330 Beacon is located on the NE corner of Beacon and Fairfield, with 322 Beacon to the east, 334 Beacon to the west, across Fairfield, and 347 Beacon to the south, across Beacon.

330 Beacon was built in 1959-1960 as a seventeen story (plus penthouse), 79 unit apartment building designed by Hugh Stubbins & Associates, architects, and built by Turner Construction for the United Business Service Company, located at 210 Newbury Street.

The United Business Service Company was a financial publishing company owned by Paul Talbot Babson. He also had been the owner of Poor’s Publishing Company, which he had bought in bankruptcy in 1933; in 1941, it merged with Statistics Company to form Standard & Poor’s Corporation.

330 Commonwealth was built on the site of five townhouses at 324-326-328-330-332 Beacon which Paul Babson had acquired over the previous twenty-five years.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 330 Beacon, and click here for further information on the land on the north side of Beacon, including the Storrow Memorial Embankment on the Esplanade.

On March 12, 1957, United Business Service Company applied for permission to construct the building. It was approved by the Board of Appeal in January of 1959, and construction started soon thereafter. It appears that the existing buildings had already been removed before the final approvals were received.

On March 18, 1959, the United Business Service Company transferred 330 Beacon to the 330 Beacon Street Corporation, of which Paul Babson was president and his son, Donald P. Babson, was treasurer. On October 30, 1970, the 330 Beacon Street Corporation transferred the property to Paul Babson, Donald Babson, and David R. Sargent as trustees of the 330 Beacon Street Trust.

On January 9, 1974, 330 Beacon was acquired from the 330 Beacon Street Trust by real estate developers Norman B. Leventhal and Edwin N. Sidman as trustees of the 330 Beacon Street Realty Trust.

In February and April of 1974, the trust filed for (and subsequently received) permission to legalize the occupancy as 79 residential units, two medical offices, a building management office, and a garage. The filings note that this was the existing condition.

On April 26, 1974, the trust converted the property into 79 condominium units, the 330 Beacon Street Condominium.

324 Beacon (Demolished)

324 Beacon was designed by Allen and Kenway, architects, and built in 1882-1883 by Thomas J. Whidden, mason, and Leander Greeley, carpenter, for Robert Dawson Evans. He is shown as the owner on the original building permit application, dated October 20, 1882. The house was numbered as 322 Beacon until about 1889.

324 Beacon was built on the eastern 28 feet of a 49 foot wide lot which Robert Evans purchased on October 26, 1882, from attorney Peleg Whitman Chandler. The 49 foot wide lot was, in turn, the eastern part of a 70 foot lot which Peleg Chandler had assembled by combining a 35 foot lot he purchased from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation on February 23, 1869, and a 35 foot lot he purchased from George O. Sears on April 22, 1872 (George Sears had purchased his lot from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation on March 10, 1870).

Click here for an index to the deeds for 324 Beacon (Demolished), and click here for further information on the land on the north side of Beacon, including the Storrow Memorial Embankment on the Esplanade.

On May 19, 1885, the Boston Evening Transcript commented on the recently completed house at 324 Beacon. “The new house … has four stories, and is built of Kibbie stone effectively combined with another red stone imported from Scotland. A strong feature of the interior is the hall. On the second story, running around the staircase, is an arcade, between the pillars of which may be had glimpses of the library and other rooms as the top of the staircase is reached.”

On April 16, 1890, Robert Evans sold the 21 foot lot to the west to George A. Ballantine. However, Robert Evans retained a 16.5 foot wide portion of the rear yard at 326 Beacon with the intention of constructing a carriage house on it. He does not appear to have built the carriage house, and in February of 1893, after he had sold 324 Beacon, Robert Evans sold the rear yard lot at 326 Beacon to Henry and Alice (Appleton) Knowles, who had purchased the house at 326 Beacon from George Ballantine the previous year. They subsequently built a stable on the lot.

By the 1883-1884 winter season, Robert D. Evans and his wife, Maria Antoinette (Hunt) Evans, had made 324 Beacon their home. They previously had lived at 392 Beacon. They also maintained a home, Dawson Hall, in Beverly.

Robert D. Evans was president of the American Rubber Company of Boston.

