A Two-Minute Tour Takes in Boston's "Scarlett O'Hara House"

John Hartwell

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[http://www.wbur.org/artery/2016/08/29/boston-best-public-art]
"On Beacon Hill, behind an iron gate and gas streetlamp, at the dead end of a private cobblestone way lined with classic mid-19th century brick townhouses, is a surprise: a white, two story, columned Greek revival house. Or so it appears. It’s been nicknamed the “Scarlett O’Hara House” for its loose resemblance to the character’s Tara plantation mansion in the 1939 film “Gone with the Wind.” In fact it isn't a house at all. The shallow porch is a faux façade, an elaborate sculpture.

“'The charming house front is merely a wooden facing to a brick wall,' George F. Weston Jr. explained in his 1957 book, Boston Ways: High, By and Folk. 'Its humane but prosaic purpose is to keep the wandering wayfarer from carelessly walking off the 40-foot cliff that lies behind it.'"

The "Scarlett O'Hara House" has been voted 45th in the list of Boston's Public Art.
 
"On Beacon Hill, behind an iron gate and gas streetlamp, at the dead end of a private cobblestone way lined with classic mid-19th century brick townhouses, is a surprise: a white, two story, columned Greek revival house. Or so it appears. It’s been nicknamed the “Scarlett O’Hara House” for its loose resemblance to the character’s Tara plantation mansion in the 1939 film “Gone with the Wind.” In fact it isn't a house at all. The shallow porch is a faux façade, an elaborate sculpture.

“'The charming house front is merely a wooden facing to a brick wall,' George F. Weston Jr. explained in his 1957 book, Boston Ways: High, By and Folk. 'Its humane but prosaic purpose is to keep the wandering wayfarer from carelessly walking off the 40-foot cliff that lies behind it.'"

The "Scarlett O'Hara House" has been voted 45th in the list of Boston's Public Art.
Very creative, it certainly beats a brick wall.
 
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