History of The Marlborough

The Building

The Marlborough was built in 1895 as a 32-unit apartment house. In his book Built in Boston, Douglass Shand-Tucci pointed out that at the turn of the century this area of the Back Bay was rising in social prominence. He wrote, “...the supremacy of the Back Bay was reinforced by the erection of such deluxe apartment houses as The Marlborough by Willard T. Sears...” The author also detailed what, at the time, were exceptional features advertised for The Marlborough, “...electricity in all rooms, twenty-four-hour telephone service, and all-night elevators.”

The Architect, Willard T. Sears (1837-1920)

Sears’ work is scattered throughout the neighborhood. In addition to The Marlborough, he designed the Hotel Cambridge at 483 Beacon Street. With his partner, Charles Amos Cummings, Sears designed 21 single-family homes in the Back Bay Residential District, an office building at 372-378 Boylston Street, the Old South Church in Copley Square, the Cyclorama building in the South End, and the Pilgrim Memorial in Provincetown. Sears was the architect of record for Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Fenway Court. After her death it became the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Her husband, Jack Gardner, was in favor of hiring Sears. According to the Museum, he said, “...I think our chance for economy with sufficiently good work and good management, and attention to business is perhaps better with Sears than anybody.”

Condominium Conversion

In 1986, the architectural firm Childs, Bertman & Tseckares, Inc. oversaw the building’s conversion to condominiums with a redesign of the interior, replacement of elevators, mechanical, plumbing, and fire suppression systems, and the addition of the ninth floor.

More information on the history of The Marlborough may be found at www.backbayhouses.org.