363 Beacon is located on the south side of Beacon, between Fairfield and Gloucester, with 361 Beacon to the east and 365 Beacon to the west.

363 Beacon was designed by architect Francis H. Jackson and built in 1872-1873 by Weston & Shepard, masons, one of three contiguous houses (361-363-365 Beacon) designed as a symmetrical unit with 363 Beacon in the center, one story higher and with a bay centered on the façade, flanked by 361 and 365 Beacon.

The houses were built for investment banker Henry Chapman Wainwright for speculative sale. He is shown as the owner on the original building permit application for the three houses, dated April 5, 1872.

Henry Wainwright purchased the land for 361-363-365 Beacon on April 19, 1871, from a real estate investment trust formed by John Templeman Coolidge, Franklin Evans, and Charles Henry Parker. The land was part of one of several parcels originally purchased by the trust on January 29, 1866, from the Boston Water Power Company. The trust subsequently subdivided the property into lots, which it sold to investors and builders, who then frequently resold the lots to others.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 363 Beacon, and click here for further information about the land between the south side of Beacon and Alley 416, from Fairfield to Gloucester.

On August 25, 1874, 363 Beacon was purchased from Henry Wainwright by James Wilson Clark. He and his wife, Catherine Monroe (March) Clark, lived in Framingham.

363 Beacon became the home of the Clarks’ son and daughter-in-law, Edmund Sanford Clark and Mary (Brainard/Brainerd) Clark. He was wholesale cotton and dry goods merchant. They previously had lived at the the Hotel Vendome, where their son, Charles Brainard Clark, was born in March of 1874.

They continued to live at 363 Beacon in 1880 but moved thereafter.

During the 1880-1881 and 1881-1882 winter seasons, it was the home of Dexter N. Richards, a dry goods merchant, and his wife, Louisa Maria (Appleton) Richards.  Their primary residence was in the Longwood district of Brookline.

363 Beacon was not listed in the 1883 and 1884 Blue Books.

During the 1884-1885 winter season, it was the home of Arthur Donner.  He was a banker, consul for Austria-Hungary, and vice consul for Argentina.  He later would become treasurer of the American Sugar Refining Company and a key figure in the sugar trust, which controlled over 90 percent of the manufacture and sale of sugar in the United States.  He moved by the 1885-1886 season, and by the 1886-1887 season was living at 36 Fairfield.

On October 26, 1885, 363 Beacon was purchased from James W. Clark by Mary Elizabeth (Jefferson) Brewer, the wife of James Page Brewer, a stockbroker. They previously had lived at 86 Charles.

James Brewer died in April of 1888.  Mary Brewer continued to live at 363 Beacon.  In September of 1892, she remarried (in London) to Ernest Frederick Gabell, a dentist.  After their marriage, they lived in England.  Her children by her marriage to James Brewer — James Page Brewer, Jr., Mary Bemis Brewer, and Philip Jefferson Brewer — lived with them there.  She continued to own 363 Beacon and lease it to others.

By the 1893-1894 winter season, 363 Beacon was the home of Dr. Franklin Dexter and his wife, Jane Appleton (Dwight) Dexter.  They had married in September of 1893 and 363 Beacon was their first home together.  He was a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. They continued to live at 363 Beacon during the 1895-1895 winter season; in November of 1895, they purchased and subsequently moved to 148 Marlborough.

363 Beacon was not listed in the 1896-1898 Blue Books.

During the 1898-1899 winter season, it was the home of banker Harry Haskell Bemis and his wife, Esther (Glenny) Bemis.  They had married in October of 1898 and 363 Beacon was their first home together. Harry Bemis was the nephew of James Page Brewer, the son of Theodore Bemis and Mary Haskell Fay (Brewer) Bemis.  In 1899, the Bemises moved to Chestnut Hill.

363 Beacon was not listed in the 1900 Blue Book.

By the 1900-1901 winter season, 363 Beacon was leased from Mary (Jefferson) Brewer Gabell by Edwin Augustus Hills and his wife, Georgine Leonardina (Dorrepaal) Hills. They previously had lived at 315 Beacon. They also maintained a home in Hingham.

