Special to the Times
On Saturday, June 7, Historic New England’s sites across the region are open and free to the public. Visitors can enjoy a fun day of fantastic storytelling from architecture and fine art to New Englanders of the past. The Otis House features the young Otis family’s life in the Federal era and the later history of the house when it served as a clinic and a middle-class boarding house.
Tour times vary across sites and the Otis House will be open 11:00 am – 4:00 pm.
Additional Details:
• Free
• Otis Open House Book Sale
Summer Evening at Otis House- Thursday, June 11, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Celebrate the beginning of summer on the front terrace of Otis House. This year’s event draws on the neighborhood’s legacy as a medical hub, including Elizabeth Mott’s practice at the Otis House and other trailblazing 19th-century healers. Guests enjoy wine or an herbal remedy cocktail, live jazz music, and delicious hors d’oeuvres from The Tip Tap Room.
Additional Details:
Hosted by Historic New England and the Beacon Hill Civic Association.
• Members $55; Nonmember $60
• Summer Evening at Otis House
Specialty Tour: A Tale of Two Eras at the Otis House- Sunday, June 28, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Uncover stories of the last surviving mansion in Bowdoin Square through two distinct chapters of its history. First, delve into the lives of the Otis family members. Built in 1796, the house reflects the wealthy couple and their growing family. Then, travel into the mid-19th century, when the house transformed into a genteel boarding house managed by the Williams sisters.
Additional Details:
• Members $15; Nonmember $20.
• Summer Evening at Otis House
Where:
Otis House, 141 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA
Historic New England welcomes the public to thirty-eight exceptional museums and landscapes, operates a major collections and archives center, and protects 125 privately owned historic properties in the region through a preservation easement program. HistoricNewEngland.org
Otis House is the last surviving mansion in Bowdoin Square in Boston’s West End neighborhood. Charles Bulfinch designed the house for politician Harrison Gray Otis, Sally Foster Otis, and their young family. Tours include the family’s life in the Federal era and the later history of the house, when it served as a clinic and a middle-class boarding house. HistoricNewEngland.org/Property/Otis-House.