From Preservation Online, the online magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

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African-American Site Partially Demolished in Boston


Story by Margaret Foster / Nov. 14, 2005

The new owner of a house on Boston's Black Heritage Trail demolished the roof and top floor of the two-story structure last month—without a permit.

Located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, the 19th-century Federal-style house was the home of John P. Coburn, an African American businessman who founded the first all-black military company in 1854. The brick house was one of the 14 sites on the Heritage Trail but was not a protected city landmark.

"We're very disappointed and angry," says Eric Breitkreutz, executive director of the nonprofit Historic Boston, Inc., which nominated the house to Preservation Massachusetts' list of the state's 10 most endangered places, where it was listed in October. "If this can happen in Beacon Hill, it can happen in your neighborhood."

Owner Eric Stevens, who bought the house last year for $500,000, applied for and received city permits to construct a new staircase, kitchen, bathrooms, and roof deck. His demolition plans went unnoticed because of an unusual loophole: Like most historic-preservation ordinances, the Beacon Hill Historic Commission's rules state that it must approve any changes that are visible from the public way, but the Coburn House, located on a hidden courtyard, is obscured from view.

"[The Beacon Hill Historic Commission] had to exempt it from review because it was not visible from the public way," Breitkreutz says. "The city's demolition delay exempts any historic district because it has its own review process. In this case, the historic district didn't have any say; hence the Catch-22."

The city of Boston has halted further demolition, but no one knows if the rest of the Coburn House can be saved.

"It wasn't in wonderful shape to begin with, and what this guy did has put a significant nail in the coffin," says Jim Igoe, executive director of Preservation Massachusetts. "It's very sad. Beacon Hill—you'd think that it was the most protected neighborhood in the Northeast."

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