Robert and Maria Evans continued to live at 324 Beacon during the 1891-1892 winter season. In October of 1892, the American Rubber Company became part of the newly organized United States Rubber Company, with its principal office in New York City.  Robert Evans was elected president of the new company, and the Evanses moved to New York City for the 1892-1893 winter season. They retained their Beverly home, and during the 1893-1894 winter season, they returned to Boston and lived at The Holland at 50 Commonwealth.  By late 1894, they had moved to New York City.  He retired in June of 1898 and they returned to Boston, where he reorganized the United States Mining Company (later the United States Smelting, Refining, and Mining Company) and served as its president.  By the 1899-1900 winter season, they were living at The Westminster (southeast corner of St. James and Trinity Place), and during the 1900-1901 season they leased 20 Gloucester.

324 Beacon was not listed in the 1893 Blue Book.

On December 31, 1892, 324 Beacon was acquired from Robert D. Evans by Elisha Slade Converse.

Elisha Converse was treasurer of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company and president of the First National Bank of Malden. He served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1880-1881, and of the State Senate in 1882. He and his wife, Mary Diana (Edmands) lived in Malden and when it was incorporated as a city, he served as its first Mayor.

324 Beacon became the home of Elisha Converse’s son-in-law and daughter, Lester Leland and Frances Eugenia (Converse) Leland, who had married in October of 1892.

Lester Leland was officer of several rubber manufacturing companies, including serving as Vice President of the US Rubber Company and treasurer of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company.

The Lelands continued to live at 324 Beacon during the 1894-1895 winter season, but moved soon thereafter to 1 Raleigh.

On September 16, 1895, 324 Beacon was purchased from Elisha Converse by Sara Marston (Robinson) Harding, the wife of dry goods and wool merchant Edgar Harding. They previously had lived at 115 Beacon.   They also maintained a home at Woods Hole.

In March of 1903, the Hardings purchased 322 Beacon.

Edgar Harding died in October of 1905. Sarah Harding continued to live at 324 Beacon until her death in November of 1912. Her youngest son, Marston Harding, lived with her After her death, he moved to Lexington.

On July 1, 1913, 324 Beacon was acquired from Sara Harding’s estate by Albert Ivins Croll, a yarn dealer and real estate investor. He and his wife, Sarah Helen Merrill (Knowles) Croll, made it their home. They previously had lived at 336 Beacon. They also maintained a home, Sunnybank, in Manchester.

Their daughter, Helen Pauline (called Pauline) Croll, lived with them, and by the 1918-1919 winter season, they also had been joined by their other daughter (the twin of Pauline), Grace Lawrence (Croll) Defriez, whose husband, Thaddeus Coffin Defriez II, had died in October of 1918.  Their young children, Pauline Defriez and Albert Ivins Croll DeFriez, also lived at 324 Beacon.

Pauline Croll married in August of 1922 to Robert Sproule Stevens.  After their marriage, they moved to Ithaca, New York, where he was a professor of law at Cornell University.

Grace Defriez married again, in December of 1929, to architect Philip Wadsworth.  After their marriage, they lived at 116 Charles, but by 1933 were living with the Crolls at 324 Beacon.

Albert Croll died in May of 1934. Sarah Croll moved soon thereafter to 31 Lime and the Wadsworths and Pauline and Albert DeFriez moved back to 116 Charles.

324 Beacon was not listed in the 1935 Blue Book.

On June 26, 1935, 324 Beacon was acquired from the Croll family by real estate dealer Henry Joseph O’Meara.

On August 27, 1935, 324 Beacon was acquired by Morris Gilbert.

By the 1935-1936 winter season, it was the home of Loulette Louise (Huttiger) Moser (Mosier), the former wife of Albert Fred Moser, who operated it as a lodging house. Her daughter, Pierrette Marguerite Moser, lived with her.

Among her lodgers from about 1937 was Miss Rebecca Josephine Tarr, a nurse. She previously had lived at 279 Clarendon.  She continued to live at 324 Beacon until about 1945, when she moved to Roxbury.

By 1940, a second residence had been created at 324-1/2 Beacon and was the home of Bruce H. Wells, who was with the editorial department of the Boston Post.  He also continued to live there until about 1943.

In the early 1940s, Loulette Moser married to Francis Littlefield Mahady. He was president of a medical supply company and, in 1944, was serving as an officer in the US Army.

