{"id":2102,"date":"2013-12-02T09:22:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T09:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=2102"},"modified":"2013-12-02T09:22:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T09:22:00","slug":"hotel-fensgate-it-was-a-steak-lobster-and-jazz-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=2102","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Fensgate: It Was a Steak, Lobster, and Jazz House"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hotel<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Back in the 1930s and 1940s, 534 Beacon Street was the Hotel Fensgate. This post card was created before the dreadful Storrow Drive took away the Fenway and Back Bay connections to the Charles River.<\/p>\n

\"Hotel<\/a><\/p>\n

On this 1928 atlas page, the arrow points to the Hotel Fensgate. You can see links to both the Charles River and the Back Bay Fens before Storrow Drive and the Bowker Overpass. (There is a group, Friends of the Charlesgate,<\/a> working to restore Charlesgate.)<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0250<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Today, this address is the Charlesview Condominiums. Here's a photo of the building today. It was built in 1923 and E.B. Stratton was the architect. And, here's a map showing the overlay of the highway ramps.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Hotel<\/a><\/p>\n

This is an illustration of the same Beacon Street view from the hotel's stationery.<\/p>\n

\"Fensgate<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fensgate's menu proclaimed it was,"Boston's Famous Steak and Lobster House." (Click on the menu for a larger view.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Menu items included:<\/strong><\/p>\n