Welcome

Welcome. Historic New England. , Welcome to the Otis House Museum, one of thirty-five historic sites operated by Historic New England., We invite you to explore the Otis House, the only freestanding eighteenth-century mansion surviving in downtown Boston. The museum is open year round, Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm., Historic New England is the oldest, largest and most comprehensive regional preservation organization in the country. It offers a unique opportunity to experience the lives and stories of New Englanders through their homes and possessions. Historic New England is presented by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. Visit www.HistoricNewEngland.org., Discover how Beacon Hill began , During the years after the American Revolution, Harry and Sally Otis commissioned their friend, Charles Bulfinch, to design for them a mansion in the fashionable neighborhood of Bowdoin Square. The reserved classical exterior barely hints at the brilliant colors, imported wallpapers and carpets, and opulent furnishings that ornament the interiors. In 1797 the Otises, their young family, and staff of servants moved into the house, setting up a household that exemplified the elegant lifestyle led by Boston's elite., While living in this house. Otis and his business partners began to develop Beacon Hill's south slope as Boston's premier residential neighborhood. Within a few short years, the Otises had decided to build an even larger mansion at the top of Beacon Hill, a move that signaled the end of Bowdoin Square as Boston's most desirable address. Even after Bowdoin Square became increasingly commercial, the Otis House continued to play a vital role in the changing neighborhood, as a two-family home, a clinic offering medicated baths, a boarding house, and eventually serving as the headquarters for Historic New England and becoming its flagship museum.