Rent the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House

Hooper-Lee-Nichols House from Brattle Street

Need a historic location for your film shoot? Looking for a unique spot to host a meeting, special event, or small wedding? 

The Hooper-Lee-Nichols House—built in 1685 and transformed into a Georgian mansion in the 1730s—is the second oldest house in the city and one of the oldest in New England.

From the huge brick fireplace and book-lined walls of the Chandler Room, to the Bosphorus Room with ca. 1865 scenic wallpaper by the famed Parisian company Joseph Dufour et Cie, to the handsome grounds with lush perennial beds, the Hooper-Lee-Nichols house offers an elegant, quiet, and functional backdrop for your needs.

Filming Location Rates

Weekend/holidays: $300/hour

Weekdays: $200/hour

Full day rates: Contact us to discuss.

  • Filming rentals include access to the entire first floor, including the kitchen with modern amenities.

Event Rental Rates

Weekend/holidays: $300/hour (3-hour minimum)

Weekdays: $200/hour (3-hour minimum)

Weddings: $400/hour (5-hour minimum)

  • An additional $200 cleaning fee applies to all event rentals.
  • Depending on the type of event, capacity ranges from 40 to 100 people.
  • A monitoring fee will be added to events with more than 25 guests.

[History Cambridge] is one of the most film-friendly venues I have worked with. Not only is the historic building absolutely beautiful, and it lent great charm to our interview, but Marieke was extraordinarily wonderful to work with. She provided us with all the logistical details we needed to make sure our interview was a success.

—Sarah Katz, Production Manager, Marginal Revolution University

The Hooper-Lee-Nichols House is an ideal location to film interviews in the Boston area. The building is quiet, has plenty of parking, and its fireplace and bookshelves look great on camera. It was also very easy to work with [History Cambridge] and its staff.

—David Schmidt, Florentine Films

Amenities and Available Spaces

  • Off-street parking for up to five cars
  • Wifi in all spaces

Bosphorus Room

This room is one of the two oldest in the house; recent dendrochronology dates the main support beam below this room to 1685. The wallpaper, installed in 1856, was printed by the leading Parisian scenic wallpaper company, Joseph Dufour et Cie, and depicts scenes of the Bosphorus in Turkey.

  • Table seating for up to 12
  • Ideal holding room or lunch area
  • Adjacent to Chandler Room
Bosphorus Room

Chandler Room

Joseph Everett Chandler, an early specialist in preservation architecture, extensively remodeled the house in 1916–17. Chandler planned the room to represent the house’s earliest Colonial architecture.

He laid down a brick floor when he found original bricks under nineteenth century flooring and repaired the huge fireplace, whose chimney stack may date from 1717. The dark, beaded wood paneling, small windows, heavy posts, and primitive woodwork are signature elements of an early twentieth century Colonial Revival style room.

  • Natural light from 3 side windows
  • No air handlers in room
  • Brick floors
  • Adjacent restroom
2019-Chandler-Room-low-res-Lara-Kimmerer-3

East Parlor

Records suggest that this room and the one above it were part of a separate house brought here in 1716 as an addition to the original structure. It has had many alterations since that time, and now features Georgian and Federal-style elements.

  • Works well as a reception room/coat rack space
2019-East-Parlor-low-res-Lara-Kimmerer

Kitchen

Available for filming rentals only

  • Fridge with filtered water and ice machine
  • Tea kettle and Keurig coffee maker
  • Seating for five
  • Access to driveway
Hooper-Lee-Nichols House Kitchen

Grounds

Off-street parking for up to 5 cars