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About The Tiffany Ayer Mansion

$14,995,000

The Ayer Mansion is the only completely Tiffany-designed home in the world. Standing five stories and fronting on both Commonwealth Avenue and Marlborough Street, this is a rare opportunity to match a buyer’s own vision with a uniquely modern and disruptive design. Designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, the sleek, pale façade with bright mosaic detail challenges the Boston streetscape as much now as it did at its unveiling in 1902.

Entering the great hall, the eye is drawn to the tall fireplace, vaulted ceiling and up the imperial stairs under the proscenium arch of glittering glass Tiffany mosaics tiles. At the top of the first landing and seen from the foot of the stairs, a trompe l’oeil Greek temple reflects unusual depth and light.

With designs in place and an award-winning team of developers, builders and architects assembled, this private residence will offer its next occupant the opportunity to reimagine this living (and livable) work of art.

With each floor ranging in size from 2700sf to 3000sf, the conceptual redesign for the property accommodates 6 bedrooms, 13 baths, Living, Dining, Parlors, Salon, Lounge, Study, Two Offices, an In-law Suite, a Terrace and a Roof Deck, Fitness Room with Spa, a Wine Room, Wet Bars and a 3-Car Garage plus exterior off-street space.

395 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, Massachusetts

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Property Details

DETAILS

• The only Tiffany-designed house in the world
• Stunning, timeless architecture
• Frontage on both Commonwealth Avenue and Marlborough Street
• Each floor ranging in size from 2,700sf to 3,000sf
• Views from the roof deck span the Citgo sign, the full sweep of the Charles River Basin to the glittering towers of downtown and Back Bay
• Opportunity for institutional use

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EXISTING CONDITIONS

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CONCEPTUAL REDESIGN FOR PROPERTY ACCOMMODATES:

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Floor Plan

History

When the sleek, pale façade of The Ayer Mansion was unveiled in 1902 amid the red brick of Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue, it was a challenge to the old order. However, disruption and innovation are, in fact, a Boston tradition. From the Tea Party to Isabella Stewart Gardner’s idiosyncratic museum, the brutalist City Hall to biotechnology, Massachusetts has always nurtured unconventional thinking, whether in politics, architecture, or technology. “It was an outlier, commissioned by outliers,” reads an article from Harvard Magazine.

A savvy businessman, Frederick Ayer was the owner of the American Woolen Company, owning many mills including the largest textile factory in Lowell, MA. He was also involved in many other ventures including the patent medicine business and co-founding the Arctic Coal Company. He was a self-made success, with only a sixth-grade education. Ayer and his wife Ellen commissioned the design and building of their home at 395 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, hiring Louis Comfort Tiffany to do the design. The mansion was sold following Frederick’s death in 1918 and converted to office space. It was designated on the list of National Historic Landmarks on April 5, 2005.

The Tiffany Ayer Mansion is an incorporation of these different inspirations. From the ancient Greek, which you see in the jaw-dropping trompe l’œil mosaic through the proscenium arch in the foyer, to the more far Eastern, seen through the Turtleback tiles on the front door and the richness of the glass in the foyer.

For a provincial capital, Boston has always punched above its weight on the world stage.

“Perhaps Tiffany’s most lavish and unusual use of mosaic decoration in a domestic context occurred in the house he designed in 1899 at 395 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. The house is further testament of Tiffany’s love of Islamic art, and its interpretation in the medium that he made his own,” sites Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen in the book, The Tiffany Chapel at the Morse Museum. “A series of steps with rounded profiles lead up to a stage-like landing before further ascending to the landing from which the stairway splits and turns to the second floor. The steps themselves pay homage to the Chicago world’s fair chapel, made of marble with risers decorated in green, blue, and gold glass mosaic.”

Our Team

LandVest and Christie’s International Real Estate. LandVest, an exclusive Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate, is a leading provider of real estate marketing, sales, and consulting services and specializes in providing buyers, sellers, and fiduciaries with the information and services needed to achieve exceptional results.

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Press Release | Press Inquiries: Contact kkelly@landvest.com

Contact LandVest About The Tiffany Ayer Mansion

Greta Gustafson (617) 500.8068 | Ruth Kennedy Sudduth (617) 357.0455

Recent Press / Posts

RECENT PRESS

• Chronicle on WCVB5, “Multimillion-dollar properties for sale in Boston’s Back Bay”
• Boston Agent Magazine, “The only Tiffany-designed home in the world listed for $14.9M in Boston”
• Boston.com, “Never mind a Tiffany lamp. How about a Tiffany-designed house?”
• Galerie Magazine, “Landmark Boston Mansion Designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany Lists for $17 Million”
• Tatler, “Forget diamonds, the only Tiffany-designed mansion ever built could be yours for $17 million”
• Boston Magazine, “The Ayer Mansion, Boston’s Famous Tiffany-Designed Home, Is Now Up for Sale”
• Robb Report, “Real Estate Gem? This $27 Million Gilded Age Mansion in Boston Was Designed by a Tiffany”
• Mansion Global, “Designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, a Gilded Age Boston Mansion Asks $17 Million”
• Architectural Digest, “Designed by Son of Tiffany & Co. Founder, a Gilded Age Mansion is on sale for $17 Million”

BLOG POSTS

• Live in Art: The Tiffany Ayer Mansion Featured in WSJ
• An Evening of Light and Color at the Tiffany Ayer Mansion