Special to the Gazette

      At 74 Green Street -at the corner of Green and Cheshire- stands a one-story brick and frame building close to the street. It’s façade is mostly unassuming, the repurposed face punctuated with an unmarked door.

      Begun in 1908, 74 Green was built to house both a retail store and the new location for the Jamaica Plain Post Office. When, in the early 20s, the post office made its final move to Centre Street, the space was taken over by the Shawmut Paper Box Company.

      Cardboard boxes were popularized just before the turn of the century and mercantile companies were now in need of what today seems almost like a pestilence. Cardboard boxes are now everywhere, from our front porches to our attics. It was no surprise that large companies took over their manufacture and the Shawmut Paper Box Company closed.

      In the late 1970s, two artists living in an apartment on Green Street, noticed the building was for sale and bought it. Their vision of building a recording studio would be realized over the ensuing years.

      Janice Weber, fiction writer and concert pianist of international acclaim, had made a name for herself by performing one of the most difficult classical pieces, Liszt’s Nocturnal Concertos. Catching the attention of John Newton, they soon became life partners.

      John Newton, a sound engineer and inventor, was a major participant in the conversion of sound recording from analog to digital. He and his studio, Soundmirror, have recorded and mastered the most renowned symphony orchestras from around the world. In so doing they have won many Grammys and an Emmy and were nominated for many more.

      The old building on Green Street that they bought fulfilled their common dream of building a music studio and it is also their living space. Thus, the award-winning recording studio is only half of what the building now is, which is also a quiet and private refuge.

      The interior is wholly unexpected; behind the brick and frame façade is the completely built-out living space, with 14 foot lofty ceilings, airy rooms, and a solarium, all sheltering the lives of its owners within this sanctuary.

      Broker, John Maxfield, calls it “A quintessential live/work haven”.

      To visit this hidden gem, call John Maxfield, broker at 617 293-8003.

                 Open for public showings beginning Sunday, January 26, 2025