Morris Gilbert remained the assessed owner of 324 Beacon until the mid-1940s. On August 23, 1946, he recorded a deed dated March 6, 1936, transferring the property to Pierrette Moser (who would have been eight years old in 1936), and on August 24, 1946, Pierrette Mahady (having taken her step-father’s surname) transferred the property to her mother. Pierrette Mahady married in April of 1947 to Donald Leslie Birchall.

Francis and Loulette Mahady continued to live at 324 Beacon until about 1955.

On April 30, 1955, 324 Beacon was acquired from Loulette Mahady by Paul T. Babson.

The house was shown as vacant in the 1957 City Directory.  In December of 1956, Paul Babson’s United Business Service Company applied for (and subsequently received) permission to demolish the house.

326 Beacon (Demolished)

326 Beacon was designed by architect Harris Marshall Stephenson and built in 1890-1891 by Connery & Wentworth, masons, for George Alexander Ballantine. He is shown as the owner on the original building permit application, dated May 23, 1890.

George Ballantine purchased the land for 326 Beacon on April 16, 1890, from Robert D. Evans, the western 21 feet of a 49 foot lot purchased by Robert Evans on October 26, 1882, from attorney Peleg Whitman Chandler. Robert Evans built his home on the eastern 28 feet of the lot and then sold the remainder to George Ballantine. The 49 foot wide lot was the eastern part of a 70 foot lot which Peleg Chandler had assembled by combining a 35 foot lot he purchased from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation on February 23, 1869, and a 35 foot lot he purchased from George O. Sears on April 22, 1872 (George Sears had purchased his lot from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation on March 10, 1870).

Click here for an index to the deeds for 326 Beacon (Demolished), and click here for further information on the land on the north side of Beacon, including the Storrow Memorial Embankment on the Esplanade.

When he sold the 21 foot lot to George Ballantine, Robert Evans retained a 16.5 foot wide portion of the rear yard at 326 Beacon with the intention of constructing a carriage house on it next to the stable behind his own house at 324 Beacon.

George Ballantine married in June of 1890 to Mabel Lothrop.  After their marriage, they lived temporarily at the Hotel Vendome until 326 Beacon was ready for occupancy. At the time of their marriage, he was a student; by 1892, he was an architect.

By the 1891-1892 winter season, George and Mabel (Lothrop) Ballantine had made 326 Beacon their home.  In May of 1892, they sold the house, moved temporarily back to the Hotel Vendome, and then traveled to Europe for what was planned as a three year trip. By 1893, they were living in Paris, where they divorced in March of 1895.

On May 14, 1892, 326 Beacon was purchased from George Ballantine by Alice Leslie (Appleton) Knowles, the wife of Henry Miles Knowles, a paper manufacturer. They previously had lived in Dorchester. They also maintained a home in Cohasset.

On February 23, 1893, Robert Evans sold Alice Knowles the rear yard lot at 326 Beacon where he had planned to build a carriage house. From the deed, it appears that he had not built the carriage house; however, it does appear on the 1895 Bromley map and presumably was built by the Knowleses.

Henry and Alice Knowles’ four children lived with them: Harriette Appleton Knowles, Leslie Appleton Knowles, John Appleton Knowles, and Henry Appleton Knowles.

Alice Knowles married in June of 1902 to Charles Lewis Harding, a wholesale dry goods merchant. After their marriage, they lived in Dedham.

Henry Knowles died in July of 1903. Alice Knowles continued to live at 326 Beacon with their unmarried children.

John Knowles married in October of 1905 to Anna Elizabeth Clement. After their marriage, they lived at 330 Beacon with his mother and unmarried siblings. He was purchasing agent for a paper manufacturing company.

Alice Knowles died in April of 1907. John and Anna (Clement) Knowles moved soon thereafter to Dover, Massachusetts; Henry Knowles and Leslie Knowles continued to live at 326 Beacon. Henry Knowles was a dealer in paper and paper stock.

Leslie Knowles married in September of 1910 to Charles Arthur Blake, an insurance broker, and they moved to Dedham.  Prior to their marriage, he had lived at 212 Beacon with his widowed father, Dr. John George Blake.  Henry Knowles moved to 48 Beacon.

326 Beacon was not listed in the 1911 and 1912 Blue Books.

By the 1912-1913 winter season, it was the home of Mary Charlotte (Allen) Whiting, the widow of William Sawin Whiting, who had been president of the brush manufacturing company founded by his father, John Lake Whiting. She previously had lived in Brookline, where her husband died in April of 1908. She leased 320 Beacon from the Knowles family.

