191 Comm. Ave
191 Commonwealth Avenue, Back Bay, Boston
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191 Commonwealth Avenue rises on the northeast corner of Commonwealth and Exeter Streets, one of the Back Bay’s most visible intersections. With its broad frontage and corner presence, the building was conceived differently from the rows of brownstones and townhouses that define much of the avenue. Built in 1872 and 1873, it was a pioneering venture in Boston housing: a six-unit “family hotel,” or what was then called “French flats.” Known as the Hotel Agassiz, it combined European-style apartment living with the architectural elegance expected in the newly reclaimed Back Bay (Boston Globe, Aug. 17, 1872; Boston City Archives, 1873).
The idea of French flats was still new to Boston. Traditionally, city families aspired to private houses, but by the 1870s some of Boston’s wealthiest residents began experimenting with a different model. The Hotel Pelham, built near the Boston Common in 1857, had introduced the concept to America. In the Back Bay, the Hamilton on Clarendon Street and the Kempton on Berkeley had followed in 1869. By the time the Hotel Agassiz was announced, the experiment had gained traction among elite Bostonians who saw the appeal of spacious apartments centrally located but without the burdens of maintaining a full townhouse (Southworth & Southworth, AIA Guide to Boston).
The Hotel Agassiz was a project of three men whose names carried immense weight in Boston society and beyond: Alexander Agassiz, Henry Lee Higginson, and George Higginson. Alexander Agassiz was both scientist and businessman. The son of Harvard naturalist Louis Agassiz, he built his own career as a zoologist and oceanographer while simultaneously overseeing the Calumet and Hecla Copper Mines, which became one of the most profitable mining ventures in the nation. Henry Lee Higginson, his brother-in-law, had served as a Union officer in the Civil War and went on to co-found the banking house Lee, Higginson & Co., specializing in railroad and mining investments. He is remembered above all for founding the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881, an institution he personally sustained for decades. Henry’s father, George Higginson, was an established financier who had long played a central role in Boston’s banking world (Margo Miller, Château Higginson; Harvard Business School Baker Library Collections).
The Higginsons and Agassiz purchased the parcel from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts after the state’s 1872 land auction, though construction began before the formal deed transfer in 1873. The site, measuring over eighty feet along Commonwealth Avenue and extending more than 120 feet back toward the alley, was large enough to support an ambitious design. The architects, Weston and Rand, prepared plans for a six-story structure of brick and stone with freestone trim. The builders, Weston and Shepard, were masons of considerable reputation. Inside, carpentry was overseen by Morton and Chesley (Boston City Archives, Building Permit Records, 1872–1873).
Contemporary accounts in the Boston Globe described the plans in glowing detail. The building was to be seventy feet wide, more than one hundred feet deep, and eighty-two feet tall. Each of the six floors would contain a single suite, essentially a private apartment with numerous rooms, fireplaces, and high ceilings. Two elevators, powered by hydraulic motors, were among its most innovative features. Ventilation, heating, and fire safety were emphasized: the staircases were of iron, enclosed by brick walls, with fireproof doors at each landing. The estimated cost was close to two hundred thousand dollars, a staggering figure for the time (Boston Globe, Aug. 17, 1872).
When completed in late 1873, the building was christened the Hotel Agassiz in honor of the family. Alexander Agassiz himself resided in Cambridge but retained ownership. The Higginsons, however, took full advantage of the new residence. Henry and his wife, Ida Agassiz, who was Alexander’s sister, moved into the building and made it their lifelong home. For the rest of their lives they occupied apartments here while also maintaining a summer estate in West Manchester called Sunset Hill. Their residence quickly became a cultural salon, with connections to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the intellectual life of the city (Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives; Boston Globe, Nov. 1919).
In 1878, the building was expanded with the construction of an annex at 185 Commonwealth. George Higginson had purchased the adjoining twenty-five-foot-wide lot, and within a few years, an addition was constructed under the name of Charles Fairchild, a partner at Lee, Higginson & Co. The annex was integrated into the Hotel Agassiz, providing further living space. Although it may have been intended for Fairchild himself, it soon became part of the Higginsons’ domain. By 1887, deeds clarified that ownership of the entire property at 191 Commonwealth and its annex was held jointly by the Higginsons and Alexander Agassiz (Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, 1878–1887).
The building was not only a residence but also a social landmark. It represented a turning point in how Boston’s elite chose to live, not only in private homes but in refined apartment buildings that offered convenience, scale, and proximity to one another. At a time when Back Bay’s avenues were still filling with new houses, the Hotel Agassiz stood out as a bold experiment (Bunting, Houses of Boston’s Back Bay).
Through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Agassiz and Higginson families retained ownership. George Higginson died in 1889, leaving his interest to his daughter-in-law Ida Agassiz Higginson. Alexander Agassiz’s death in 1910 passed his share to his three sons George, Maximilian, and Rodolphe. The families continued to own and occupy apartments in the building until 1951, making it one of the longest-held family properties in the Back Bay (Boston Globe, Apr. 1889; Boston Globe, Mar. 1910).
As time passed, the original six apartments were gradually subdivided. By the 1930s there were nine units. By the late 1930s that number had risen to fourteen, and by 1952 there were sixteen. Each subdivision reflected broader changes in Boston’s housing market as large suites became less practical and demand rose for smaller apartments. Still, the building’s grandeur remained. High ceilings, decorative mantels, and large windows preserved the feel of its original luxury (Boston Globe, 1935–1952).
A 1965 article in the Boston Globe described it vividly, noting that while the fireplaces were no longer used for heat and the original twenty-one water closets had long been replaced with modern plumbing, the Hotel Agassiz retained “the finest in gracious intown living” and still carried the aura of “Old Boston.” By then the Prudential Tower had risen nearby, underscoring the contrast between new skyscrapers and the stately nineteenth-century buildings that still defined Back Bay’s character (Boston Globe, May 9, 1965).
In 1973, the building entered a new chapter when it was converted into condominiums. Developer Nicholas Rizzo oversaw the transformation of the sixteen apartments into individual condominium units, formally creating the 191 Commonwealth Avenue Condominium. This step ensured the building’s survival as a residential landmark, adapting it once again to contemporary needs while preserving its architectural presence on Commonwealth Avenue (Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, 1973).
Today, 191 Commonwealth remains a handsome and distinctive piece of Boston history. Its role as one of the first true apartment buildings in the Back Bay makes it architecturally significant, while its association with the Agassiz and Higginson families ties it to some of Boston’s most influential names. For decades it housed philanthropists, scientists, financiers, and music patrons whose impact on the city far exceeded the walls of their residence.
To pass by 191 Commonwealth today is to see more than a six-story building of brick and stone. It is to encounter a piece of Boston’s social experiment in urban living, a residence that blended European models with American ambition. From the vision of Agassiz and Higginson to the subdivided apartments of the twentieth century, and now as a condominium residence, the Hotel Agassiz tells a story of adaptation, elegance, and endurance that is true to the spirit of Back Bay itself.