Magical Boston Christmas Lights, Decor and More!

Hi Everyone and Merry Christmas!

 

Right now, it is Christmas Day, and I am sitting by the most lovely fire in my fireplace.

 

 

My Boston Christmas, like last year, has been quiet. Frankly, I prefer it; not that I wouldn’t like to be with others, but I’m content this way, too.

What’s funny is that yesterday was seriously freezing. And, today, it rained most of the day.

 

So, of course, yesterday was when I went out, not once, but twice to take photos for this post.

 

 

The first time during the day, I tried cutting the tip of an old glove on my right hand to operate my phone camera. Yes, I know. They make gloves specifically for using with a phone. Well, unfortunately, I don’t have those.

But, half of the time, the maimed glove came off as it was a lot easier. By the time I got to the middle of Beacon Hill, my right hand was already stinging.

For the evening shoot, which was only about 45 minutes, I tried wearing a pair of heavy mittens and then sticking my hand back in the mitten between shots.

 

Sorry to be such a crashing bore. lol, I hope to make it up to you with some beauties I hope you’ll enjoy.

 

Being the lazy sort, I nearly did my old trick of helping myself to a pic or two from favorite Instagram feeds. And then I realized that was the height of slothdom.

By the way, if any of you wish to help yourself to any of my photos. (And that’s photos that *I* took), you are more than welcome. All I ask is to give credit back to me via a link back and try to link back to the post or page where you found the image.

Last year, some of you may recall these evening images, mainly on Beacon Hill, of the Boston Christmas decorations and lights.

This year I went back to Beacon Hill during the late afternoon, but still light out but overcast. And I also took some images in Back Bay. Most of those were at night.

 

Please enjoy the magical Boston Christmas Lights, decor, and more of 2021!

 

 

Beginning my quest, I strolled down Commonwealth Ave (CommAve). The homes all have extremely tasteful and conservative Boston Christmas Decor. Of course, this is in keeping with the beautiful architecture.

You can see these same homes taken last April when the magnolias were at peak bloom. So pretty!

 

I know that some of you got married here when it was a wedding venue. It was turned back into a stunning single-family home several years ago.

I continued my walk down Arlington St, which borders the public garden on its west side. You can see a map here.

 

I then made the 2-minute walk, lol, to Beacon Hill. I walked along Beacon Street and made a left on Brimmer Street, one of my favorite streets.

 

There, I took more pics of the triplet doors. I’m beginning to know the locations now.

For comparison, please look at the doors in this post. That day, it was sunny and bright. Christmas Eve was completely over-cast.

 

 

 

Above is the same door taken last January.

 

As I kept walking, snapping images, not knowing if they would make the cut for magical Boston Christmas decor, I couldn’t help but take a picture of one of my favorite views in “the flat” of Beacon Hill on Brimmer and Lime.

 

To my right is the iconic home with “the blue door,” which you can see in my party post, along with the previous doors.

 

I turned right on Mount Vernon Street but took a couple of short and worthwhile detours.

 

 

This charmer, which you can also see in The Front Doors of Beacon Hill post, is on one of the prettiest streets in Beacon Hill, West Cedar. It runs north-ish, south-ish, and is the first street after the flat western part, so there is a hill, but it’s not terribly steep.

Just as I was snapping a pic, a tall, wiry man slipped around me and through the gate, closing it precisely as it appears, here. I was trying to look like I wasn’t just photographing his home. lol, He gave me a half-smile. He knew good and well what I was doing.

 

That’s because his incredibly charming entrance is photographed thousands of times a year!

 

If you live in a historic neighborhood and have an exceptional specimen, that’s what happens. Fortunately, my house, while lovely, is not going to make any jaws drop.

The photo I took above was later because the first two I took weren’t so great.

When I take photos, I take a LOT of them.

 

And then I made my way to the charming Acorn Street.

 

You can see other pics of Acorn Street here.

 

I suppose I could get in trouble for taking pics here. Well, I would pretend to be like all of the other tourists, casually walking the street, speaking a foreign language. I would say, “no speaka Engalish.”

 

Like these two, I heard speaking a foreign language.

 

However, I did go about a third of the way up and took photos of these charmers.

 

I adore this classic dark green door and understated green-on-green palette.

You’d swear you were in London, right?

 

These doors are pretty narrow. No Restoration Hardware sofas in these homes! I mean, they wouldn’t even be able to fit the truck down Acorn, which is teeny, tiny. But, it’s not a problem, and I’ve figured out why.

You see, I’m surmising that nobody ever moves in or out. People have children, and when they die, their children take over the house and so on… Plus, they keep the family heirloom furniture, as well. ;]

Feeling quite satisfied after my trip to Acorn Street, I went back to Mount Vernon and took a horrible pic when I got to Louisburg Square. The next block, I took a bunch of so-so pics of some incredible Bulfinch homes, which I touched on in this post about The Otis House.

 

However, I love the image below.

 

About this time, I was starting to be in a lot of pain, so I thought the better of taking any more photos. Surely, I had enough.

Yes, I did, and then some.

So, I made my way down Joy Street and back down to Beacon.

This time, when I got to Charles Street. I crossed the street and cut through the public garden, which is a little shorter and, of course, very lovely– even in the winter.

