1882, Allen and Kenway. 346 Beacon St.
The house at 346 Beacon Street, built the year Oscar Wilde spread the Aesthetic movement gospel to the United States, well illustrates the shift in taste from French urbanity to English quaintness. This is evident in the studied asymmetry of its front elevation of brick and rock-faced brownstone, studded with ornamental terra-cotta tiles below a red slate mansard. Flat- and round-headed openings, no two of which seem to be quite alike in proportion or disposition, strain for picturesque effect on the narrow facade. The loss of the decorative glazing pattern so integral to many a Queen Anne design has undermined the success of the composition.