Fanny Peabody Mason
American, 1864 - 1948
11 Commonwealth was designed by Rotch and Tilden, architects, and built ca. 1883 as the home of William Powell Mason, Jr., and his wife, Fanny (Peabody) Mason. They previously had lived at 75 Beacon. They also maintained a home in Walpole, New Hampshire.
Fanny (Peabody) Mason died in May of 1895. William Powell Mason and their only surviving child, Fanny (Fannie) Peabody Mason, continued to live at 211 Commonwealth.
William Mason died in June of 1901. In his will, he left his property, including 211 Commonwealth and his home in Walpole, to his daughter, who continued to live there and also maintained another home in Beverly.
From about 1909, Fanny Mason was joined at 211 Commonwealth by Miss Alice Thevin, a painter and lecturer on fine arts. Miss Thevin continued to live there until her death in February of 1937.
Fanny Mason had a deep interest in music and the music room at 211 Commonwealth was the site of numerous performances by noted artists. Among the artists who performed either at 211 Commonwealth or at her homes in Beverly and Walpole were Ignacy Paderewski; Arthur Rubinstein; the Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals trio; Emma Calvé; and Egon Petri. In later years she worked in close collaboration with pianist Paul Doguereau, who organized many of the recitals.
Bainbridge Bunting’s Houses of Boston’s Back Bay includes several photographs of the interior of 211 Commonwealth as it appeared when it was Fanny Mason’s home.
Fanny Mason died in August of 1948. In her will, she left a trust for musical enterprises to be overseen by Paul Doguereau. The trust funded continuation of the Peabody Mason Concerts at various locations in Boston and, in 1981, initiated the Peabody Mason International Piano Competition.
https://backbayhouses.org/211-commonwealth/ I.S. 12/28/2017
Person TypeIndividual
Last Updated8/7/24
Beverly, Massachusetts, 1851 - 1930, Beverly, Massachusetts
American, 1869 - 1944
St. Petersburg, 1878 - 1936, Detroit