Otis House
The Otis House was built in 1796 by Harrison Gray Otis. Otis was a young lawyer when he hired his friend, architect Charles Bulfinch, to design this elegant townhouse for himself, his wife Sally Foster Otis, and their four young children. As a wealthy, prominent citizen of Boston, Otis wanted to live in the most stylish neighborhood. In 1796, Bowdoin Square was a very respectable address. Surrounded by quiet hills and the Charles River, it was a peaceful, almost rural alternative to busy downtown Boston, but the commercial growth of this area happened quickly. Only four years after the Otises built this house, they decided to move to Beacon Hill, which was fast becoming a very elegant place to live. Bulfinch’s design for the Otis House shows typical characteristics of the Federal style, including a heavy emphasis on symmetry, and classical window shapes like the fanlight windows over the main entrance and on the third floor, and the very fashionable Palladian window on the second floor. The Otis House is an excellent example of a high-style home in the Federal era.
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