In 1844, at the same time that Brookline built its second town hall in Brookline Village, the City of Boston erected a receiving reservoir for its new water system in what was marshland just north of Brookline's old town common. At the corner of Warren and Boylston streets stands the building that housed the distribution chamber for the reservoir (1 Warren Street). Built in 1848 and designed by Charles E. Parker, this granite structure was contemporary with two other major early stone examples of the Italianate palazzo style in the area, the Boston Athenaeum (
BH7
) and the demolished Beacon Hill Reservoir. The Brookline Reservoir doubled as a picturesque promenade and park, making the immediate neighborhood more attractive for residential development.