The Ayer Mansion, Boston MA | Nearby Businesses

• Historical Place
• Landmark
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395 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 536-2586 Ext 100

For more than 340 years, Old South Church has stood as a progressive, vibrant Christian community grounded in Jesus, alive to the Spirit, and engaged in the adventure of faith. We are an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ, welcoming all who seek to journey toward the promised realm of God. Our life together is animated by our belief in the presence of the Living God, whom we come to know through the rhythms of worship, prayer, scripture and learning, generosity, kindness and hospitality. Old South is a spiritual home to people from all walks and stations of life, believers and questioners, people from a range of backgrounds and faith perspectives. In our worship, we draw on a variety of Christian traditions, from ancient to contemporary. Through a broad and eclectic program of service, outreach, education, and fellowship, we strive to be part of God’s work of mending the world. In all things, we rely upon the healing, unconditional nature of God’s love and grace to be our help and guide. For more about what to expect at Old South, click http://oldsouth.org/visitors/what-expect

Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay of Boston, Massachusetts, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 3,000 households, was founded in 1733. Five services are offered each Sunday, and weekday services are offered three times a week from September through June. Within the spectrum of worship styles in the Anglican tradition, Trinity Church has historically been considered a Broad Church parish.In addition to worship, the parish is actively involved in service to the community, pastoral care, programs for children and teenagers, and Christian education for all ages.The church is home to several high-level choirs, including the Trinity Choir, Trinity Schola, Trinity Choristers, and Trinity Chamber Choir.After its former site on Summer Street burned in the Great Boston Fire of 1872, the current church complex was erected under the direction of Rector Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), one of the best-known and most charismatic preachers of his time. The church and parish house were designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and construction took place from 1872 to 1877, when the complex was consecrated. Situated on Copley Square in Back Bay, Trinity Church is the building that established Richardson's reputation. It is the birthplace and archetype of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, characterized by a clay roof, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower. This style was soon adopted for a number of public buildings across the United States. The building is currently under study for becoming a Boston Landmark.

Everyone is welcome to attend church! Our services, on Sundays and Wednesdays, are one hour. Times are as follows: SUNDAY SERVICES 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (no evening services in July or August) Childcare is provided Live online service of the 10a.m. service is available: http://christianscience.com/onair Sunday school: 10 am Anyone under 20 may attend WEDNESDAYS TESTIMONY MEETINGS Wednesday services: noon and 7:30 p.m. Childcare is available. Wednesday Online Service: 2:00 p.m. EST/EDT Broadcast live via Internet and phone, with an audio replay available for 24 hours. http://christianscience.com/onair TOUR HOURS (Free!): Tuesday through Sunday (closed Monday) Tuesday: 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday: 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Thursday/Friday/Saturday: 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Group tours and contact information: With six or more people, you can email or call in advance to Louise M. Alder, tour guiding supervisor: [email protected], 617-450-3244.

Three different buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, have been known as the \"John Hancock Building\". All were built by the John Hancock Insurance companies. References to the John Hancock building usually refer to the 60-story, sleek glass building on Clarendon Street also known as the John Hancock Tower or Hancock Place.

The Mary Baker Eddy Library provides public access and context to original materials and to educational experiences about Mary Baker Eddy’s life, ideas, achievements, and legacy.

The Cyclorama Building is an 1884 building at 543-547 Tremont Street in the South End of Boston, Massachusetts that is operated by the Boston Center for the Arts.HistoryThe Classical Revival style Victorian building was commissioned by Charles F. Willoughby's Boston Cyclorama Company to house the Cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg, a 400-by-50 foot cyclorama painting of the Battle of Gettysburg. It was designed by Charles A. Cummings and Willard T. Sears. The central space is a 127'-diameter steel-trussed dome which, when it was built, was the largest dome in the country after the United States Capitol building. Visitors entered through the crenelated archway, proceeded along a dark winding passage, and then ascended a winding staircase to an elevated viewing platform. Skylights lit the scene by day, and it was illuminated by a system of 25 arc lamps by night.In 1889, a new cyclorama painting Custer's Last Fight, was installed, but by 1890, the fashion for cycloramas had ended, and the new owner of the building, John Gardner (father-in-law of Isabella Stewart Gardner), converted it to a venue for popular entertainment, including a carousel, roller skating, boxing tournaments (including an 1894 fight of John L. Sullivan), horseback riding, bicycling, and so on.

