St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
439 Boston Post Road
Weston, Mass.
Year Built: 1917
This building was built in 1917 and is part of a National Register Historic District. Originally this was an Episcopal church but was sold in 1958 and it became a Christian Science church.
The church is 1 x 5 bays, constructed of granite in warm gold, yellow and rust tones, with cast stone around the windows and along the foundation line. Granite blocks are cut relatively flat and shaped into rectangles and squares of various sizes and coloration. The gable-end faces the street and features one large Gothic-arched window with heavy decorative mullions and tracery. The main entrance is on the Gospel (west) side, marked by a large wooden enclosed porch which is one of the building’s most prominent decorative features.
The porch is Tudor in style and has a steep pitched gable roof with half timbering in the gable. The Tudor-arched entrance door, which appears to be original, has vertical boarding. Flanking the door are leaded glass sidelights with Gothic tracery at the top. The sidelights are made of diamond-shaped pieces of glass in muted colors. The rest of the west façade features three large, Gothic-arched windows with tracery at the top of each window. These leaded glass windows are also made from diamond-shaped panes of colored glass.
At the northwest corner of the building is the vestry, which is a later addition. The original vestry had a recessed porch in front, supported by wooden Tudor-style supports with carved decoration in the corners. This porch is now on the interior of the addition and are preserved.
The sanctuary is a notable interior space featuring original vertical board wainscoting and the original pews, which have simple Gothic designs on the end panels. Dark wood arched beams span the ceiling. After 1958, the rear portion of the sanctuary was enclosed for offices and the original hanging light fixtures remain in those spaces, but have otherwise been removed from the sanctuary.
Registries
• National Register District
References
• Massachusetts Cultural Resources Information System, Massachusetts Historical Commission, Inventory No. WSN.101 (St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1917, Brigham, Coveney & Bisbee).
• Massachusetts Historical Commission, Form B, Weston #101, 1996
• Boston Post Road National Register Historic District, 2/11/1983, National Park Service #83000783.
Images
1996, Massachusetts Historical Commission
1959 Interior, courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Commission
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