Back Bay Painters — Back Street to Boylston, Arlington to Charlesgate East

The Back Bay began as a tidal basin used to power mills. Landfilling started in the mid-1800s, and by the 1880s it had produced more than 450 acres of buildable ground. The City describes what rose on it as an early planned fashionable residential district modeled on Haussmann's Paris, with houses that trace the shifts in American architectural taste across the second half of the 19th century and into the early 20th.

In 1966 the state legislature created the Back Bay Architectural District and its commission (Chapter 625 of the Acts of 1966), and the district was enlarged in 1974, 1979 and 1981. Its jurisdiction is bounded by the centerlines of Back Street, Arlington Street and Embankment Road, Boylston Street, and Charlesgate East. Within that line, all proposed exterior work goes to the Back Bay Architectural Commission (BBAC) before it starts.

Census figures for one slice of the district show how old and how subdivided the buildings are. In Census Tract 107.01, which takes in 200 Commonwealth Avenue and 300 Marlborough Street, 87.3% of the 1,586 housing units date from 1939 or earlier. Nearly half (49.0%) sit in buildings of five to nine units, and another 21.1% in buildings of ten to nineteen, while single-unit houses, attached or detached, add up to just 2.6% of the tract's homes. Only 29.8% of occupied units in that tract are owner-occupied.

Paint color counts as exterior work

The BBAC's residential guidelines state that all proposed changes in paint color are subject to review, and their glossary lists painting among the kinds of exterior work. The same glossary defines maintenance and repair as work with no change in color or visual appearance, but the guidelines do not say a same-color repaint is exempt. Any change in door color must be approved by commission staff, and the City asks owners to contact staff early in planning.

A short list of window colors

The guidelines say sash and frames should generally be dark. On dark masonry fronts they list semigloss black, slate gray, dark brown, dark red, gray brown and deep green; on light masonry, beige, dove gray, slate blue, forest green and black. White and cream are reserved for Colonial Revival buildings. Oriels should be subdued and dark, exterior storm frames must match the window frame color, and ironwork should be black or another dark color.

Painted brick and brownstone

An unpainted masonry front may not be painted unless the commission agrees it is necessary, and the guidelines encourage removing paint from brick. A facade that is already painted can be repainted only in an approved color, after testing whether the old paint could come off. If stone trim is repainted, every stone element, from front steps to cornice, gets the same natural stone color. Wire brushing and sandblasting are not allowed.

Inside: old layers, shared walls

In this tract, 87.3% of units predate 1940, long before the 1978 federal ban on lead in house paint, so older layers on trim and plaster may contain lead until a test says otherwise. Under EPA rules, work that disturbs paint in a pre-1978 home has to be done by a certified firm. In a multi-unit building, dust control also has to account for shared stairs and the unit next door.