New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is America’s founding genealogical organization and the most respected name in family history. Established in 1845, NEHGS is the nation’s leading comprehensive resource for family history research and the largest Society of its kind in the world. We provide expert family history services through our staff, original scholarship, data-rich website, educational opportunities, and research center to help family historians of all levels explore their past and understand their families’ unique place in history. We are a member-based nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing the study of family history in America and beyond, by educating, inspiring, and connecting people through our scholarship, collections, and expertise. We offer the most comprehensive resources in the country for researching family history: An Expert Staff: Our professional genealogists are among the most respected and advanced in the profession. With research specialties including early American, New England, New York, Irish, English, Italian, Scottish, Atlantic and French Canadian, African American, Native American, Chinese, and Jewish genealogy, our expert staff can assist family historians by providing research advice in-person, over the phone, or in writing. Our expert staff can also conduct research on behalf of family historians, providing authoritative, documented research reports and family tree charts. Original Scholarship: To support the research of family historians around the world, we produce the most significant original research and important publications in genealogy, including, since 1847, the longest continually published academic journal in the field, The Register. In addition to the quarterly journal, we publish a quarterly magazine, ten to twenty books per year, and a weekly electronic newsletter. As the leader in genealogical scholarship, we also produce important study projects such as The Great Migration Study Project, covering those who arrived in New England between 1620 and 1640; The Early New England Study Project, 1641–1700; Families of Western Massachusetts in 1790, capturing families heading west at the time of the 1790 census, and the newEarly Vermont Settlers to 1784 which covers families that settled Vermont, the last frontier of New England. Website: AmericanAncestors.org is the most-used genealogical society website in the world. It provides family historians access to more than 1 billion records spanning the U.S. and beyond, including one of the most extensive online collections of early American records, and the largest searchable collection of published genealogical research journals and magazines. Special strengths in our content include English, New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont), New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia materials. Education: Designed to benefit family history researchers of all levels, we provide exclusive, in-depth learning opportunities through lectures, seminars, intensive research programs, tours to libraries and archives, online courses and webinars, and special events . Research Center: Named by USA Today as a top 10 world destination for family history, the public, members and visitors are invited to visit our eight-story library and archive where we offer the largest collection of original family history research materials in the country. Our collection, which continues to grow through acquisition and preservation activities, dates from the fourteenth century to the present and spans North America, Europe, and beyond. It includes more than 28 million diaries, letters, photographs, and other manuscripts, and more than 200,000 books and microforms.

The Church of the Covenant is a historic church at 67 Newbury Street in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A National Historic Landmark, it was built in 1865-1867 by the Central Congregational Church, and is now affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ. The church was designed by Richard M. Upjohn, and its distinctive interior is largely the work of Tiffany & Co.HistoryBuilt of Roxbury puddingstone in Gothic Revival style it was one of the first churches to relocate in the new Back Bay and was built largely with funds donated by Benjamin Bates, an industrialist who founded Bates College. Designed by Richard M. Upjohn, the son and partner of Richard Upjohn, who insisted on "a high gothic edifice... which no ordinary dwelling house would overtop." It has a 240ft high steeple, that overtops the Bunker Hill Monument. Oliver Wendell Holmes said: "We have one steeple in Boston that to my eyes seems absolutely perfect--that of the Central Church on the corner of Newbury and Berkeley Streets." In the 1890s the sanctuary was redecorated by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co. with stained-glass windows and mosaics and an electric-light chandelier designed by Tiffany's Jacob Adolphus Holzer for the World's Columbian Exhibition, Chicago, 1893.

The Charles Street Inn is a quaint hotel in the center of Beacon Hill. The Inn has nine rooms, each uniquely named and decorated, and an accordingly small staff. While the number of rooms may be small, the rooms themselves are fairly sized and more than comfortable. The staff is not only friendly, but real. With one person at the front desk at all times, we try our best to make you feel like you're at a home away from home. When that infamous New England cold rolls around, fear not for you may curl up beside the fireplace present in every room, sipping on some complimentary hot coffee or tea that you make in your own room. To add to it all, the building has been standing since 1860, which is more than clear in its furnishings and architecture.

Tours are given on the hour at 1, 2, and 3 p.m.. Wednesday through Sunday. The museum is closed on major holidays. For groups of twelve and more please call for a reservation. 617-267-6338 or email [email protected] website: www.thegibsonhouse.org

The Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House was founded in 1902 as a settlement House providing information and services to help immigrants assimilate into American culture. For over a century, the organization has maintained a grassroots approach to services on a limited budget. Today we provide programs for all ages—from infants to elders. We have a busy food pantry, an out of school time program for children, summer camp, outreach to young adults at risk, heath related programs for seniors and men of color, community organizing, and an open computer center and free technology classes. We host community-wide events, financial, exercise, poetry writing, drumming and other classes and welcome the Area IV community to meetings and local gatherings.

