Architecture and the attributed nickname
A November 2012 Boston City Properties profile described Beacon Hill’s Sunflower Castle as a Bavarian Queen Anne-style house with a Japanese-inspired garden wall. It attributed the nickname to Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., connecting it with carved sunflowers and gargoyles.
The article identified artist Gertrude Beals Bourne as a former resident who used the house as a home and studio. These historical identifications are retained as the original report’s account, rather than newly verified ownership or architectural research.
The house as described in 2012
The profile described three stories and approximately 3,426 square feet, with more than $2 million of work during the preceding decade. It highlighted tall ceilings and fireplaces, a kitchen with cherry cabinetry, green granite and stainless steel appliances, and a second kitchen in the basement with an old brick cooking fireplace and limestone sink.
The report did not provide an exact street address or an original photograph. Its description is not a current property offering or assurance that the interiors remain unchanged.
Historical account attributed to the original Boston City Properties article. Underlying records and later outcomes have not been freshly verified.