Gibson House Museum
- Style
- Second Empire
- City
- Boston, MA
The Gibson House Museum preserves an 1860 Victorian rowhouse at 137 Beacon Street, one of the first houses built on the newly filled land of Back Bay. Catherine Hammond Gibson bought the lot for $3,696 in 1859 to move her family away from Beacon Hill, and the house was designed by Edward Clarke Cabot with an exterior of brownstone and red brick. Three generations of the Gibson family lived there, and the interior survives with its original wallpaper, textiles, and furnishings intact.
the building
Three generations preserved. The house holds an unusually complete record of Gibson family life: Catherine Hammond Gibson built it, her son Charles Hammond Gibson lived there with his wife Rosamond Warren after their 1871 marriage, and Rosamond redecorated the interior following Catherine's death in 1888 — layers of decor that both public and service areas still display today.
the style
Tagged Second Empire in style, the Gibson House was completed in 1860 with a brownstone-and-red-brick exterior by Edward Clarke Cabot — one of the earliest houses to rise on Back Bay's newly filled land.
More on Second Empirethe architect
Edward Clarke Cabot designed the Gibson House, completing it in 1860 for Catherine Hammond Gibson.
significance
The Gibson House Museum was designated a Boston Landmark in 1992 and a National Historic Landmark in 2001, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It preserves an unparalleled level of original interior finish, from wallpaper to furnishings, across three generations of Gibson family occupancy.
nearby
- First Lutheran Church
- Church of the Covenant
- First Baptist Church (interior)
- New England Museum of Natural History
- Trinity Rectory
- Church of the Advent