The Frederick Ayer Mansion is a National Historic Landmark on 395 Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.The mansion was the home of Frederick Ayer, owner of the American Woolen Company, and features well preserved design work by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.Historical significanceThe Ayer Mansion was built in 1900, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany in a partnership with Alfred J. Manning. It is one of three surviving examples of Tiffany designed interiors. The other two sites are the Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain House) in Hartford, Connecticut (1881), and the Ferry House in Seattle, Washington (1903–1906). What makes the Ayer Mansion so unusual is that Tiffany also designed exterior mosaics for the property. The only other building known to have included this feature by Tiffany was his private residence, Laurelton Hall, which was destroyed in a fire in the 1950s. Individual components from Laurelton Hall survive in museums, but the Ayer Mansion is now the only place that has intact in situ interior and exterior components designed by Tiffany. The mansion was sold by the family after Frederick's death in 1918 and converted to office space. The Trimount Foundation and Bayridge Residence and Cultural Center, affiliates of the Roman Catholic Opus Dei organization, purchased the Ayer mansion and adjacent buildings in 1964. They are currently operated as private residential facilities for area college students, although tours are occasionally given of the public spaces where Tiffany-designed elements have been preserved.

Bayridge is much more than a dorm or a housing facility. The serious study atmosphere allows students to excel in their chosen degree, while the family atmosphere gives everyone a place to call home. In addition, residents are welcome to participate in a variety of cultural activities offered by the Cultural Center. The residence and cultural center are open to women of all nationalities, creeds, and ethnic backgrounds. The activities of spiritual formation offered at Bayridge are entrusted to Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church. http://www.opusdei.org/

By 1974 ownership shares had passed to heirs, the studios were not being maintained, and they owed nearly $200,000 in back taxes. The "Artists for the Preservation of the Fenway Studios" was formed to save the studios, and in 1981 a mortgage paid for back taxes and building improvements. In 1982, after renovations were completed, the studios were converted into an early limited-equity cooperative. In 1998 façade structural issues were discovered, requiring emergency repairs costing $1.6 million, which required additional fund raising through the Friends of Fenway Studios. As of 2007, the studios are currently home to 25 artists working in a wide range of media. Today there are 46 artists living and/or working in the building.

We were founded in 1900 by twenty one institutions—including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Columbia. Over a century later, ASOR has more than 90 consortium institutions, including universities, seminaries, museums, foundations, and libraries. In addition, we have more than 1,550 individual members. We remain true to our original mission – initiating, encouraging and supporting research into the cultures of the Near East from the earliest times, and helping the public to understand the findings of that research, as outlined in our strategic plan. ASOR fosters original research, archaeological excavations and explorations; encourages scholarship in the Near East’s basic languages, cultural histories and traditions; builds support for Near Eastern studies, and advocates high academic standards. ASOR also offers educational opportunities in Near Eastern history and archaeology to students from all over the world, and through outreach activities to the public.

The MENA region has seen a significant growth in capacity development programs focusing on youth. However, little have developed a comprehensive educational methodology allowing a holistic learning journey blending skill building for improved professionalism and employability as well as citizenship education. Lazord Foundation provides educational, programmatic and financial resources to partner organizations that serve youth in their local areas while developing youth professionally to be responsible and civic oriented professionals to cease opportunities in their field for civic development.

Situated in the heart of Boston’s Fenway neighborhood and a link in Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, the Fenway Victory Gardens span seven acres tended by a community of almost 500 gardeners from every neighborhood in Boston, with a diversity of cultures, ages, abilities and experience. During WWII, the City of Boston established 49 areas (including the Boston Common and the Public Garden!) as ‘victory gardens’ for citizens to grow vegetables and herbs. As the oldest and largest continuously operating WWII Victory Garden in the U.S., the Fenway Victory Gardens are home not only to vegetable gardens, but to floral gardens, a community herb garden, an accessible garden, an apiary, a nursery, and a teaching garden. A meadow at the gardens’ center is ideal for picnics, yoga, bocce, and plenty more. Come and spend an afternoon exploring our special part of the Boston parks system!

