In the late 19th century, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s design firm was uniquely American and ubiquitous: Tiffany crafted mosaics, chandeliers, vases, jewelry, glassware, pottery, metalwork, and furniture for both the fashionable and the mass market.
Tiffany & Co. had created interior designs and decor for the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, and for the White House—at the insistence of President Chester A. Arthur. Inevitably, Tiffany’s artistic vision expanded to the design of entire structures. The Ayer Mansion is the only such example standing today.
Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005, its five-story pale granite façade confronts the Boston streetscape as vividly today as at its unveiling in 1902. Nearly all its original elements remain: The great hall commands the eye, with its tall fireplace, vaulted ceiling, and the imperial staircase under a proscenium arch of glittering Tiffany-glass mosaic tiles. At the top of the first landing (visible from the foot of the stairs), a glass-mosaic trompe l’oeil of a Greek temple reflects unusual depth and light. The columns are semi-transparent glass backed by gold foil, giving the appearance of a rising sun.
Other magnificent details include opalescent glass and shimmering mosaics throughout, vast copper-clad double doors, and bow-front windows with stained-glass panels.
The current owners have created plans, permits, and renderings to reimagine the property as a six-bedroom, 13-bathroom single-family home, including a primary suite with a walk-in closet and private terrace, as well as a self-contained in-law suite. There will be elegant living and dining rooms, galleries, a salon, formal first-floor parlor, fourth-floor lounge, a fifth-floor sky parlor, a terrace, and a roof deck with views of the Boston skyline.
The conceptual redesign will also include a wine room, study and two offices, a fitness center with spa, wet bars, kitchens, three pantries, entrances on Commonwealth Avenue and Marlborough Street, a three-car garage and off-street parking.