The Whitings’ three children — Allen Sawin Whiting, Natalie Whiting, and Elizabeth St. John Whiting — lived with her.

Natalie Whiting married in May of 1913 to Xavier Marie Audibert, a banker; after their marriage, they lived in New York City. Allen Whiting, who was secretary of the family’s brush manufacturing firm, moved to Santa Barbara, California, in about 1914.

Mary Whiting and Elizabeth Whiting continued to live at 326 Beacon, and on March 22, 1917, Mary Whiting purchased the house from the Knowles family.

During the 1918-1919 winter season, Mary Whiting and her daughter were living at the Copley-Plaza Hotel and 326 Beacon was the home of Francis Philip Sears, an insurance company executive, and his wife, Marie Musgrave (Merrill) Sears.  They had lived at 81 Beacon during the previous season. They also maintained a home in Hamilton. By the 1919-1920 season, they were living at 83 Mt. Vernon.

Mary Whiting and her daughter resumed living at 326 Beacon during the 1919-1920 winter season.

Elizabeth Whiting married in October of 1921 to Alexander Hadden Tomes, who was in the import-export business in New York City; after their marriage, they lived in Tuxedo Park, New York.

Mary Whiting continued to live at 326 Beacon during the 1921-1922 winter season, but moved thereafter.

On August 8, 1922, 326 Beacon was purchased from Mary Whiting by Clara M. (Holbrook) Brown, the wife of lumber dealer Martin Adin Brown. In 1920, they had lived in Winchester. They also maintained a home in Wilmington, Vermont.

The Browns continued to live at 326 Beacon during the 1926-1927 winter season, but moved thereafter to an apartment at 282 Beacon, which recently had been completed. On June 29, 1927, 326 Beacon was acquired from Clara Brown by Elliott Henderson and Roger B. Tyler, trustees of the 282 Beacon Street Trust. 282 Beacon was a cooperative apartment house and it appears likely that the Browns sold 326 Beacon to the trust in exchange for acquiring an apartment in the new building.

215 Beacon changed hands and on October 4, 1927, was acquired by Samuel Morse Felton, III, a statistician. He and his wife, Anne Victoire Adelaide (Nelson) Felton, made it their home. They also maintained a home in Manchester.

They continued to live at 326 Beacon until about 1943.

On October 30, 1943, 326 Beacon was acquired from Samuel Felton by real estate dealer Ray C. Johnson, and on November 1, 1943, it was acquired from him by Paul T. Babson.

By 1945, 326 Beacon was a multiple dwelling, probably a lodging house, which it remained until about 1952.

By 1953, 326 Beacon was the home of Paul Babson’s son, Donald Paul Babson and his wife, Susan Charlotte (Averill) Babson. Donald Babson later would succeed his father as president and Chairman of the Board of United Business Service Company.

Donald and Susan Babson continued to live at 326 Beacon until the mid-1950s. In December of 1956, Paul Babson applied for (and subsequently received) permission to demolish the house.

328 Beacon (Demolished)

328 Beacon was designed by Rotch and Tilden, architects, and built in 1885-1886 by W. L. Clark & Co., masons, for Otto Dresel, a pianist and composer. He is shown as the owner on the original building permit application, dated November 12, 1885, and on the final building inspection report, dated December 1, 1886. 328 Beacon was numbered as 326 Beacon until about 1889.

Otto Dresel purchased the land for the house on October 19, 1885, from attorney Peleg Whitman Chandler. It was part of a lot he had purchased from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation on February 23, 1869.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 328 Beacon (Demolished), and click here for further information on the land on the north side of Beacon, including the Storrow Memorial Embankment on the Esplanade.

By the 1886-1887 winter season, Otto Dresel and his wife, Anna (Loring) Dresel, had made 328 Beacon their home. They previously had lived at 150 Charles.

Otto Dresel died in July of 1890. Anna Dresel continued to live at 328 Beacon until her death in March of 1896.

The Dresels’ two children, Ellis Loring Dresel, an attorney, and Louise Loring Dresel continued to live at 328 Beacon. They also maintained a home in Beverly.

