Pinebank is a 19th century mansion that stands (for a few more days) overlooking Jamaica Pond in the Emerald Necklace. It is currently undergoing its first phase of demolition: the removal of its facing brick and terra cotta decorations.

Pinebank was built in 1868 by the Perkins family, a Boston family of note which had made its fortune in the China Trade. There were three Pinebanks, all on the same location, the first being erected in 1806.

The current Pinebank was purchased by the city around 1890 as it accumulated properties for what would become Jamaica Park (later renamed Olmsted Park.) The building was severely damaged by fires in 1978 and 1982. As it resided in the woods on the Jamaica Plain border it suffered substantial vandalism as well.

Though slated for restoration along with the efforts to restore all of the Emerald Necklace in the mid-1990s, the improvements never occured. Sometime last year, the City of Boston took the decision to demolish the building. It will be gone by the end of next week.

There is talk of a full restoration, or letting the woods reclaim the spot, or some sort of interpretive structure making use of the building foundation, thought nothing specific is yet planned.

A nice writeup of this spot can be found here.