Fenway Court, 280 The Fenway, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

Significance: It is significant for its association with the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner and as an example of an American residence designed to house a museum collection. Isabella Stewart Gardner contributed greatly to the cultural and civic life of Boston during her lifetime. Born in New York City in 1840, Isabella Stewart married John L. Gardner of Boston shortly before her twentieth birthday. With her husband she supported neighborhood beautification, cultural institutions, artists and musicians, and local hospitals and social service groups. Following her husband's death in 1898, Mrs. Gardner built her house and museum in the Boston Fens, which had been converted to parkland by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1880s. This previously undeveloped portion of the city became the site of many of the city's major cultural institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts and several colleges and universities...

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1433

Survey number: HABS MA-1334

Building/structure dates: after. 1899- before. 1903 Initial Construction

galleries and museums historic house museums houses gardens boston fenway court fenway court suffolk suffolk county massachusetts travis blake isabella stewart gardner emily hannen ann harper historic american buildings survey isabella stewart gardner museum jamie clapper morris tim penich elizabeth schroeder william t sears dan sullivan janney wiss photo ultra high resolution high resolution library of congress

1903 - 1980

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html