination of the city rowhouse type in Boston. Designed by such luminaries as Arthur Little, William York Peters and Chapman & Frazer, these spaces are today owned and maintained by Boston University, through whose courtesy we are able to invite you (as one might say of a pitch at Fenway Park) high and inside.

This walking tour is led by William Young and a reception will follow at Eastern Standard, 775 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02215.

William Young

William’s lifelong interest in architectural history was sparked at an early age, growing up on the coast of Maine admiring local works by Richard Upjohn, John Calvin Stevens and McKim, Mead & White. After earning degrees in English from Boston College, he entered the Boston University graduate program in historic preservation; this led to more than two decades on the staff of the Boston Landmarks Commission, from which he retired as Director of Design Review. As an independent consultant, William now guides his clients to meet historic preservation regulations at the local, state and federal levels, while remaining active on the lecture and walking-tour circuit. His recent projects include residential renovations in the Back Bay and on Beacon Hill, and new-construction retail and life-sciences buildings on Newbury Street and in the South End. William has also served three times as a commercial juror for Traditional Building magazine's Palladio Awards, most recently in 2022.