Boston hotels collection

Olmsted joined Boston's parks into a single ribbon, from the Common to Franklin Park, through the elm-planted mall of Commonwealth Avenue and the recreated marshes of the Fens. The avenue runs through Back Bay, a district made on mudflats, where brownstone houses line up their bay windows; in Copley Square, Trinity Church is reflected in a tower of glass. Beacon Hill runs down in streets of brick and cobbles beneath gas lamps lit day and night. Some of its windows have mauve panes: the manganese in the glass turned in the sun, and the owners take good care not to replace them.