On the Market: A Glitzy and Airy Condo in a Back Bay Brownstone

Complete with a wood-burning fireplace and broad balcony with skyline vistas.


Photo by David Ward via Compass

461 Beacon St. #5, Boston
Price: $1,430,000
Size: 1,032 square feet
Bedrooms: 2
Baths: 2

Though it’s typically abuzz with shoppers, commuters, and lunch breakers this time of year, Back Bay lately has grown hushed, like much of the rest of Boston. But during the uncharacteristic stillness of the pandemic or even a standard busy day on Beacon Street, this ethereal condo offers a constant sense of quietude.

The home, built in 1880, actually owes most of its open, easy-to-navigate layout to a recent renovation, done by the sellers in 2015. The facelift included gutting the kitchen and bathrooms, redoing all of the electrical and plumbing, and, handily for your quarantine purposes, installing a full-size washer and dryer. Knocking down the partition between the living room and eat-in revealed a pair of natural wood trusses that now softly frame the white and pale gray rooms. The kitchen shines with stainless appliances and a glossy granite breakfast bar, but the den heightens the glamor with an iron and crystal chandelier from Restoration Hardware. For long days of lounging around, the fixture’s glow and the crackle of the wood-burning fireplace that faces the sofa are key.

Both bedrooms and their marble-appointed bathrooms draw from the same soothing gray-and-white motif, complemented by white oak floors with a walnut stain. From a door in the second bedroom, you can step out onto a balcony that extends along most of the south side of the unit. Currently there’s just one entrance, but it would be a cinch, the listing agent says, to add one to the master bedroom, too. And it would be well worth it, for unfettered access to that view: The impressive towers of One Dalton, 200 Clarendon, and the Prudential ascending a quintessential line of Back Bay brownstones. Even if you get all dressed up with nowhere to go but the balcony, appreciating that sight is occasion enough.

For information, contact Bernadine Tsung-Megason, Compass, compass.com.

Photo by David Ward via Compass

Photo by David Ward via Compass

Photo by David Ward via Compass

Photo by David Ward via Compass

Photo by David Ward via Compass

Photo by David Ward via Compass

Photo by Lisa Neighbors via Compass

Photo by Lisa Neighbors via Compass

Photo by Lisa Neighbors via Compass

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