Our stay at XV Beacon gave me the chance to revisit one of the most beautiful urban enclaves in the country: Beacon Hill. Built on land that was the original seat of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Beacon Hill was part of Trimountain (a name which morphed into “Tremont”), so named for the rises of Pemberton Hill, Mount Vernon and Beacon Hill. In the early 1800s, the first two were leveled to allow development. Prominent citizens quickly viewed Beacon Hill as a highly desirable place to live, though some migrated to the newly fashionable neighborhood of Back Bay when it emerged in the 1850s. During Beacon Hill’s 19th-century heyday, leading residents included Daniel Webster, Wendell Phillips and Henry Thoreau.