Designed and built in 1910 by the society architect, Ogden Codman, for fellow Brahmins Bayard and Ruth Thayer, the five story Georgian revival townhouse was lavished with Italian marble, carved oak paneling, crystal chandeliers and tall Palladian windows. Those windows not only looked out onto the Victorian elegance of the Boston Public Garden, but they also looked into the social world of Boston’s elite, as 84 Beacon Street became one of the most fashionable salons in the city. Gentlemen in top hats and tails and ladies in silk and satin ascended the grand staircase to the heart of the house for gala evenings in the Ballroom and Library. The Hampshire House acquired its name during World War II when the Thayer family sold the building. It was then leased as a small private luxury hotel to the owners of the Lincolnshire Hotel on Charles Street. They dubbed the mansion the Hampshire House (Lincolnshire and Hampshire were both English counties). Thomas A. Kershaw has been the owner of the Hampshire House since 1969. Since then, the Hampshire House has been the ideal choice for special occasions. Its interior decor gives an aura of those grand days when the Thayer’s entertained in their magnificent mansion on Beacon Hill.