The Wadsworth House (Third Harrison Gray Otis House) - Boston, MA - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

In Boston, at 45 Beacon Street, facing Boston Common, is the Wadsworth House, also known as the third Harrison Gray Otis House.

The American Guide Series for Massachusetts has the following to say about this building:

[Foot Tour 1: Back Bay to Beacon Hill] 26. The Wadsworth House (Third Harrison Gray Otis House) (private), 45 Beacon St., built in 1807, reveals the influence of Bulfinch's sojourn in France by his use of an oval drawing-room on the garden side and perhaps also by his placing the entrance at ground level and the important rooms on the story above. The facade shows a uniform range of five windows, with a novel departure from Colonial precedent in the type of enframement. The entrance, too, is unusually handled, a rectangular portico with four columns coupled columns and coupled pilasters behind being used as the door enframement. The house is a fine example of an aristocratic city mansion of the Federal period.
--American Guide Series: Massachusetts - A Guide to Its Places and People, P. 152-153.

The building appearance today is likely very similar to its appearance when the book was published. There are five windows across the top, and the portico is still there with four columns and pilasters. However, the building is now the headquarters to the American Meteorological Society (AMS), which is a professional society for meteorologists. The AMS web site has the following about the house:

In 1806 Charles Bulfinch (a famous Boston architect) completed the house at 45 Beacon Street for Boston's third mayor, Harrison Gray Otis. Otis resided in this house until his death in 1848. After Otis's death there were three owners of the house until the American Meteorological Society purchased and renovated it in 1958. Executives and staff moved into their new headquarters in 1960. There are 37 rooms in the historic house (the house at 45 Beacon Street is one of the 44 great houses listed in the book Great Georgian Houses of America, published in 1933), including 10 bathrooms, 15 fireplaces, four stair halls, four elevator lobbies, a wine cellar, and a Carriage House (the only remaining carriage house on Beacon Hill today).

It is not clear whether the house is open for tours - the interior is not likely preserved to the period it was built. My suggestion is to call ahead to see if someone will be available.

Book: Massachusetts Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 152-153 Year Originally Published: 1937

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