Welcome to Back Bay

Back Bay is the planned 19th-century neighborhood that runs west from the Public Garden between the Charles River and Copley Square, known for its brownstone and brick rowhouses, Commonwealth Avenue, and the shops of Newbury and Boylston Streets. Most of its residential blocks are protected by the city's Back Bay Architectural District, established in 1966.

About Back Bay

The neighborhood is built on made land. The Back Bay was once a tidal basin of the Charles River, cut off by the Mill Dam along what is now Beacon Street. Filling began in 1857 with gravel brought by train from Needham, and by the 1880s more than 450 acres of new land had been created. The street grid followed an 1856 plan by architect Arthur Gilman, inspired by the boulevards of Paris, with Commonwealth Avenue and its tree-lined Mall as the central axis. Because the land was filled from east to west, a walk from Arlington Street toward Massachusetts Avenue traces the changing architectural tastes of the late 19th century.

The cross streets run in alphabetical order, from Arlington, Berkeley, and Clarendon to Gloucester and Hereford. To the east are the Public Garden and Beacon Hill, to the west is Fenway / Kenmore, and across the railroad corridor to the south lies the South End, with Bay Village tucked along the southeast edge. Commercial uses came to Boylston Street around 1880 and to Newbury Street in the early 20th century, often inside converted rowhouses.

Getting Around

The Green Line stops at Arlington, Copley, and Hynes Convention Center, with Prudential and Symphony on the E branch. Back Bay station serves the Orange Line and the commuter rail, and Storrow Drive and the Massachusetts Turnpike border the neighborhood. Most of downtown Boston is a walk across the Public Garden and the Common.

Back Bay Real Estate

Homes in Back Bay range from condominiums in converted Victorian townhouses on Beacon Street, Marlborough Street, and Commonwealth Avenue to full-service towers near Copley Square and the Public Garden. Rowhouse styles include Italianate, French Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Romanesque Revival, many with bow fronts, mansard roofs, and private roof decks. A small number of townhouses are still undivided.

Back Bay buildings on our site include:

• Four Seasons Residences, condominiums within the Four Seasons Hotel at 220 Boylston Street, facing the Public Garden
• Heritage on the Garden, a 12-story brick and limestone building at 300 Boylston Street, completed in 1988
• The Mandarin Oriental Boston, 50 residences above the hotel at 776 Boylston Street
• Raffles Boston Back Bay Hotel & Residences, a 35-story tower at 430 Stuart Street, completed in 2023
• The Clarendon, a Robert A.M. Stern tower at 400 Stuart Street
• Trinity Place, a full-service tower at 1 Huntington Avenue beside the Boston Public Library
• 180 Beacon Street, an 18-story building on the water side of Beacon Street
• 330 Beacon Street, a 1960 Hugh Stubbins tower near the Esplanade
• The Somerset, the former Hotel Somerset at 416 Commonwealth Avenue
• No. 6 Newbury Street, a five-residence limestone building at Newbury and Arlington

More buildings are listed on our Developments page.

Living in Back Bay

The Commonwealth Avenue Mall links the Public Garden to the Back Bay Fens and forms part of the Emerald Necklace park chain. The Charles River Esplanade runs along the river for walking, running, and sailing. Copley Square holds two National Historic Landmarks, H.H. Richardson's Trinity Church and the McKim Building of the Boston Public Library, and the Boston Marathon finishes on Boylston Street nearby. Newbury Street is lined with galleries, shops, and restaurants, and the Prudential Center and Copley Place connect by enclosed walkways.

To see homes for sale in Back Bay, browse the listings below or contact Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Warren Residential.