The Ames-Webster House

Our offices are located in Boston’s historic Back Bay, in the Ames-Webster
House at 306 Dartmouth Street.

Designed in 1872 by Peabody and Stearns, industrialist Frederick L. Ames commissioned a complete remodeling of the residence by John H. Sturgis and Charles Brigham in 1882, adding a tower, porte cochere, and two-story conservatory. The Ames-Webster House boasted 55 rooms and 40 fire places and includes a mosaic-lined staircase leading to the 18’x63’x18’ great hall, considered to be among Sturgis’ greatest works. The mansion’s four-story staircase is topped with stained glass and The Justinian Cycle, the only known mural in the United States by French painter and academician Benjamin Constant.

The Ames-Webster House, also known as the Frederick L. Ames House, served as single-family residence for the Ames and Webster families for approximately 90 years, before being converted to professional office space in 1972 (later winning the first Annual Conservation Award of the New England Chapter of the Victorian Society in America).

The Ames family made their fortune manufacturing shovels as early as 1773, and later established their world-wide reputation as Oliver Ames & Sons, supplying shovels to the United States Government during the Civil War. Ames shovels were even accepted as legal tender during the development of the United States out West. The Ames family continued to manufacture shovels, while expanding their empire through the building and development of the railroads across America.

For directions to our offices, please click here.