The Boston area is known for some of America’s most legendary historical landmarks—from the Freedom Trail and Paul Revere’s House to Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau wrote his masterpiece. Residents of Stratus’s new condos in Boston are at the center of the city’s historical and cultural landmarks. One of the most storied higher education institutions in the world is around the corner from the Stratus, too, and is the site of parks, gardens, museums, and other destinations worthy of further study.
Harvard University may, in fact, be the most famous university in the world and is older than the United States itself. Founded in 1636, the university was named after John Harvard, whose statue (a popular tourist site) sits in Harvard Yard, in the middle of the university’s main Cambridge campus, which also houses the Widener Library, itself a popular spot due to its status as the world’s largest academic library. Just outside of Harvard’s Cambridge campus is Harvard Square—a central hub for the area’s fine (and casual) dining, nightlife, shopping, and entertainment venues like the beloved Brattle Theatre and the award-winning American Repertory Theater, which is known for producing some of the country’s most pathbreaking theater.
For an additional dose of culture, Harvard is also home to several significant art museums, including the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. The Harvard Art Museums, which also include research centers and archives, together house approximately 250,000 objects that originate from across the globe, dating from antiquity to the present, across multiple media. Housed in the newly renovated, Renzo Piano-designed space on Quincy Street, the Harvard Art Museums host regular events, like the upcoming gallery talk on artist Krzysztof Wodiczko’s Portrait.
In the spirit of Thoreau and his contemplative lifestyle, a weekend picnic or walk through the serene Riverbend Park may inspire moments of literary greatness—or at least quiet repose and self-reflection. Courtesy of the People for Riverbend Park Trust created by Isabella Halsted, this area alongside the majestic Charles River has been preserved and beautified for the public to enjoy in perpetuity. For those who embrace green thumbs everywhere, a visit to the Harvard Community Garden in the heart of Harvard Square will yield an inspiring showcase of ingenuity and commitment from the undergraduate staffers who tend the urban garden, which has produced hundreds of pounds of produce.
Finally, no visit to Harvard would be complete without a trip to Harvard Stadium. This U-shaped football stadium in the Allston neighborhood is a designated National Historic Landmark and sits on a parcel of land known as Soldiers Field (close to the Harvard Business School campus). Home to several of Harvard’s sports teams, the stadium is perhaps best known among students and alumni as the site of the traditional Harvard-Yale game of archrivals during alternating years.
But even during the off-season, the stadium—and the Harvard campus and environs—provides an endless source of exploration and discovery. Fortunately for Stratus residents, all the history, culture, art, and greenery are close to home. Contact our team to learn more about the Stratus lifestyle.
