Reflecting on the Wellesley Inn’s demolition 20 years ago

The first room to the left in the Wellesley Inn housed a large, ornate fireplace, a central part of the living room where residents would meet up to chat or solve jigsaw puzzles over tea and corn muffins. The room was adorned with dark and moody wooden accents, and community members would gather in one of the Inn’s three unique dining rooms, or by the rocking chairs on the front porch looking out over Washington Street. It was a place to eat, a place to meet, and a place to simply get together with friends and family. 

But that was 20 years ago. 

Now, in its stead, stands a luxury condo development with over 20 housing units above the businesses on the lower level. Gone are the days of the historic community gathering hub that held that lot for over a century, now home to a modern monolith, and to some, a shadow over the town. 

Long-time Wellesley residents, like Beth Hinchliffe, mourn the loss of the Inn and what it stood for. Originally the Wellesley Tea Room, it was established in 1897 and remained the focal point of the town until it was sold to developers and demolished in 2006. 

“It was really important in the life of the town, because it had grown up with the town,” Hinchliffe said. “It had a graciousness about it, and an awareness of history, of where we came from. It was a connection with all the generations that have come before.”

Hinchliffe said she attended all sorts of events at the Inn throughout the years, from baby showers to wedding receptions to graduation and birthday parties. But above all, she said, it was a place for the community to come together, and one that hasn’t been replicated since. With three different restaurants — a tavern, a ballroom, and the original tea room — there was something for every occasion. 

“It led to losing the sense of a town center, a community center, because it really was our community gathering place,” Hinchliffe said. “It was so much a part of all your life.” 

She recalled going there after graduation to celebrate and how her parents went out to dinner there every year for Mothers’ Day. There was caroling in the winter, Easter egg hunts in the spring, and it was where everyone gathered after the annual Wellesley Veterans Parade. Her favorite memories, however, were sitting by the fireplace in the living room with friends and family, drinking tea and solving puzzles in the warmth of the flame.  

“That room was like a big embrace,” she said. “I remember times I’d been out shopping with friends and we would just go in to get our tea in front of the fireplace.”

Katherine “Gig” Babson has lived in the same house in Wellesley for almost 79 years and remembers the Inn as “a glorious structure,” with the columns and stairs providing an intense visual impact in the heart of town. In her 50 years of involvement in local politics, she served as a Select Board member for nine years and was on the committee when the building was torn down. 

Babson said she has “very strong feelings” about the Inn being demolished instead of purchased by Wellesley College. 

“My unfiltered view is that Wellesley College had a great opportunity to purchase it and make it into a boutique hotel for the benefit of Wellesley College students,” she said. “I think it’s a missed opportunity.” 

At the time, there were movements from local residents to see if there was any way to preserve some part of the original building, but most people understood that it was incredibly expensive and would have been far too large of an undertaking to be feasible. 

Tory DeFazio, a resident of almost 89 years and a Town Meeting member for over 50, said that the Inn originated as a family home and eventually expanded to serve the parents of the students at Wellesley College looking for somewhere to stay. Since then, those families and anyone else visiting Wellesley have had to stay in nearby towns like Needham or Newton, he said. 

“When we had family weddings, the guests would stay there at the Wellesley Inn, and you could sit out on the front porch in a rocker and look at the traffic going by,” he said. “It was just a lovely environment, and they were always very gracious.” 

It has been 20 years since the demolition itself, which fell exactly on Wellesley’s 125th birthday on April 6, 2006. That decision, though likely unintentional, was a blow to many who were already devastated by the loss of the historic building, with Babson referring to the choice as “a huge booboo.” 

“If you’re going to take down something that a lot of people have strong feelings about, maybe you shouldn’t take it down on the town’s birthday,” she said. “They could have been more sensitive.”

Hinchliffe remembered the day itself, noting that while people knew the demolition was imminent, nobody expected them to pick that day to tear it down. Friends called to her to avoid the “heartache” of the demolition, and “the town really got riled up when they tore it down on exactly the 125th birthday.” 

“It was shocking to a lot of people,” DeFazio said. “It was gone before you knew it.” 

While there are some visual similarities between the Wellesley Inn and The Belclare, the new development that took its place, they serve vastly different functions.

“The columns are the only thing that remind me of the old Inn,” DeFazio said. “But there’s no porch, no rockers.” 

On the ground level of the development, there are a number of shops that are rented out, although there has been a significant amount of turnover with them, DeFazio said. Above them are the luxury condos, selling for up to $3 million. 

Lois Lee and Young Jo Kim, Wellesley residents of 22 years, didn’t live in town during the Inn’s prime and don’t remember it when “it was really being used.” 

“It’s nice for having the option of a luxury condo right in the center of town,” Lee said. “They did a beautiful job with the building, and it is nice to have the retail on the first floor.”

But while these condos provide a new life for the lot, others, like Hinchliffe, still deeply mourn that place it used to be. 

“I just loved it, and I miss it,” she said. “I think everybody misses it.” 

This story is part of a partnership between the Swellesley Report and the Boston University Department of Journalism.