231 Beacon is located on the south side of Beacon, between Clarendon and Dartmouth, with 229 Beacon to the east and 233 Beacon to the west.

231 Beacon was built in 1868-1869, one of a symmetrical pair (231-233 Beacon).

231 Beacon was built as the home of Dr. William Wallace Morland, a physician, and his wife, Frances Sophia (Lyman) Morland. They previously had lived at 90 Charles and, before that, at 13 Arlington. 233 Beacon was built for Frances (Lyman) Morland’s niece, Anna Huntington (Lyman) Mason, the widow of Rev. Charles Mason. She lived at 71 Beacon and then at 78 Beacon, and leased 233 Beacon to others.

William Morland purchased the land for 231 Beacon on March 18, 1868, from attorney Edwin H. Abbot. It was the western 18 feet of a 20 foot wide lot Edwin Abbot had purchased from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on January 3, 1867.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 231 Beacon, and click here for further information about the land between the south side of Beacon and Alley 419, from Clarendon to Dartmouth.

Frances Morland died in July of 1874.  William Morland continued to live at 231 Beacon until his death in November of 1876.

In October of 1876 Anna Huntington Mason sold 233 Beacon (which she had been leasing to attorney Causten Browne) and at about the same time – either shortly before or after William Morland’s death – she moved from 78 Beacon to 231 Beacon. She continued to live there until about 1878; by 1880, she was living at 159 Beacon.

On May 21, 1878, 231 Beacon was purchased from William Morland’s estate by Thomas Jefferson Coolidge. He and his wife, Mehitable (Hetty) Sullivan (Appleton) Coolidge, lived at 93 Beacon. He was an investor in textile mills, banks, and railroads, and later would serve as Ambassador to France. In 1901, soon after his wife’s death, he purchased 315 Dartmouth and made it his home.

By the 1878-1879 winter season, 231 Beacon was the home of the T. Jefferson Coolidge’s son-in-law and daughter, Lucius Manlius Sargent and Marian Appleton (Coolidge) Sargent. They previously had lived at 90 Charles. He was an attorney.

On October 17, 1881, T. Jefferson Coolidge offered 231 Beacon for sale at public auction. The notice of the auction, published in the Boston Daily Advertiser by auctioneer Samuel Hatch & Co., described the house as a “gem of a house, in perfect order. On the main entrance floor is the reception room, dining room, front and back stairs. 2d floor, two drawing rooms. Four spacious chambers. Large attic. The house is finished in white wood dadoed halls, rich papers, with the best and most approved modern fixtures throughout the house. Sunny kitchen, laundry, etc. on the yard level.” The advertisement noted that the house had been “recently decorated by Richard Codman,” the uncle of noted architect and decorator, Ogden Codman, Jr. Lucius M. Sargent was the first cousin, once removed, of Richard Codman’s wife, Susan Williams (Sargent) Codman.

231 Beacon apparently did not sell, and the Sargents continued to live there during the 1881-1882 season, but moved thereafter to 184 Beacon.

On July 10, 1882, 231 Beacon was acquired from T. Jefferson Coolidge by Charles Head, an investment banker and stock broker, and later president of the Boston Stock Exchange. He previously had lived at 9 Charles.

In September of 1884, he married to Clementine Hortense Lovering. They made 231 Beacon their home.

The Heads continued to live there until about 1888, when they moved to a new home they had built at 412 Beacon.

On May 23, 1888, 231 Beacon was purchased from Charles Head by Hugh Andrew Allan. He and his wife, Margaret (Rae) Allan, made it their Boston home. They previously had lived in Montreal, and in 1885, at 4 Arlington with his brother, John Smith Allan, and his wife, Adelaide (Gault) Allan.

Hugh Allan was head of the Boston office of the Allan Steamship Line, a Canadian and Scottish firm founded by his father, Andrew Allan, and uncle, Sir Hugh Allan.

They continued to live at 231 Beacon in 1892, when they moved back to Montreal.

On July 5, 1892, 231 Beacon was acquired from Hugh Allan by his first cousin, Bryce James Allan, his successor as the head of the Boston office of the Allan Steamship Line.

Bryce Allan married in June of 1896 to Anna Palfrey and he transferred 231 Beacon to her as a wedding gift. Prior to their marriage, she had lived at 255 Beacon with her mother, Louisa (Bartlett) Palfrey, the widow of Francis Winthrop Palfrey. The Allans lived at 231 Beacon during the 1896-1897 winter season, after which they moved to 255 Beacon following Louisa Palfrey’s death in January of 1897.

On March 31, 1897, 231 Beacon was acquired from Anna Allan by Mary (Moseley) Taylor, the wife of William Osgood Taylor. They had married in March of 1894, after which they had lived at The Grosvenor at 259 Beacon, where their son Moseley Taylor was born in January of 1895. In 1896-1897, the Taylors built a second home at Buzzard’s Bay.

