Alexander Parris – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Quincy Market (1826)

by Dan/March 24, 2010/Boston, Commercial, Greek Revival

Quincy Market, which stretches 365 feet and led to the opening of six new streets when it was built in 1824-1826, was Boston’s first major project after incorporating as a city in 1822. Named for mayor Josiah Quincy, the building greatly expanded on the market space already available to Boston citizens in the adjacent Faneuil Hall. Architect Alexander Parris planned a Greek Revival style structure, with columns and pediments at each end and a central copper dome. It was the first large-scale use of granite and glass with post-and-beam construction and, when originally built, the Market was right on the harbor’s edge. Two additional long warehouse buildings flank the main structure to the north and south. Quincy Market was restored between 1976 and 1978 to become part of the shopping and dining center called Faneuil Hall Marketplace Continue reading “Quincy Market (1826)”

Nathan Appleton House (1818)

by Dan/July 2, 2009January 19, 2020/Boston, Federal, Greek Revival, Houses

The Nathan Appleton House, at 39 Beacon Street, and its partner, the Daniel Parker House, at no. 40, were designed for the two former business partners by Alexander Parris, a noted Boston architect. Built in 1818, a fourth floor was added to both houses in 1888. These two bowfront row houses which are transitional between the Federal and Greek Revival styles, at one time mirrored each other more closely, but the Appleton house had an extra window added on each of its floors. Nathan Appleton was a pioneering textile manufacturer. The marriage of the poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, to Appleton‘s daughter, Fanny, took place in the house in 1843. From 1914 into the 1990s, the building housed the Women’s City Club of Boston. In more recent times, it has been subdivided into condominiums. There is a video of the house’s exterior on YouTube.

Somerset Club (1819)

by Dan/July 25, 2008July 2, 2009/Boston, Federal, Houses

The home of David Sears, on Beacon Street in Boston, began as a 2-story bowfront house, built in 1816-1819 and designed by Alexander Parris. The left section of the house, featuring a second bowfront, was added by Sears in 1832, and in the 1830s, the house was the most expensive in Boston. The building has been home to the exclusive Somerset Club since 1872, when the third floor was added. Today, the house gives an impression of monumentality, with its large size and granite facade.