An out-of-place walk-up in one of the most historic neighborhoods in the country has been turned into a single-family townhouse that stays true to its 19th-century architectural origins.
The row home at 18 Commonwealth Ave. in Back Bay, built in 1864, was turned into a lodging house sometime in the 1940s, ruining the original facade that had once blended into the historic avenue.
The property “was destroyed in the 1940s,” Joshua Stephens, vice president at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Warren Residential, tells Realtor.com®.
He, along with Tracy Campion of Campion and Company, will represent the home when it hits the market with a planned price tag of $20 million to $25 million this spring.
“It was the only building on Commonwealth Avenue that looked from that time period—I don’t even know what time period you’d call that,” he says. “It was not like the rest of [the avenue] and really stuck out on first block on Commonwealth Avenue, the most expensive real estate in Boston.”
Pictures of the old lodging house—which had then been turned into a walk-up, 11-unit rental building—show a plain brick facade with large modern windows that looked nothing like the stately brownstones on either side of it.
According to Boston.com, the exterior of the building was overhauled in the 1940s. Then the interior was gutted to turn into rentals in 1952.
“That would never get approved today,” Stephens says of the transformation that turned one of Boston’s original townhomes into a facade with zero character.
“Local architectural and historic commissions are really trying to preserve the history of neighborhoods,” he says. “We need more housing, but at the same time we don’t need everything to be a giant square box.”
The new row home has been designed so that even the most discerning eye can’t distinguish it from the original 19th-century homes on either side.
“It’s being restored to almost identical to how it looked when it was built,” says Stephens. “We want to bring it back to its true vision.”
Re-creating a historic townhome
Developers Lourenco Carminati and Eagle Hill Capital, who have a history of buying and renovating brownstones in the area, purchased the property in September 2024 for $7.85 million. Stephens says 18 Commonwealth Ave. is the developers’ first foray into historical renovation.
“This is the feather in their cap,” he says. “They wanted to take on something that we know is going to be hard, but it’s going to be magnificent, and someone is going to treat it like a legacy property for generations to come.”
He notes that the developers considered turning the property into several luxury condos—which likely would have made them more money—but preferred the challenge and personal fulfillment of turning back the clock to the building’s single-family home origins.
“Lorenzo is a master builder,” he says. “He’s there when it’s 100 degrees or below zero out with a hammer and nails. He loves getting his hands dirty.”
According to city records, the residence was built in 1864 as a single-family home for the daughter and son-in-law of a prominent merchant class family, the Wards.
At the time, the home fit seamlessly into the row of houses on the avenue, which overlooks a private park and a statue of Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father and first U.S. secretary of the Treasury.
While the new construction now fits perfectly into the row, there is a small alteration: There are three smaller top windows above the large bay window instead of the original two.
Modern luxury with historical nods
The interior was designed by Boston Modern Design and Amber Wilhelmina Design & Interiors. It pays homage to its 19th-century architecture yet offers all the luxury amenities expected of a $20 million-plus price range.
The property may even set a sale record for a single-family home in Boston.
In February, a restored 1825 townhouse with six bedrooms and 7.5 baths at 46 Chestnut St. in Beacon Hill was sold in short order for $22 million, setting a record for a single-family house in the city, according to Boston.com.
Then, in 2023, another row house in Beacon Hill was sold for $28.25 million, according to Boston Magazine. Perhaps that one set the record.
And according to Stephens, a home across the street from 18 Commonwealth Ave. may have even sold for $30 million. That deal was hush-hush, and no final number has been revealed.
Welcome to 18 Commonwealth Ave.
The 8,100-square-foot residence will have five bedrooms, each with an en suite bath; a two-car garage and two off-street parking spaces; an elevator; a garden-level au pair suite with auxiliary kitchen; and a private roof deck with outdoor kitchen. The residence will be equipped with smart home technology and a sprinkler system.
While the marble finishes, crown moldings, and custom millwork will speak to the home’s historical architecture, Stephens says there were no photos of the original interiors to work with.
“I wish we had some, but back in the late 1800s, there were very few cameras floating around,” he says with a laugh.
One tremendous benefit of the new construction is the new pilings. The developers dug up the original pilings—which were put in because Back Bay was built on what used to be large swaths of Massachusetts Bay—and replaced them.
“The pilings were in really good condition,” says Stephens. “But when [the developers] are spending this kind of money to renovate, and someone will invest the kind of money they will to buy, why not spend the extra few hundred thousand dollars to make sure this property is built for the next century? Why not give this assurance to the buyer?”
Stephens says the future homeowners will be those who want a legacy home, a crown jewel in their property portfolio.
“This isn’t just a luxury property,” he says. “This is a revival of an iconic Back Bay home that sits on the first block of one of the most historic boulevards in the country. This is an opportunity and a legacy home.”
He adds that the buyer may also be an Alexander Hamilton admirer.
“If you’re the person who buys [the home], imagine walking outside and saying hello to Hamilton across the street,” he says. “It would be a great reminder of all you’ve accomplished.”
