New Riding Club

Boston, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The New Riding Club, located at 52 Hemenway Street in Boston, is a Tudor Revival clubhouse erected in 1891 and designed by architect Willard T. Sears. Built to serve prominent Back Bay residents restricted from keeping horses nearby, the facility housed a riding ring, stables for grooming and exercising horses, changing rooms, and lounges, with instruction provided by former French cavalry officer Henry Lucien de Bussigny. Its strategic location allowed members access to bridle paths through Frederick Law Olmsted's Back Bay Fens. The sole survivor of three similar neighborhood facilities from the era, the building was acquired by the Badminton and Tennis Club in 1934, when its riding ring was converted to tennis courts; the stables were later transformed into residential apartments in 1985. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.