Sears, Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store
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Landmark Center (Sears, Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store)
1928–1930, George C. Nimmons; 1948–1949 addition, Carr and Wright; 1966 addition, Ballinger and Co. 1998–2000, Bruner/Cott and Associates. 309 Park Dr. and 201 Brookline Ave.
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Landmark Center (Sears Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store) (Peter Vanderwarker or Antonina Smith)
Dominating the Fenway neighborhood, the former Sears, Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store rises as a major Art Deco monument of the Boston area. George C. Nimmons designed the massive tan brick, limestonetrimmed commercial palace for both mail order and retail customers. A twelve-story tower, defined by multiple setbacks, fronts the building and dominates the area skyline. Proximity to the freight rail lines allowed Sears to ship throughout the Northeast from this building. Retail customers could have their car repaired or their hair cut while spending the day shopping for clothes and housewares. Nimmons designed a smaller version of this building for Sears in 1928 in North Cambridge (NC10). Long vacant, the Fenway building reopened in 2000 with new retail, cinema, and medical research occupants, becoming again a magnet for commercial activity.
Writing Credits
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Data
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Location: Boston, MassachusettsRegional Overviews:Architect:Styles:Materials:
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Citation
Keith N. Morgan, "Landmark Center (Sears, Roebuck and Company Mail Order Store)", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-FL30.
Print Source
Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 195-195.
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