Joseph Coolidge House

Bulfinch was also influenced by the superior Bingham Mansion in Philadelphia that he considered, "would be esteemed splendid even in the most luxurious parts of Europe". Nonetheless, the Coolidge house was far from modest and Bulfinch went out of his way to design an elaborate home until then unforeseen in Boston. The facade was described with, "Ionic pilasters supporting a cornice mounted by an urn-embellished roof balustrade". 

Inside, Bulfinch built one of the first geometric staircases ever seen in the United States, "which gave the illusion that the flight of steps was unattached to the foundation". He abandoned the traditional colonial taste for square rooms of similar shapes and sizes and most notably building a large, oval salon that overlooking the street that opened up onto the Dining Room. Bulfinch had no doubt worked hard to impress his sister's father-in-law and when the house was demolished in 1843, he lamented it had been a, "noble mansion".