55 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-742-3190
http://nscdama.org/william-hickling-prescott-house/
This townhouse is the 1808 work of Benjamin Asher (1773–1845). A champion of the Federal and Greek Revival styles, Asher wrote seven books on architectural design which became widely read and used through much of this country.
This house was built for James Smith Colburn (1780–1859), and it was attached to an adjoining twin town house mansion of the same design. Both houses were free-standing when built and had water views, as the Back Bay and what would become the Boston Public Garden had not been filled in. William Hickling Prescott (1796–1859) bought the house in 1845. One of the first historians in America, his expertise was Spanish history. He wrote books on late-Renaissance Spain and the early Spanish empire in the Americas. Prescott died in this house in 1859. His widow sold the house to cousins, the Dexters. In 1944 the property was acquired by the Massachusetts chapter of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. This is also known as Headquarters House.
The red-brick house is four stories high, and the facade has a distinctive round bay framed by pilasters. The elegant interior includes Prescott’s study, which has been meticulously and accurately restored by the Colonial Dames.