The Pope-Barron House at 334 Beacon Street

334 Beacon Street, Fairfield Street, Frederick Pope, Clarence Barron

334 Beacon Street

It’s been a while since I wrote a post about one of Boston’s many distinctive buildings with interesting histories. The Pope-Barron House at 334 Beacon at the corner of Fairfield Street fits both descriptions.

Two important architects worked on it over its history and it was occupied by a notable and accomplished man more usually associated with New York City’s financial scene.

Built as a Simple Brick House

334 Beacon Street, Frederick Pope, Back Bay, Boston, Clarence Barron

The original design

The French Second Empire building at 334 Beacon Street might catch the attention of drivers using the entrance to Storrow Drive. It can be difficult to see its design, however, because of the three-story pine tree obscuring the bay.

But it didn’t always look this way. Architect and builder Frederick B. Pope built the house at 334 Beacon Street on speculation. When completed, it sported a brick exterior, like most of the other row houses on the block. The Boston Daily Advertiser described it this way:

“The house if of brick with trimmings of freestone beautifully carved and has a front of thirty feet with a depth of seventy. It has two main stories above the basement with the inevitable Mansard roof over all and thus avoids the unpleasant top-heavy effect which is too-often given to modern buildings by their extreme height. The bay windows of the front are of an octagonal shape, as is also the large bay window in the second story on the side looking down Beacon Street.”

The Second Empire-style spec house did not have a fast turn-around, however, and must have disappointed Mr. Pope as a source of quick revenue. It took two years to sell and even then went at public auction.

The unremarkable brick house had several owners over the years. In fact, it turned over almost every year until it was acquired by its famous resident.

Clarence Barron on Beacon Street

Clarence Walker Barron, Dow Jones & Co Inc., Barron's

Clarence W. Barron

Clarence Walker Barron purchased the modest brick house typical of Back Bay design in March of 1905. Born in Boston in 1855, Mr. Barron became a journalist, working on the Boston Daily News and the Evening Transcript. In 1887 he founded the Boston News Bureau to supply brokers with financial news, and later that year opened the Philadelphia News Bureau.

In 1901, Mr. Barron acquired the Dow Jones News Company for $130,000 (about $4,826,900 today) after the death of Charles Dow, served as its president and managed its flagship publication, The Wall Street Journal. During that time, he expanded its daily circulation, modernized its printing press operations, and deepened its reporting capabilities.

In 1921, he founded and served as the first editor of an investment journal for investors and financiers: the eponymous news magazine: Barron’s National Financial Weekly, which was later renamed Barron’s Magazine.

The Founder of Financial Journalism

Charles Ponzi, Ponzi scheme

Charles Ponzi

Many consider Clarence W. Barron to be the founder of modern financial journalism because he pushed for the intense scrutiny of corporate financial records. For the Boston Post in 1920 he investigated another innovator: Charles Ponzi, inventor of the “Ponzi scheme.” His aggressive questioning and common-sense analysis helped lead to Ponzi’s arrest and conviction.

NOTE: After graduating Northeastern University, I worked at Dow Jones in New York City for three years. During that time, I met the ladies known in the company’s Broad Street offices as Clarence Barron’s daughters, although I think they were probably his granddaughters.

I love it when I find famous people who were born in Boston but are better known for their accomplishments in other cities. In the case of Clarence Barron, I can’t help wondering if this New York entrepreneur and financial publisher rooted for the Red Sox.

Expanding 334 Beacon Street

334 Beacon Street, Charles River, Storrow Drive

The house from the river

Having acquired 334 Beacon Street, Mr. Barron immediately hired the firm of Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson to renovate and expand it. The architects added an extra floor, changed the façades from brick to limestone, and created much steeper and bolder roof design that stood out amid the Back Bay’s forest of Mansard roofs.

I think it’s an interesting house with an atypical design. Unfortunately, none of my numerous books about Boston, architecture, Boston architecture, and 19th-century architects give it any mention. I guess it’s a matter of taste.

Clarence and Jessie Barron moved into their renovated house in 1907 and lived there until Mr. Barron died of hepatitis in 1928. He is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery.

He left the property to his grand-daughter, Martha Endicott, who lived there for two years and then sold it in 1930, starting another round of frequent sales and new owners.

From Mansion to Rooming House

On November 1, 1940, Margherita (Ercolani) Grilli purchased 334 Beacon from the real estate firm of Warren-Stevens, Inc. Mrs. Grilli was the wife of Silvestro (Silvio) Grilli, a manager and later vice president and manager of Pieroni, Inc., restaurant operators.

NOTE: I have written several times about Pieroni’s Sea Grill and its connection to the small town of Barga, Italy.

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That same month, Margherita Grilli received permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into lodging house. Records show that by 1942 it had been broken up into six apartments. The number of units at 334 Beacon increased to ten by the mid-1940s and to twelve by the late 1950s.

NOTE: The post-WWII period was a time of decline in Boston’s Back Bay. Many of the elegant mansions and town houses were broken up into apartments and rooming houses, sold to schools for use as classrooms and dormitories, or simply boarded up. I remember seeing derelict buildings there as late as 1964.

In 1980, the city approved occupancy at 14 units, thirteen in the main building and one “carriage house” unit in the ell at the rear. It remains thus today. That’s why the Fairfield Street side of the house has been disfigured by fire escapes. I can only hope that the numerous interior changes did not destroy any of what the Boston Daily Advertiser described as finishes of black walnut, Hungarian ash, and white-wood.

Amazing View

Situated as it is on the north, or water side, of Beacon Street, the house’s rear windows must give a fabulous view of the Charles River with MIT on the far side,

The next time you take the Fairfield Street entrance onto Storrow Drive, spare a glance at 334 Beacon Street on your left. Better yet, make friends with someone who lives there and take a gander inside.

Grave, Forest Hills Cemetery, Clarence Barron, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones

The Barron family grave