William O. Taylor was the son of Charles Henry Taylor, publisher of the Boston Globe.  William Taylor joined the Globe staff after graduating from Harvard in 1893 and served in various positions.  After his father’s death in 1921, he became publisher of the newspaper, and remained in that position until his death in July of 1955.

The Taylors continued to live at 231 Beacon during the 1902-1903 winter season.  In May of 1903, they purchased 276 Beacon and had moved there by the 1903-1904 winter season.

On September 11, 1903, 231 Beacon was purchased from William Taylor by General Samuel Mather Mansfield. He and his wife, Anna (Baldwin) Wright Mansfield, made it their home.

Living with them was Dr. Erwin Wright, Anna Mansfield’s son by her marriage to Calvin Marsh Wright (who had been killed in the sinking of the steamer Pewabic on August 9, 1865, on Lake Huron).  Erwin Wright was a physician and maintained his medical offices at the house.

Samuel Mansfield served in the Civil War and thereafter was in the Corps of Engineers overseeing the construction of fortifications and light houses.  He was stationed in the West from the 1880s through 1901.  Among his assignments he served as president of the Yosemite National Park Commission in 1898-1899.  He was re-posted to the East in 1901 and retired in February of 1903, at the rank of Brigadier General.  After his retirement, he served as Massachusetts Harbor and Land Commissioner.

During the 1912-1913 winter season. the Mansfields were living elsewhere and 231 Beacon was the home of William Henry Bowker, president of the Bowker Fertilizer Company, and his wife, Charlotte Jeanette (Ryder) Bowker.  The Bowkers had lived at 229 Beacon during the 1911-1912 winter season.  They also maintained a home in Concord.

By 1914, the Bowkers had moved to an apartment in the Hotel Royal at 295 Beacon, and the Mansfields and Dr. Wright were once again living at 231 Beacon.

Anna Mansfield died in 1924.  General Mansfield and Dr. Wright continued to live at 231 Beacon until General Mansfield’s death in February of 1928.

Erwin Wright moved soon thereafter and by 1930 was living with his brother and sister-in-law, Rev. Harrison Baldwin Wright and Sibyl (Baldwin) Wright, at Green Hill Farms in Overbrook, Pennsylvania.

The house was not listed in the 1929 and 1930 Blue Books.

On October 28, 1929, 231 Beacon was acquired from Erwin Wright and Harris Wright (who had inherited it from Samuel Mansfield) by Charles H. Hemenway. Three days later, he transferred it to Ethel G. (Carmichael) Ball, the wife of real estate dealer Edward J. Ball. In November of 1929, Edward Ball filed for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the house from a single-family dwelling into five apartments.

On April 22, 1930, Charles Hemenway acquired 231 Beacon back from Ethel Ball.

On February 3, 1932, William H. Brown foreclosed on a mortgage given by Charles Hemenway and took possession of the property. On July 5, 1932, it was acquired from William Brown by Harry Skinner.

The property changed hands, remaining an apartment house, and on September 25, 1946, was acquired by Philip King Farrington, trustee of the King Realty Trust. He and his wife, Pearl V. (Hiatt) Farrington, lived in one of the apartments. They previously had lived at 456 Park Drive. They continued to live at 231 Beacon until about 1952, when they moved to an apartment at 306 Marlborough, which they also owned.

On May 29, 1952, 231 Beacon was acquired from Philip Farrington by Joseph L. Fogel, trustee of the Ro-Sel Realty Trust, and on October 30, 1953, it was acquired from Joseph Fogel by William M. Neshamkin and Donald A. Berglund.

On October 2, 1956, 231 Beacon was acquired from William M. Neshamkin and Donald A. Berglund by Elmer Clark Ingraham and his wife, Harriette Waldo (Park) Ingraham. They also owned 233 Beacon. He was an architect with MIT’s architectural research department; they lived in Cambridge.

On June 4, 1963, 231 Beacon and 233 Beacon were acquired from the Ingrahams by Peter N. Petritis, trustee of the Paul-Pet Realty Trust. The two properties subsequently changed hands, continuing to be held by the same owners, and on December 31, 1965, were acquired by Robert Waldman and David E. Dick, trustees of the Vayismeer Realty Trust. On January 29, 1968, they transferred 231 Beacon and 233 Beacon (and several other parcels) to themselves as general partners in the Colonial Realty Investment Company.

In February of 1968, Colonial Realty filed for (and subsequently received) permission to legalize the occupancy as seven units, which was the existing condition.

On August 4, 1969, 231 Beacon was acquired from Robert Waldman and David Dick by David C. Keating.

The property changed hands and remained an apartment house in 2021.