Advisor: Randy Lite President: Rachel Sweeney & Laura Williamson Treasurer: Jill Lopes Events Coordinator: Candace Frazier Publicity: Ellen G Secretary: Anna Chinsky

Guerilla Opera was founded in 2007 by Co-Artistic Directors Mike Williams and Rudolf Rojahn in response to the staged performance of a song cycle called “Lust” based on the novel by Elfriede Jelinek, written by Rojahn, and directed by Board Member Sanford Sylvan. The performance had a profound impact on Rojahn and Williams as well as the surrounding audience members. From this experience they decided to found a larger chamber ensemble that combined key elements of that performance – exciting and progressive new music highlighting musical virtuosity, intimate venue, dramatic risk, and direct communication between performers without the use of a conductor. In our brief existence we have garnered a national reputation for excellence in performance and bold programming. We have also received local and national attention from media sources including the Boston Globe, MSNBC, Fox News, National Public Radio, the Boston Herald, and numerous other publications. In the 2010-2011 Season we focused new attention on extending our reach to communities outside of the Boston area by performing and holding workshops featuring Rojahn’s Heart of a Dog at the University of Memphis, the OPERA America Convention, and at Hubbard Hall in 2012 in collaboration with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater. In July 2012 we were awarded Best Opera Company by The Improper Bostonian in their “Best of Boston” Issue. Curtis K. Hughes also released a professional recording of his opera Say It Ain’t So, Joe, which features the original Guerilla Opera cast and ensemble. Available on iTunes. This season will feature the World Premiere of GALLO by composer Ken Ueno with stage direction by Sarah Meyers, and a new production of NO EXIT by Andy Vores. GALLO is Guerilla Opera’s ninth commissioned opera since 2007 and will be the tenth original production. NO EXIT is the second work from Guerilla Opera’s repertoire to be revived into a new production. The 2014-2015 season will feature the world premiere of a new chamber opera by composer Per Bloland. This will be Guerilla Opera’s tenth commissioned chamber opera since it’s founding in 2007.

About the Center The African Presidential Center at Boston University is an unprecedented and unique approach to studying democratization and free market reform in Africa. Through a residency program for former democratically elected African leaders and access to their papers, and through access to present democratically elected leaders, the Center provides a forum for them to share and a venue for others to benefit from their insights and expertise. The Center offers an exceptional opportunity to see the present phase of Africa's development through the eyes of the "architects of that change." The Center also serves as a setting for policy debates and deliberations on democratization and free market reform in Africa. The African Presidential Center complements an essential part of the academic missions of the African and African-American Studies programs at Boston University, as well as other departments with an international focus. The Center functions in several ways: The Center provides residential opportunities for democratically elected former African heads of state to write, lecture, and engage the university and the broader community on African issues and matters of interest relative to the continent for up to two-years; In addition to documenting the present phase of Africa's development, the Center functions as a venue to examine, debate, and contribute to the development of current policy regarding Africa. Former heads of state in residence, scholars, and students, among others, actively participate in policy discussions; Symposia and conferences are an integral part of the Center's activities; The Center publishes books, academic and policy oriented articles, conference proceedings, and the annual African Leaders State of Africa Report; Fundamental to the concept of the Center is that it functions, in part, like a U.S. Presidential library. This means that it has a public component, enabling citizens (opinion leaders and others) to develop a better understanding of the present realities and future potential of Africa; and The Center maintains and disseminates information on training experiences in Africa and sponsors students for such experiences. The African Presidential Center is an internationally recognized Center for research and dialogue on contemporary political and economic trends in Africa. By involving African leaders in the work of the Center - with an emphasis on acquiring and exploring ideas that emerge from Presidential documents and interviews - the African Presidential Center is uniquely positioned as a top international Center for the study of Africa. The Center's activities include: Providing current data and up-to-date analyses of political and economic trends in Africa in a form that is accessible to corporations and entities interested in developments in Africa; Acting as a magnet for researchers from other institutions and journalists interested in accessing in-depth and current information on Africa; Providing a forum to critique and hone policy approaches by a range of policy makers, such as members of the diplomatic community, multilateral institutions, non-governmental organizations, government ministries, and Broadcasting speeches and symposia sponsored by the Center through WBUR, BU's National Public Radio affiliate, and offering content for distribution on television through PBS, CNN and other outlets.

Styleta is a nonprofit organization that uses fashion as a way to donate to various charities. The perfect club for anyone with a passion for fashion and business, Styleta sells donated clothes from individuals, retailers, and designers and gives the proceeds to local and national charities. Already popular at several schools, such as Harvard University to Washington University in St. Louis, Styleta is coming to Boston University! We are hoping to bring Styleta to BU next semester and have several great ideas that will make Styleta's theme of "Fashion for a Cause" exciting. From fashion shows to photo shoots, Styleta is guaranteed to give students the opportunity to experience the fashion industry first hand. Whether you are interested in the business or creative side of fashion, Styleta at Boston Unviersity will be a great way to get involved in the industry!