 

I went past the adorable bronze ducklings and knocked over two little girls to get this pic. No, I didn’t really knock anyone over. But, did have to take this image quite fast as there were some girls right behind me. Of course, the ducklings are dressed up according to the season. And, I believe they get a new seasonal wardrobe each year?

 

Bostonians, please correct that if that’s not true.

 

This was taken from the public garden just minutes before sunset, at 4:16 yesterday. Here you can see the two well-known Back Bay skyscrapers, the blue-glass John Hancock Building (Hancock) and “The Pru.” (Prudential Building.)

The Hancock building looms quite large behind my apartment as it’s only two short blocks away.

 

Later, I decided to take some night shots of the Boston Christmas lights.

 

So, after dinner, I bundled up again and decided to stay within about a quarter-mile from my home. This time I went down Comm Ave in the opposite direction.

The first image I knew I had to take was of “the sisters.”

Remember those exquisite beauties? You can see a gorgeous daytime image here (keep scrolling) and on my Instagram. You won’t have to go very far to find it there. 

 

These iconic not quite identical twins were renovated circa 1907, and the owners employed two architects!

 

What’s super interesting, (to me, anyway) is that the architect of my house was the original architect of these two houses. He was not one of the architects who did the renovation in the Beaux-Arts style so popular at that time.

 

This is 128. Alas, 130 was completely dark. However, I did take an image later of the two together.

 

I took this from the Commonwealth Ave. The mall which is the only way to get everything in one shot.

Speaking of the mall, here are the annual holiday lights, which stay up until early April. It was so cool, but about five weeks ago, one evening after dark, there were about 50 trucks; no joke. And that is when they were putting up the lights. I went to the store, and 45 minutes later, they were gone!

I crossed Dartmouth, where I had my accident going in the opposite direction. Yes, I think about it every time I cross that street too many times to count since October 3, 2021.

On the corner is the exquisite Vendome. It used to be a hotel, but now it is a condominium. You can see a photo I took on my trip at the end of September 2021, before I knew what this building was.

 

It’s the first image on the page. :]

 

The main entrance of the Vendome is stunning, but the lighting wasn’t great last night. And, you know how I am about illumination. So, I went a little further down, as it’s a large building, and included this smaller entrance, above. Most of the buildings in Back Bay are brownstone or red brick. So, it’s always refreshing to see the pale limestone buildings sprinkled throughout the neighborhood.

Then, I crossed the street because I wanted to get a pic of the Quinn, a private club that was recently renovated.

 

However, before I got to the Quinn as it was in the next block, I couldn’t help but notice someone very familiar.

 

Of course, I HAD to take a photo of him! I mean, wouldn’t you have done the same thing?

Please say yes. ;]

 

Above is the Quinn Club.

 

Then, as I was heading back home, satisfied that I had enough photos for my Boston Christmas post, I took a detour down Dartmouth Street towards Marlborough Street and took some shots of these gorgeous and huge wreaths.

 

But then, I saw the most magical lights, inside and out!

 

This gorgeous Boston Christmas display is across the street from “the sisters”, so very close to me! I couldn’t decide which image to include, so I did both.

 

Amazing. But, I must be missing something because how do people use the front door? Well, either the wreath is actually in two pieces. Or, the folks stay inside for several weeks.

If anyone knows the answer, please clue me in. Thank you.

 

I hope you enjoyed the beauty, elegance, and European flavor of my newly adopted city of Boston at Christmastime.

 

It still seems like a dream to me.

I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday. I love you all!

xo,

 

***In the meantime, this is a gentle reminder that my special offer of getting a free 200+ Best Home Furnishings Sources on Etsy AND a FREE 333 Rules and Tips You Need to Know Guide only has only a few more days to go. (December 30, 2021)  

If you purchase any of the other guides, you will get the Etsy Guide and Rules and Tips for FREE!

Below is a snippet about each one as well as a link that will give you more information, if needed.***

 

(Clicking on the links will send you to the pages to learn more about each guide)

 

Laurel’s Rolodex – A unique shopping guide that shares hundreds of my favorite sources and especially for decorators and designers tells you the best sources that sell directly to the design trade.

 

The Essential Paint Color and Palette Collection (two volumes)

This is a must-have guide for anyone struggling with paint colors. If you don’t believe me, there are dozens of testimonials on the Palette Collection page.

 

Six-Figure Income Blogger. (This should be required reading for everyone who has a website and wishes to get the most out of it for their business) You do not need to be a heavy-duty blogger. But, once or twice a month consistently will do wonders for your business. But, it would be best if you learned some other things, as well. Believe me, when I say in the early years, I made every mistake and then some.

 

333 Decorating Rules & Tips You Need to Know – You’ll get a free Etsy guide with this guide, as well. There is so much information, and much I’ve never seen anywhere else. The window treatment glossary alone is several pages.

 

Or, order the Etsy guide on its own. It’s over 200 seriously cool vendors.

Etsy is known for exceedingly helpful, personable vendors and great pricing.

 

Please note: Some prices will be going up on January 1, and all free offers will end on December 30, 2021.

Please also check out the HOT SALES page which was recently updated this past Thursday.