Paris in Boston

Photo Essay by Jack Dzamba

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

-Ernest Hemingway

It is intriguing how certain scenes of Boston resemble those of Paris. Some in stately buildings, some in striking vistas, some in fleeting glances, and some reflected in current design. In fact, the architects of some of Boston’s most famous buildings of the nineteenth century studied at the École des Beaux-Artsin Paris. These included Henry Hobson Richardson, Charles Follen McKim, Robert Swain Peabody, William Morris Hunt, and Arthur Gilman. They brought back the styles of the Second Empire, French Renaissance, French Romanesque, and French Châteauesque. Later architects introduced the styles of Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and more recent designers have included a variety of revived elements in their work. The influence of Paris can be found everywhere in Boston.