Peter Fuller Building
- Architect
- Albert Kahn
- Style
- Neoclassical
- City
- Boston, MA
Built in 1927 for the Cadillac Auto Company, this five-story limestone showroom on Commonwealth Avenue was designed by Albert Kahn, the prolific Detroit architect best known for automobile-industry buildings across the Midwest — one of the few he designed in the Boston area. It takes its name from Peter D. Fuller, president of the Cadillac Automobile Company of Boston, who ran his dealership here as a flagship showroom for the luxury line.
the building
A Kahn showroom in Boston. Albert Kahn made his name designing automobile-related industrial facilities across the American Midwest; this limestone-faced showroom is one of the rare examples of his work in the Boston area, built to stand at what was then a gateway to a row of automotive dealerships along Commonwealth Avenue.
the style
Neoclassical detailing gave the limestone-clad showroom the civic dignity expected of a flagship dealership on Commonwealth Avenue, a fitting front for the luxury Cadillac line it was built to sell.
More on Neoclassicalthe architect
Albert Kahn was a prolific and historically significant industrial architect, best known for extensive automobile-related factory and showroom work across the American Midwest. This building is one of the few he designed in the Boston area.
significance
Fuller closed his Cadillac dealership here in 1978, citing high overhead costs, and Boston University purchased the building the following year. Since 2020 it has housed the Howard Thurman Center, a center for student life at BU. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- Boston University Marsh Chapel
- Second Church in Boston
- Saint Paul's Rectory
- Saint Aidan's Church and Rectory
- Temple Ohabei Shalom
- Landmark Center