From 1915 to 1922, Ellis Dresel was in the US Diplomatic Corps, serving as attaché to the US Embassy in Berlin from 1915 to 1917 and then at the US Embassy in Vienna.  From 1919 to 1921, he was US Commissioner to Germany.  He returned in 1922 and lived in Beverly, where he died in September of 1925.

Louise Dresel continued to live at 328 Beacon during the 1919-1920 winter season, and then traveled abroad.

The house was not listed in the 1922-1924 Blue Books.

On March 19, 1924, 328 Beacon was purchased from Ellis Dresel and Louise Dresel by John Randall Munn. He and his wife, Harriet (Severance) Munn, made it their home. They previously had lived in New York City.

John Munn was president of the Textile Manufacturers Alliance.  He later would become the President and Chairman of Elastic Stop Nut Corporation in Princeton.

In 1928, the Blue Book indicated that they were “in Princeton, New Jersey, for the winter.”

During the 1929-1930 winter season, 328 Beacon was the home of Cyril Bathurst Judge and his wife, Anna (Lyman) Judge.  They had lived at 136 Beacon the previous year. Their primary residence was in Newport at Sulthorne, the estate built by Anna Judge’s father, Charles Lyman.  Cyril Judge was an instructor at Harvard and expert on Elizabethan English.

On April 28, 1932, the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company foreclosed on its mortgage to John Munn and took possession of the property.

328 Beacon was not listed in the 1931-1934 Blue Books and was shown as vacant in the 1930-1936 City Directories.

On June 6, 1935, 328 Beacon was purchased from Massachusetts Life by Paul T. Babson.

On December 1, 1935, Paul Babson applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the house into nine apartments. The remodeling was designed by architect Ralph G. Stebbins and included replacing front façade. Plans for the remodeling – including the front elevation and floor plans – are included in the City of Boston Blueprints Collection in the Boston City Archives (reference BIN P-132).

In December of 1956, Paul Babson’s United Business Service Company applied for (and subsequently received) permission to demolish the house.

330 Beacon (Demolished)

330 Beacon was built in 1871-1872 by Weston & Shepard, builders, for James Eaton, one of two houses built as a symmetrical pair (330-332 Beacon) on a 60 foot wide lot, with 332 Beacon 6.7 feet wider than 330 Beacon. 330 Beacon was numbered as 328 Beacon until about 1889.

James Eaton is shown as the owner on the final building inspection report for the two houses, dated August 5, 1872. He purchased the eastern half of the land on May 8, 1871, from John Wooldredge (who had purchased it from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation on March 4, 1870) and held the right to purchase the western half. Weston & Shepard filed a Notice of Intention to Build the two houses in November of 1871 (reported in the Boston Herald on November 21, 1871), and on August 23, 1872, after the houses were built, James Eaton purchased and took title to the western half of the land from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 330 Beacon (Demolished), and click here for further information on the land on the north side of Beacon, including the Storrow Memorial Embankment on the Esplanade.

James Eaton and his wife, Elizabeth Webster (Kittredge) Eaton, lived at 332 Beacon. They had lived in Townsend, Massachusetts, in 1870. 330 Beacon appears to have been vacant for several years.

On April 7, 1876, 330 Beacon was purchased from James Eaton by Henry Howard Fay. . He and his wife, Elizabeth Elliot (Spooner) Fay, made it their home. They had married in January of 1876 and 330 Beacon probably was their first home together. He previously had lived at 88 Mt. Vernon. They also maintained a home in Woods Hole, where he was the prime mover in formation of the Woods Hole Golf Club in 1898.

In August of 1887, Henry Fay filed for (and subsequently received) permission to build a stable at the rear of the house.  The stable was designed by architects Peabody and Stearns.

The Fays continued live at 330 Beacon until about 1892, when they moved to a new house they had built at 416 Beacon.

On December 8, 1891, 330 Beacon was purchased from Henry Fay by Grant Walker. He and his wife, Mabel (Shaw) Walker, made it their home. They previously had lived at 386 Beacon.

Grant Walker was an investor in and director of various textile mills and related businesses.

In 1900, they purchased a home, Fairview, in Weston.  The house was destroyed by fire on May 11, 1910, and the Walkers built a new house on the site, designed by architect Samuel Mead.

The Walkers continued to live at 330 Beacon during the 1918-1919 winter season, but moved thereafter to 448 Beacon.  Grant Walker died in April of 1920. Mabel Walker moved back to 330 Beacon for the 1920-1921 winter season and thereafter to 160 Beacon. In November of 1921, she sold her Weston property to the Society of Jesuits.

