2.1 Type and Use
Four interconnected buildings comprise the Filene’s complex parcel bound by
Washington, Summer, Franklin and Hawley streets in Boston’s Central Business
District. The earliest of the four buildings, located at the southwest corner of
Franklin and Hawley streets was constructed in 1905 by the architectural firm of
Peters and Rice. This building was purpose built for the Jones, McDuffee and
Stratton Company, regarded as one of the largest wholesalers and retailers of
ceramics and glass in the country in the early twentieth century, in business from
1810 to about 1955. Filene’s expanded into this building in 1929 when the Jones,
McDuffee, and Stratton Company moved to Boylston Street. The building was
extensively renovated in 1997. The original purpose-built Filene’s store, located
at the northeast corner of Washington and Summer streets, extending the full
block of Summer Street between Washington and Hawley streets, occupies about
half of the parcel. This building was constructed in 1912 from the designs of
Daniel Burnham for use as a retail store for William Filene’s and Sons Company.
It has operated in this capacity continuously. The third building constructed on
the Filene’s parcel is located on Hawley Street between the original Filene’s store
and the Jones, McDuffee, and Stratton Company building. This addition was
constructed in 1951 and was designed for use as a loading dock and service
structure. The final addition to the Filene’s complex occurred in 1973 when the
architectural firm of Sumner Schein designed the three story addition at the
southeast corner of Franklin and Washington streets which further expanded the
sales space of the store.
2.2 Physical Description
Jones, McDuffee, and Stratton Company Building, 1905
The Jones, McDuffee, and StrattonCompany building typifies the early
skyscrapers of the twentieth century with its tripartite arrangement and soaring
verticality made famous by Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building in St. Louis,
Missouri of 1890. The nine story building features a two story granite storefront
base, surmounted by a single granite-faced story, and a shaft of six additional
stories executed in red brick. The building extends seven bays on Franklin Street,
and five bays on Hawley Street and is capped with a flat roof.
The storefront level of the Jones, McDuffee, and Stratton Company building is
articulated by large, chamfered granite piers with Greek fretwork carved into the
capitals. The storefront level features a glazed corner entrance, flanked by glazed
display windows. A fast food window occupies the westernmost bay of the
Franklin Street elevation, and green metal panels cover the storefront level
openings in the southernmost bay of the Hawley Street elevation. Paired, green
metal panels separated by decorative colonettes fill the second story space
between the glazed openings and the upper stories. A simple granite cornice
separates the storefront level from the third story. This granite–faced story is
unadorned but for chamfering at the jambs of the paired sash and an ornate
granite-framed clock at the corner of Hawley and Franklin streets. A granite
cornice with more carved fretwork delineates the division between the granite and
brick upper stories. The shaft is comprised of six-story red brick pilasters with
granite bases flanking recessed, paired green metal window sash and decorative
green metal spandrels. The building terminates with recessed red brick spandrels
and a flat roof. The west façade of the building, devoid of apertures but for the
southernmost bay, reflects the arrangement of the block prior to the Sumner
Schein addition when taller buildings occupied this block of Franklin Street.
This building underwent substantial façade restoration efforts in 1997.
Alterations included: covering existing granite watertables with sheet metal that
matched the color and profile of the exisitng watertables, removing and replacing
all of the brick cladding with replacement brick that matched the old brick in
color and appearance, replacement of cracked granite units with new matching
granite units, removing and replacing deteriorated cast iron decorative brackets
with FRP replica units, and replacement of the existing aluminum windows with
new aluminum units.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Much more than a revered local business, Filene’s embodies the visionary ideals
of German immigrant, William Filene, and his sons Edward and Lincoln Filene,
whose progressive approaches to management and merchandizing that advocated
for employee empowerment and co-operative relationships between vendors drew
national attention and transformed the retail industry. The original purpose-built
Filene’s store at the corner of Washington and Summer streets comprising half of
the parcel is further distinguished as the last major commission and the only work
in the Commonwealth of nationally prominent architect and urban planner, Daniel
Burnham. The lone survivor of buildings that predate the construction of the
Filene’s store on the parcel is significant for its associations with the expansion of
Filene’s but also for its associations with its original tenant, the Jones, McDuffee,
and Stratton Company, recognized as one of the largest American importers of
glass and pottery in the country in the early twentieth century, in business from
1810-1955. Therefore, the staff of the Boston Landmarks Commission
recommends that the Filene’s Complex as described in Section 6.1A, be
designated a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as amended. The
boundaries shall correspond to Ward 3, Parcel 0304584010, bound by
Washington, Summer, Franklin, and Hawley streets.
