LOCATION:17 Story Street, Cambridge, MA, USA丨
TYPE:Mixed-used Development with Historic Restoration (incl. hotel, residential, F&B)丨
SCALE:Gross floor area: 74,000 SQF (Hotel area: 26,000 SQF Residential area: 48,000 SQF)丨
DESIGN/BUILT:2025-2026 / 2026-2028(Scheduled)丨
COLLABORATIVE DESIGN COMPANY:Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.
Within Cambridge’s Conservation District, the 1846 Regency-style Harriet Jacobs House—once home to abolitionist writer Harriet Jacobs, will be relocated to the front corner of Mt. Auburn and Story Streets, elevating its prominence in Harvard Square. The relocated Harriet Jacobs House operates as a hotel lobby activating the corner, with the new volume recedes into back of the site, housing hotel and residential programs. The new eight-story structure dissolves its 85-foot height volume through chamfered setbacks that create terraced rhythms. This massing scales with adjacent low-rises and juxtaposes the historic fabric.
The façade fractures into offset balconies and bay windows, drawing sunlight into living spaces. Their projections carve volumetric shading patterns across the surface, allowing the architecture to honor legacy while engaging contemporary urban life.