129 Beacon is located on the south side of Beacon, between Arlington and Berkeley, with 127 Beacon to the east and 131 Beacon to the west.

129 Beacon was built in 1860-1861, one of two contiguous houses (127-129 Beacon) built in the same design. As originally built, 127-129 Beacon both had flat front façades; sometime between 1912 and 1917 a one story oriel was added on the second story of 129 Beacon (it is not shown on the 1912 Bromley map but is shown on the 1917 map). Two other houses, 131-133 Beacon, in a similar style, were built at about the same time on slightly larger lots.

All four houses were built on land owned by William Warren Goddard and T. Bigelow Lawrence, part of a tract of land they had purchased from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on August 1, 1857. That tract included all of the land on the south side of Beacon Street from Arlington to Berkeley.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 129 Beacon, and click here for further information about the land on the south side of Beacon from Arlington to Berkeley, north of Alley 421.

Three different builders constructed the houses: James Standish built 127 Beacon, John D. Dunbar built 129 Beacon, and Samuel S. Perkins built 131-133 Beacon. Each builder held an option to purchase the land where he was building and, after the buildings were completed, acquired the land from William Goddard and T. Bigelow Lawrence, and then resold the house and land to its first occupant.

On May 22, 1860, the Boston Evening Transcript reported that John D. Dunbar had filed with the Board of Aldermen a Notice of Intention to build on Beacon. On March 27, 1861, after completing the house at 129 Beacon, he purchased the land from William Goddard and T. Bigelow Lawrence. He and his wife, Harriet (Beaman) Dunbar, lived at 375 Tremont.

During the 1861-1862 winter season, 129 Beacon was the home of broker and commission merchant Francis Edward Bacon and his wife, Louisa (Crowninshield) Bacon, who had married in October of 1860 and then traveled in Europe. In her Reminiscences, published in 1922, Louisa Bacon recalled that, after spending one winter at 129 Beacon, they spent the next two years at the “old Tremont House” hotel. They later would live briefly at 276 Beacon.

On May 6, 1862, 129 Beacon was purchased from John Dunbar by retired druggist William Gardiner Prescott, He and his wife, Josephine Augusta (Peabody) Prescott, made it their home. They previously had lived at 4 Walnut. They also maintained a home in Pepperell, Massachusetts. They continued to live at 129 Beacon in 1867, but had moved by 1868 and by 1870 were living at 55 Beacon with his mother, Susannah (Amory) Prescott, the widow of William Hickling Prescott.

By 1868, 129 Beacon was the home of banker Francis Welles Hunnewell and his wife, Margaret Louisa (Fassitt) Hunnewell.  By 1871, they had moved to a new home they had built at 278 Clarendon.

On September 6, 1870, 129 Beacon was purchased from William Prescott by Sarah (Messer) Wheelwright, the wife of wholesale dry goods merchant John William Wheelwright. Their two children, Arthur William Wheelwright and Laura Wheelwright, lived with them. They previously had lived at 101 Boylston.

Laura Wheelwright married in June of 1894 to George Herbert Windeler of London, an insurance broker. After their marriage, they lived at 233 Marlborough.

Sarah Wheelwright died in March of 1906.

Arthur Wheelwright, an architect, moved in about 1907 to the Somerset Hotel. By 1910, he made his home in Westwood, Massachusetts.

John Wheelwright continued to live at 129 Beacon until his death in April of 1916.

The house was not listed in the 1917-1919 Blue Books.

On October 16, 1919, 129 Beacon was acquired from the Wheelwright family by Miss Euphemia Elizabeth McClintock, who made it her home.

A native of South Carolina, she had served as president of the College for Women in Columbia, South Carolina, until it merged with Chicora College in 1915.  She moved to Boston, where her sister, Mary Law McClintock, operated Miss McClintock’s School for Girls at 4 Arlington. In 1920, Euphemia McClintock established the Erskine School for Young Women to provide vocational and business training courses for girls who had graduated from private schools such as her sister’s.

Initially, Erskine School had classrooms at 4 Chestnut Street and also offered classes at Miss McClintock’s home at 129 Beacon. In May of 1921, she leased 135 Beacon to be a residence for the young women attending Erskine School. In October of 1923 she leased 115 Beacon and it appears that, thereafter,135 Beacon became classrooms and/or a dormitory for her sister’s school (it is listed as “McClintock School” in the 1923-1925 Boston City Directories and Boston Blue Books).

By the 1924-1925 winter season Erskine School had leased 111 Beacon and moved from 115 Beacon, which then became a single-family home until about 1933, when it was once again leased by Erskine School.

Mary Law McClintock died in January of 1925, and Euphemia McClintock appears to have inherited her school.  Miss McClintock’s School soon ceased operation at 4 Arlington and in September of 1925, Euphemia McClintock purchased 135 Beacon and it became classrooms and/or a dormitory for Erskine School.

By 1937, Erskine School occupied seven buildings on the south side of Beacon between Arlington and Berkeley: 105, 111, 115, 129, 135, and 145 Beacon, and 303 Berkeley (147 Beacon).

Euphemia McClintock continued to serve as director of Erskine School until about 1939, and to live at 129 Beacon until about 1940.

On November 28, 1941, Anne M. Young and Franklin W. Fessenden, conservators of the property of Euphemia McClintock, transferred the five buildings she owned — 111 Beacon, 129 Beacon, 135 Beacon, 145 Beacon, and 303 Berkeley (147 Beacon) — to Erskine, Inc.

129 Beacon remained an Erskine School dormitory until about 1942.

The property was shown as vacant in the 1944 City Directory.  By 1945, it had become a lodging house.

On August 30, 1946, 129 Beacon was acquired by Miss Ruth Katherine Partridge. She was a secretary and later a saleswoman, and previously had been a lodger at 114 Beacon. Her mother, Mabel (Simmons) Partridge, the widow of Amos Matthew Partridge, lived with her; she previously had lived in Belfast, Maine. They operated 129 Beacon as a lodging house.

Ruth Partridge married in June of 1955 to Kenneth Frazier French, sales manager for the Broil-A-Quick Corp., who had been a lodger at 129 Beacon. They continued to live there in 1956, but moved soon thereafter. Mabel Partridge continued to live and operate the lodging house at 129 Beacon until about 1957.

In February of 1957, 129 Beacon was acquired by Joseph F. Tamburino, and in December of 1964 by Mary A. Kleinsmith, who transferred it to herself as trustee of the Kleinsmith Realty Trust in October of 1973. In October of 1977, it was acquired by Sonja Hayward, trustee of the Ocean Realty Trust, and in November of 1978 by Robert A. Pantano.

The property remained a lodging house in the 1970s.

In September of 1980, 129 Beacon was acquired by Farshid Banani and Lili Banani, trustees of the Moshiri Company Trust. In October of 1980, they applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the house into four apartments.

On June 24, 1981, they converted the apartments into four condominium units, the 129 Beacon Street Condominium.