330 Beacon was not listed in the 1922 Blue Book.

On June 6, 1922, 330 Beacon was acquired from Grant Walker’s estate by a trust established under the will of Henry H. Fay, who had died in March of 1920, and it once again became the home of Elizabeth Elliot (Spooner) Fay.

In May of 1922, she applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the stable at the rear of the property into a two-car garage with a heater room.

Elizabeth Fay continued to live there shortly before her death in December of 1945. She also continued to maintain a home at Woods Hole.

On November 23, 1945, 330 Beacon was acquired from Elizabeth Fay’s trust by Paul T. Babson.

By 1947, 330 Beacon had become a multiple dwelling, probably a lodging house.

In July of 1950, he leased 330 Beacon to Fred M. Baker, with the stipulation that it was to be used for residential purposes.  Fred Baker subsequently subleased it to the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity of Boston University. It had previously been located at 299 Beacon.  330 Beacon remained the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house until the mid-1950s.

The house was shown as vacant in the 1957 City Directory. It was razed soon thereafter.

332 Beacon (Demolished)

332 Beacon was built in 1871-1872 by Weston & Shepard, builders, for James Eaton, one of two houses built as a symmetrical pair (330-332 Beacon) on a 60 foot wide lot, with 332 Beacon 6.7 feet wider than 330 Beacon. 332 Beacon was numbered as 330 Beacon until about 1889.

James Eaton is shown as the owner on the final building inspection report for the two houses, dated August 5, 1872. He purchased the eastern half of the land on May 8, 1871, from John Wooldredge (who had purchased it from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation on March 4, 1870) and held the right to purchase the western half. Weston & Shepard filed a Notice of Intention to Build the two houses in November of 1871 (reported in the Boston Herald on November 21, 1871), and on August 23, 1872, after the houses were built, James Eaton purchased and took title to the western half of the land from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 332 Beacon (Demolishsed), and click here for further information on the land on the north side of Beacon, including the Storrow Memorial Embankment on the Esplanade.

On December 30, 1871, the Boston Daily Advertiser reported that the foundations of 330-332 Beacon had been laid, noting that “these houses are to be of brick heavily trimmed with freestone.” The article described the planned interior of 332 Beacon in some detail. “In the basement of the corner house are to be the kitchen in the rear, the laundry next, and in the front a very large room designed for use as a billiard or music room, and communicating with the drawing-room by an independent stairway of large dimensions. On the first floor are to be the drawing-room, library, and dining-room. Four fine chambers are to be upon the second floor with dressing-rooms opening out from them and furnished with water-closets, wardrobes and other similar conveniences. The Mansard roof is to be divided into two stories, the lower containing six and the upper two chambers. Throughout the rooms, which number seventeen in all, the finish will be of hard wood with the exception of the drawing-room, which will be finished in some light colors, which will adapt it for use as a party room. The other house [330 Beacon] is similar in style and finish, everything being on a smaller scale, and is to be put in the market as soon as finished, while the corner house will be occupied by Mr. Eaton himself.”

As indicated by the Daily Advertiser, James Eaton and his wife, Elizabeth Webster (Kittredge) Eaton, made 332 Beacon their home.  They previously had lived in Townsend, Massachusetts. 330 Beacon appears to have been vacant until 1876, when it was acquired by Henry H. Fay.

On May 11, 1877, the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company foreclosed on its mortgage to James Eaton and took possession of the property.

On May 24, 1877, 332 Beacon was acquired from Massachusetts Hospital Life by Francis Asbery Hall. He and his wife, Mary Ann (Dowse) Hall, made it their home. They previously had lived at 1486 Washington.

Francis Hall was a banker and former hardware merchant.

He died in February of 1885, and Mary Ann Hall moved thereafter to the Hotel Vendome. During the 1889-1890 winter season, she lived at 372 Marlborough with her brother-in-law and sister, Dr. Thomas Henderson Chandler and Elizabeth Caroline (Dowse) Chandler. Mary Ann Hall died in September of 1890.

On October 1, 1886, 332 Beacon was purchased from Francis Hall’s estate by Arioch Wentworth, a marble dealer and major investor in real estate.  He previously had lived at 140 Beacon. He also maintained a home in Swampscott.