On July 1, 1901, Edwin Hills purchased the house from Mrs. Gabell.

Edwin Hills was a dealer in plate and window glass.

The Hills’ son, George Ernest Hills, a lawyer, lived with them until his marriage in April of 1909 to Charlotte Elizabeth Williams.  After their marriage they lived in Brookline.

Edwin and Georgine Hills continued to live at 363 Beacon during the 1925-1926 winter season.  By the 1926-1927 season, they had moved to the Hotel Vendôme.

363 Beacon was not listed in the 1927 Blue Book.

On March 12, 1927, 363 Beacon was acquired from Edwin Hills by Onuphrey Kowalsky, individually and as pastor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and parish of the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) Greek Catholic Church. It became the chapel and rectory of the church and also was Rev. Kowalsky’s home.

The chapel and rectory (and Rev. Kowalsky’s residence) continued to be there until about 1929.

On July 8, 1931, Edwin Hills foreclosed on the mortgage given by Onuphrey Kowalsky and transferred the property to his son, George E. Hills.

363 Beacon was not listed in the 1931-1937 Blue Books and was shown as vacant in the 1930-1935 City Directories.

On August 14, 1936, 363 Beacon was acquired from George Hills by Ethel G. (Carmichael) Ball, the wife of real estate dealer Edward J. Ball. They previously had lived in Newton.

They continued to live at 363 Beacon until about 1938. By 1940, they were living in Newton once again.

On September 12, 1938, the Franklin Savings Bank foreclosed on its mortgage to Ethel Ball and took possession of the property.

363 Beacon was shown as vacant in the 1939-1942 City Directories.

363 Beacon changed hands and was acquired on March 7, 1940, by Marie J. (Hanley) Dowling, the wife of John R. Dowling. In August of 1940, John Dowling filed for permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house. He subsequently abandoned the permit.

On July 31, 1940, real estate dealer H. Leon Sharmat foreclosed on a mortgage given by Marie Dowling and transferred the property to his firm, Warren-Stevens, Inc.

On August 1, 1940, 363 Beacon was acquired from Warren-Stevens, Inc, by Leo J. Sullivan. An August 18, 1940, Boston Globe article on the transaction indicated that it was his intention to convert the property into “small furnished apartments.”

On May 12, 1941, the Franklin Savings Bank foreclosed on the mortgage it held on 363 Beacon and took possession of the property.

On May 25, 1941, 363 Beacon was acquired from the bank by Theresa V. (Reardon) Mulford, the wife of Joseph Warren Mulford, a newspaper advertising salesman. They previously had lived at 92 St. Botolph. By 1945, he was operating the Mulford Pharmical Company, chemical manufacturers, from 363 Beacon. The Mulfords continued to live at 363 Beacon (and operate Mulford Pharmical Company there) until about 1948.

On September 7, 1948, 363 Beacon was acquired from Theresa Mulford by Sydney Reuben Barrow, a shoe dealer, and his wife, Josephine (Hanratty) Barrow, who operated it as a lodging house. They previously had lived at 458 Park Drive.

In June of 1952, the Barrowses acquired 289 Marlborough.  They continued to live at 363 Beacon until 1955, when they moved to an apartment at 291 Marlborough.

By the mid-1950s, 363 Beacon appears to have been converted into apartments, with eight to ten residents listed in the City Directories.

The property changed hands and on April 20, 1961, was acquired by Michael J. Smith, Inc. In May of 1961, it filed for (and subsequently received) permission to legalize the occupancy as ten apartments, indicating that it had purchased the property under the impression that was its current use.

On June 1, 1962, 363 Beacon was acquired from Michael J. Smith, Inc., by Louis A. Scampoli, a locksmith, and his wife, Audrey Barbara (Ziegler) Scampoli. They lived in Dedham.

On October 1, 1968, 363 Beacon was acquired from the Scampolis by real estate dealer Patrick J. Glynn and his wife, Anne T. (Kelly) Glynn.

On April 28, 1987, the Glynns converted the property into eleven condominium units, the 363 Beacon Street Condominium.

As of 2017, Glynn Realty Associates I, LLC, owned all eleven condominiums as rental property.