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BOSTON HOMES: THE COMPLETE GUIDE • www.linkbostonhomes.com
Week of October 17 - 23, 2009
Patriots’ QB Tom Brady is selling his penthouse
BY MARILYN JACKSON
STAFF WRITER
F
or months celebrity gossip in Boston has dwelt on New
England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady – his return
to the playing field in Foxboro, his marriage to superstar model Gisele Bündchen, the upcoming birth of his second
child and his house-hunting in the suburbs – perhaps away
from the paparazzi.
This week, on Columbus Day, when many real estate offices
were closed, Brady’s Back Bay penthouse duplex at 310 Beacon
St. was quietly listed in MLS, the local multiple listing service.
Its price: $10.9 million.
A day later, Brady’s property was posted in LINK, the Listing Information Network with which Boston Homes partners,
and on www.campionre.com.
Tracy Campion of Campion and Company Fine Homes Real
Estate is the exclusive listing broker.
The Boston Herald in its “Inside Track” column first reported
that Brady’s Boston home was for sale last week.
Brady bought the distinctive limestone bowfront mansion in
May 2006 for slightly more than $6.23 million and developed
it into four condominiums. An international businessman purchased three of the condos and has the right of first refusal for
the penthouse.
Brady spared no expense for his abode, which comprises
5,311 square feet of living space. City tax records indicate that
it was assessed for more than $9.3 million in FY 2009. The
monthly condo fee is $7,645.
Interior designer Frank Nicholson Incorporated of Acton, who
specializes in designing luxury spaces at hotels throughout the
world – the Mandarin Oriental Residences and Hotel in Boston
was a recent client – designed the interior spaces for Brady.
The main, more public rooms are on the top floor. A grand
living room overlooking Beacon Street encompasses the full
width of the building, and on either side of the room is a gas
fireplace. Next to it is an entertainment media room with all the
The Back Bay penthouse duplex at 310 Beacon St. that belongs to
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is on the market for
FILE PHOTO
$10.9 million.
top-of-the-line technical equipment imaginable.
At the back of this level is the spacious, less formal great
room with a fireplace that is open to an extravagant gourmet
kitchen with a center island.
A staircase leads to the enormous, landscaped roof deck with
a copper-clad solarium with two skylights. Akitchen setup with
a gas grill is at one end of the deck, which was the scene of a
Fourth of July party last summer, complete with a tent.
The Charles River and the lagoon in the Esplanade as well as
the Cambridge skyline are part of the fabulous panoramic views.
The lower level is reserved for private quarters and holds
three bedrooms, each with its own bath. The two bedrooms at
the front of the building have a gas fireplace, and the larger bedroom has three bow windows.
The master bedroom suite is unbelievable with two doors
that open onto a balcony, huge his-and-her dressing rooms and
a sumptuous master bath. The deep soaking tub set in a stone
deck faces a small gas fireplace; two separate vanities, a steam
shower and a water closet complete this lavish space.
Other amenities include four garage parking spaces plus an
outdoor space, staffing by a doorman and off-site professional
management.
This wide building was designed by Charles Kirby in 1871
and redesigned by the prominent architectural firm of Peabody
and Stearns in 1903. That firm designed many mansions in the
city in the late 1800s, including the Ames-Webster Mansion on
Dartmouth Street and the Charles Francis Adams House at the
corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Gloucester Street.
In 1913 Peabody and Stearns also designed the city’s first
“skyscraper,” the 10-story Custom House tower, which was
constructed atop the Custom House that was built more than 65
years earlier.
Payne Collins Design of Boston’s South End was the architect of record for the condo conversion, complete renovations
and the restoration of the mansion at 310 Beacon.
Because it lies within a historic district, its grand exterior
with its lovely floral embellishments carved into the stonework
around the doorway and windows, between the upper stories
and beneath the cornice, was preserved.
Historic Ames-Webster Mansion to be sold
L
ongtime Boston developer Neil “Ted”
St. John Raymond of the Raymond
Property Company, a trustee of Reality Realty Trust, is placing his landmark Back
Bay corporate headquarters at 306 Dartmouth
St., better known as the Ames-Webster Mansion, up for sale.
The 26,000-square-foot mansion with 50
rooms and 28 fireplaces currently is zoned for
commercial uses, containing several boutique
offices, but it could be restored to its original
grandeur or converted to ultra-luxe condominiums or kept as commercial space.
Maryann Roos Hoskins and Joanna Rizzo
Dresser of LandVest, an affiliate of Christie’s
Great Estates, are marketing the property for
Bids for the historic Ames-Webster Mansion at 306 Dartmouth St. in the Back Bay will be accepted
COURTESY PHOTOS / LAND VEST
until Dec. 15.
Reality Realty Trust and are accepting bids
until Dec. 15.
Although the French Academic-style brick
building at the corner of Commonwealth
Avenue, set on nearly 11,000 square feet of
land, is assessed for $5.449 million, submitted
bids could range between $18 million and $15
million.
Reality Realty Trust also includes the founding members of the prominent architectural
firm of CBT Architects – Charles Tseckares,
Richard Bertman and the late Maurice F. Artist John La Farge designed the stained glass
Childs. Another principal, Anthony Casendi- skylight above the four-story staircase at the
no, left the firm – which helped restore the Ames-Webster Mansion.
building in the 1970s.
The palatial property was designed in 1872 murals surrounding the skylight.
In the olden days, guests came by carriage
by the prominent architectural firm of
Peabody and Stearns, but the home was signif- and alighted beneath the porte cochere, took
icantly remodeled 10 years later for Frederick an elevator to the second floor and made a
grand entrance as they descended the wide
Lothrop Ames.
That architect, John Sturgis, added a monu- staircase.
Off the great hall is another spacious room,
mental tower that rises four stories and a porte
which contains a conservatory overlooking
cochere with wrought iron gates.
Its magnificent exterior, adorned with bas- Commonwealth Avenue.
Bainbridge Bunting, author of “Houses of
reliefs and pediments, only hints at the unbelievable craftsmanship within that has been Boston’s Back Bay,” wrote that the “monumental stair and reception hall constitute the
preserved.
A mosaic-tiled entry leads into a great hall most palatial space in a Back Bay residence.”
Following the Ames family ownership,
paneled with richly carved oak woodwork that
extends 63 feet and boasts an 18-foot-high Edwin Webster, founder of the engineering
firm of Stone and Webster engineering firm,
ceiling, as wide as the room itself.
The open staircase features the intricate owned the property.
More details about the building are available
carvings of cherubs and seahorses, and at the
top is a stained glass skylight, designed by the at http://AmesWebsterMansion.landvest.com.
famous John La Farge. French painter Benjamin Constant created the Byzantine-style
— Marilyn Jackson