Arioch Wentworth was a widower and was joined at 332 Beacon and in Swampscott by his son-in-law and daughter, Willoughby Herbert Stuart and Susan Maria (Wentworth) Erickson Stuart. Willoughby Stuart was British Vice-Consul in Boston. Living with them were Susan Stuart’s son by her first marriage (to Aaron Erickson, Jr.), Arioch Wentworth Erickson, and Willoughby and Susan Stuart’s son, Willoughby Herbert Stuart, Jr.

A. Wentworth Erickson married in October of 1897 to Cecile Rush Macy.  After their marriage, they lived at 286 Beacon and in Swampscott with his grandfather.

In 1902, Willoughby Stuart was committed to McLean Insane Asylum after it was revealed that he had forged his wife’s signature to more than $100,000 in notes.  Susan Stuart and their son, Willoughby Stuart, Jr., continued to live at 332 Beacon with her father.

Arioch Wentworth died in March of 1903.  In his will, he left the bulk of his estate (valued at about $7 million) to found Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.  His daughter challenged the will, and ultimately the estate was divided equally between the family and the school.

Susan Stuart and her son continued to live at 332 Beacon in 1904.

On March 23, 1904, 332 Beacon was purchased from Arioch Wentworth’s estate by Georgianna Olivia (Davis) Taylor, the wife of Charles Henry Taylor. They previously had lived at 230 Beacon. They also maintained a home in Buzzards Bay.

Charles Taylor was publisher of the Boston Globe.  Between 1891 and 1893, he also served on the staff of Governor William E. Russell, with the rank of Brigadier General.

After purchasing the house, the Taylors undertook what the Boston Evening Transcript reported on July 6, 1904, would be “extensive improvements” designed by architects Little and Browne.

Living with the Taylors was their son, John Irving Taylor, who had recently been divorced.  Prior to their divorce, John and Helen (Burnap) Taylor had lived at 228 Beacon.  John Taylor had been affiliated with his father’s newspaper. From 1903 to 1911, he owned the American League baseball team in Boston and is credited with choosing the name “Red Socks.”  He built Fenway Park, which opened in April of 1912 (at which time the team’s name changed to “Red Sox”).

John Taylor married again in August of 1908 to Cornelia Roosevelt Van Ness.  They continued to live at 332 Beacon, with his parents, until about 1911, when they moved to Dedham.

The Taylors continued to live at 332 Beacon during the 1917-1918 winter season, but moved thereafter to the Hotel Vendome. Georgianna Taylor died in July of 1919, and by the 1919-1920 winter season, Charles Taylor was living at 224 Commonwealth.

On August 5, 1918, 332 Beacon was purchased from Georgianna Taylor by Marie (Griffin) Dennett, the wife of Carl Pullen Dennett. They previously had lived at 250 Beacon. They also maintained a home in Manchester.

Carl Pullen Dennett was the former vice president of the Griffin Wheel Company, makers of railroad car wheels (his father-in-law, Thomas A. Griffin, was the Chairman of the Board).  Following World War I, Carl Dennett had served as American Red Cross Deputy Commissioner to Switzerland in charge of finding and caring for American prisoners in German camps.  Upon his return, he became a trustee and banker in Boston, serving as president of the General Capital Corporation.

The Dennetts continued to live at 330 Beacon in 1951, after which they moved to Chestnut Hill.

On September 24, 1951, 332 Beacon was purchased from Marie Dennett by real estate dealer Ray C. Johnson. He conveyed the property on the same day to Mildred (Farrar) Sawyer, the wife of Frank Sawyer. Frank Sawyer was president of the Checker Cab Company and the Transportation Mutual Insurance Company. He also developed the Avis car rental company into Avis International and served as its chairman until his retirement in the 1980s.

On January 3, 1952, 332 Beacon was acquired from Mildred Sawyer by Paul T. Babson. In October of 1952, he applied for (and subsequently re3ceived) permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house.

By 1954, 332 Beacon was the home of Margaret E. (Burroughs) Bowl, the widow of Harry Ballsdon Bowl, who operated it as a lodging house. She previously had lived at 317 Beacon, where she also had operated a lodging house. Several of her lodgers from 317 Beacon moved with her to 332 Beacon. She continued to live at 332 Beacon until about 1956.

The house was shown as vacant in the 1957 City Directory. It was razed soon thereafter.