Gallery

44 photographs in six sets, each with a date and a credit. Private rooms are not shown. For the history behind what you see, start with Read the building; for a guided walk through the pictures, try the photo tour.

Exterior and seasons

The house from the street and the lawn, through the year. All photographs are from the current owner’s years unless stated.

The stone house from the street in summer, ivy on the walls — From Fairmount Street in summer. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Front elevation in summer, alternative view — The front from the drive. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The round tower and chimneys against a blue sky — Tower and chimneys. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The round tower behind pink blossom — The tower in spring. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Tower and gable above purple rhododendron — Rhododendron below the gable. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The tower with climbing roses and ivy — Roses on the tower. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The ivy-covered tower in summer — The tower in full ivy. 2022. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The tower with ivy turning red in autumn — Autumn ivy. 2022. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Stone steps under the porte-cochère lined with chrysanthemums — The porte-cochère in autumn. 2024. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Terrace seating beside the stone wall — The terrace. 2024. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The front of the house in deep snow with the flag flying — After a snowstorm. 2015. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

A snow-laden tree with the house behind — Snow on the lawn. 2015. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The porte-cochère in snow. 2015. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Panoramic winter view of the house and garage — Winter panorama, with the mid-century garage at right. 2015. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

From the air

The roofscape and the Belvidere hillside.

Aerial view of the house in autumn with the flag flying — The house in autumn from above. c. 2019. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount. Low-resolution original.

Drone view straight down on the roof and grounds — The roof, the lawn and the drive from directly above. 2021. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Drone view over the Belvidere neighbourhood with the house in the foreground — Belvidere from above the house. 2021. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Architectural details

The features the 1981 survey singled out: oak, Minton tile, stained glass.

The entry hall with oak panelling, carved fireplace and patterned tile floor — The entry hall and its Minton tile floor. 2016. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The entry-hall fireplace dressed for autumn — The hall fireplace. 2016. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Three stained-glass windows with a chandelier beside them — Stained glass and chandelier. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

A bay of three stained-glass windows — A three-light stained-glass bay. 2014. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Stained-glass windows in daylight with a chandelier — Stained glass in daylight. 2014. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

A single stained-glass transom panel — A transom panel. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Detail of floral stained glass — Floral detail. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Inside the small wood-panelled elevator cab — The elevator cab — possibly from the 1957 conversion. 2014. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Rooms

The shared rooms of the house as they are lived in today. Private rooms are not shown.

Library seating with a globe — The library. 2013. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The music room with a grand piano in autumn light — The music room. 2016. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The living room, wide view — The living room. 2016. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The curved sitting nook inside the tower — Inside the tower. 2016. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The music room with a grand piano and holiday garland — The music room at Christmas. 2010s. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Historic records and the 2011 condition

Published drawings, atlases and the oldest dated photograph of the house — and the state it was in when the current owner bought it.

Engraved 1883 elevation and plan of the estate stable by Merrill & Cutler — The estate’s stable (today’s carriage house) as published in the American Architect and Building News. 16 June 1883. Public domain; Internet Archive scan.

Judge Charles S. Lilley, the only authentic likeness of a member of the household found so far. 1900. Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England; public domain.

Detail of the 1906 Richards atlas showing the Bonney estate parcel — “Arthur P. Bonney (Estate)” on the city atlas. 1906. Boston Public Library / Digital Commonwealth, no known restrictions.

Detail of the 1936 Franklin property atlas showing the Stevens parcel — “Charles B. Stevens et ux” on the property atlas. 1936. Boston Public Library / Digital Commonwealth, no known restrictions.

Black-and-white survey photograph of the house from the street — The state survey photograph: the house during the Battles Home years. May 1981. Lowell Division of Planning and Development / Massachusetts Historical Commission.

A boarded window bay inside the empty house — A boarded window bay after two years of vacancy. 2011. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

A stripped interior wall with fixtures removed — A stripped wall: cabinets and fittings gone. 2011. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The collapsed roof of the concrete garage — The mid-century garage with its roof collapsed. 2011. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Debris and a damaged retaining wall — Debris at a damaged retaining wall. 2011. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Halloween

One night a year since 2012. More on the Halloween page.

Candelabras lit on the lawn at night with the floodlit house behind — The candelabras lit. 2019. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The house lit orange at night — The house lit for the night. 2022. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

The open front door with gargoyles and lanterns — The front door. 2022. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Panorama of candelabras across the dark lawn — Twenty-two candelabras. 2019. Photograph: Chateau Fairmount.

Not yet in the gallery: any nineteenth- or early-twentieth-century photograph of the house (none has been found); photographs of the Battles Home in operation; matched before-and-after pairs for the restoration (the 2011 record and today’s rooms were not shot from the same positions, so they are shown separately rather than aligned). If you have any of these, please get in touch.