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Second
Floor |
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The second floor was the principal entertaining floor in the house. It has only two rooms, the largest in the house. The music room, 21 by 20 feet, is on the south side of the house, while the library, 20 by 17 feet, occupies the north side. The ceiling height is 13 feet, the highest in the house. Both rooms have projecting oriel bays centered on their respective exterior walls. The music room was the place for entertaining guests in the evening. After dinner, the family would gather there for conversation or an informal musicale. The library was a male domain and served as Mr. Gibson's office. Victorian men often conducted business in the afternoon from their homes. |
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The
grand staircase curves upward from the Entry Hall to a second-floor
hallway connecting the parlors. Centered above this hallway
is the Ventilator Shaft, which, according to historian Catherine
Seiberling, is “one of the most stunning and unusual
interior Victorian elements that remains at Gibson House.” The
chestnut-trimmed shaft, with frosted glass windows that open
out at several locations on each of the upper floors, is a
brilliant natural-light solution to the dark inner spaces of
a row house. In addition to lending natural light to the home’s
interior, the shaft also served as a conduit for warm air,
generated by the ground-floor furnace, to rise to the upper
floors of the home. It may be the only such shaft remaining
in the Back Bay; after Boston’s fire of 1872, construction
of such shafts was outlawed. A three-light gasolier, now electrifed,
hangs from its center. There are two semi-circular
window sashes covering the round opening. Here, one of them has
been opened via a system of ropes and pulleys accessed from
the third
floor bathroom. |
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To
visit a room, click on it on the floor plan.
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| 137 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116 | The Gibson House is a National Historic Landmark | © 2008 The Gibson Society, Inc. | ||||||