Luxury Home of the Week: A Back Bay brownstone for $10 6 million boston.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from boston.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Megan Johnson Globe correspondent March 4, 2021 5:00 am
An expansive Federal-style Beacon Hill home believed to have served as a stop on the Underground Railroad has hit the market for $10,750,000.
Listed for the first time in nearly 20 years, 28 Chestnut St. holds a lot of history in its five stories. Built in 1823, the property was designed by Jesse Shaw. His uncle, Robert Gould Shaw, rose to fame as the Union commanding officer who led the first all-Black regiment in the Civil War, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. The Shaws were a prominent abolitionist family, and Robert Gould Shaw kept his horses in stables behind the property as he assembled his regiment in 1863. (His story was told in the 1989 film
Historic $10.75M Home in Boston Was a Stop on the Underground Railroad
Historic $10.75M Home in Boston Was a Stop on the Underground Railroad
This historic home in Boston, with ties to Robert Gould Shaw, the Civil War figure portrayed in the film Glory, was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Claudine Zap, provided by
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The property, built in 1827, was designed by the architect
Jesse Shaw, a relative of
Robert Gould Shaw, the commanding officer of the first all-black regiment to fight for the Union during the Civil War.
It is also said to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad, the network of secret routes and safehouses used by escapees from the Southern states fleeing northward. It s believed to have an underground bunker that was used as a hiding place, accessible through the full basement.
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The Seaport no longer seems to be sizzling, some real estate agents say, but a look at the sales figures from the last six months of 2020 don’t reflect that trend yet.
“Once upon a time, amenities were very attractive; now there is hesitation about being in shared communities,” Antonio Khoury, an agent and managing partner with Compass, said. But many buildings have gotten creative, offering opportunities like private pool access and spa appointments, he said.
“Historic properties are trending stronger than full-service buildings since those buildings tend to have fewer units,” Compass agent and managing director Brett DeRocker said. This creates an opportunity for buyers looking for a full-service building, he said. “You can open quite a few doors in all the downtown neighborhoods with $3 million; you can get more bang for your buck.”
“Beautiful and classic, exactly what Beacon Hill embodies,” is how the listing describes an impeccably preserved Federal-style home in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood that’s just hit the market for $10.75 million.
The 1827-constructed property at 28 Chestnut Street was built by a “housewright” (what we now call an architect) named Jesse Shaw, who was reportedly a relative of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the Union army officer who led the first all-Black regiment in the Civil War, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.
The Shaw family was known in Boston as a prominent abolitionist family, and one of the listing’s features makes testament to this fact: a bunker, accessed through the property’s full basement, that was a stop on the Underground Railroad.