Hutchinson Building Study Report

On December 28, 2023, the Boston Landmarks Commission posted a study report on the proposed designation of the Hutchinson Building as a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as amended.

The Hutchinson Building (1924) is a unique and mostly intact example of Classical Revival commercial architecture in the Central Business District of downtown Boston. It was built for noted Boston real estate broker, investor, and developer J. Murray Howe. The building was designed by prominent architect Ralph Harrington Doane, who had been educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as consulting architect for the government of the Philippines before opening his Boston office. Doane designed a number of buildings in the Greater Boston area, including Rindge Technical School in Cambridge and Motor Mart Garage in Park Square, for which he was awarded the Harleston Parker Medal by the Boston Society of Architects.

In addition to its significance as an example of Doane’s Classical Revival architecture, the Hutchinson Building is representative of the development and growth of the Central Business District in the years following the Great Boston Fire of 1872, which saw a surge in the construction of commercial buildings to accommodate the city’s thriving dry goods, shoe, and leather trades.

Read the Hutchinson Building Study Report

(Report amended as of February 16, 2024)

The proposed designation will be discussed and voted upon at a public hearing on February 27, 2024. Please look for the meeting notice in the public notices section of our website.