History of

Almost two centuries ago, the South End became the center of Boston’s thriving piano industry when the Jonas Chickering Pianoforte facility was constructed and opened in 1854 at 791 Tremont Street.

The revolutionary new, steam-powered plant was capable of producing 60 Chickering-designed pianos a week. When it was completed in 1854, the Chickering factory was considered to be the second largest building in the United States after the U. S. Capitol and the most perfect and extensive pianoforte establishment in the world.

In 1972, the Piano factory was transformed through the enterprising vision of a couple of young Boston architects. They chose to preserve the integrity of the building as a factory and “fit the old and new together in a meaningful way”. Thus was the concept of “adaptive reuse” born – a preservationist philosophy that remains strong today.