Our Top 20 Stories in 2022

Here’s what you clicked on the most this year.

12/31/2022, 3:33 p.m.

Clockwise from top left: Photo by Mona Miri; Photo by Adam DeTour; Courtesy of A&E; Photo by Matt Kalinowski; Photo by Mona Miri; Photo by Surette Media Group

Here you will find the 20 most popular stories, posts, and, ahem, hot takes we published this year, all of which is just a sample of the lifestyle coverage we publish regularly. One thing we all have in common: You sure do love ogling expensive New England homes and so do we. No wonder why we’re such good friends—let’s definitely hang out more in 2023.

20. On the Market: A Secluded Waterfront Estate with a Deep-Water Dock

Photo courtesy of Anfuso Imaging

Back in April, staff writer Erin Kayata shared an $18.8 million listing that seemed worth every dollar of its asking price. Located on a bluff along North Chatham’s High Scatteree, the property was a Georgian Revival estate with direct shoreline access and truly breathtaking views of the Atlantic. See the water lover’s dream yourself.

19. A Taxonomy of Boston Space Savers after the Blizzard of 2022

Photo via Instagram/@spacesavers_of_boston by @formoffunction

After January’s historic blizzard, city life writer Spencer Buell took a look at the ridiculous things you dragged out of the basement to claim your freshly shoveled parking spots. Penguins, threatening notes, beer kegs—oh, what a menagerie it was. Peruse Boston’s late-January space savers here.

18. Bon Appetit and the New York Times Really Love Dear Annie

White neon signage that looks like two eyes hangs in the large front windows of a bar, photographed on a rainy night.

Find Dear Annie by the glowing eyes on Mass. Ave. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Food editor Rachel Leah Blumenthal shared in the national enthusiasm for Cambridge’s Dear Annie, the quirky, cool wine bar that landed on two national top 50 lists in September. Read more >>

17. First Look: Nomai, a New Restaurant from Boston’s Shōjō Team, Opens in Hingham

Nomai. / Courtesy photo

Regular contributor Jacqueline Cain visited a sophisticated New American spot with Asian twists and masterful mai tai cocktails that opened on the South Shore in January. Read more >>

16. The Ayer Mansion, Boston’s Famous Tiffany-Designed Home, Is Now Up for Sale

/ Rendering courtesy of Neoscape

Resident housing-market expert Erin Kayata gave us a look at this $17 million Commonwealth Ave. mansion, the only home completely designed by legendary designer Louis Comfort Tiffany. Read more>>

15. Why Are We So Obsessed with the Orange Line Bridge Diver?

Photo by microgen/Getty Images

Amid the chaotic debacle of this summer’s Orange Line fire, one folk hero emerged from smoky wreckage. Senior digital editor Lisa Weidenfeld considered why exactly an unnamed Mystic River diver captured the city’s collective attention. Read more>>

14. On the Market: An $18 Million Estate on Martha’s Vineyard

/ Photos by Emily Darosa

Property writer Erin Kayata FTW (again), letting us all gawk at 6.5 acres of land and a secluded Edgartown home with a private beach. Read more >>

13. 100 Most Influential Bostonians

Mayor Michelle Wu / Photo by Mona Miri

From finance to politics, lifestyle to law, our delightfully subjective guide to everyone you need to know right now. Read more>>

12. On the Market: A Log Home on an Island in Lake Winnipesaukee

Resident real-estate guide Erin Kayata showed us this lakeside lodge in New Hampshire, which came with a dock, so getting out on the water would be a breeze. Read more>>

11. If You Want to Take a Swim in the Charles River, They Can’t Stop You on June 18

(Boston, MA 07/12/16) on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. Staff photo by Patrick Whittemore.

Erstwhile city-life scribe Spencer Buell got you all excited about the return of “City Splash” in 2022. Read more>>

10. Is This the End of the High School Varsity Jacket?

Illustration by Benjamen Purvis

Letterman jackets used to be for winners and cool kids, but in today’s high schools, they’re about as popular as leg warmers and big hair. Writer Julie Suratt considered something you all were apparently wondering too: What happened? Read more >>

9. If Somerville Doesn’t Look Good, He Doesn’t Look Good

Photo by Matt Kalinowski

In the spring, Gabriella Gage profiled Elan Sassoon, the son of Vidal and the heir to a $150 million hair fortune, who’s been buying up chunks of Union Square. Read more >>

8. On the Market: A Vermont Farmhouse with a Post and Beam Barn

/ Photo by Flylisted

Erin Kayata directed us to this beautifully quaint real-estate listing: A home in Woodstock, Vermont with an attached 1750s barn that was shipped over from England. Read more >>

7. Enough about Clam Chowder: It’s Time to Start Honoring Boston’s Real Best Food

Baby back ribs and baked beans. / Photo by Getty Images

Contributor Lamonte Price had a controversial suggestion for Boston’s real iconic dish. Hint: It didn’t involve seafood. Read more >>

6. On the Market: A Hingham Home with a Custom Roof Deck

/ Photo by Adams and Nordren LLC

You couldn’t stop looking and neither could we. Read more>>

5. Go Inside Hecate, Boston’s New Mystical Underground Cocktail Bar

Hecate. / Photo by Adam DeTour

Scott Kearnan ventured into a brand-new Back Bay sanctum named for the “badass witch” of Greek mythology. Read more>>

4. Mark Wahlberg and Co. Are Being Sued for Trashing a Wahlburgers

Courtesy A&E

Scott Kearnan took a look at a lawsuit alleging that the actor’s team “maliciously” made the place “un-tenantable” for another Boston-rooted restaurant trying to expand to L.A. Read more >>

3. On the Market: A Massive Western Mass. Estate Owned by the Founder of Yankee Candle

Photo by Surette Media Group

Erin Kayata set the internet ablaze with this dreamhouse listing. The former estate of mall-candle king Michael James Kittredge II went on the market for $23 million, boasting a two-story arcade, an indoor water park, and a professional concert venue. Read more>>

2. The Best Restaurants in Boston, 2022

A man in chef's whites cooks behind the counter of an upscale restaurant where all the customers sit right at the counter and look on.

Every seat at Tasting Counter is at, well, the counter—a perfect front-row view of the culinary spectacle. / Photo by Brian Samuels

Highly curated, completely subjective, and 100 percent ranked according to our food editor Rachel Leah Blumenthal, along with some help from her friends Jolyon Helterman and MC Slim JB: Our annual guide to the places you needed to try in 2022. Read more >>

1. Inside the Wild Feud Between Jonathan Knight and the Trustees of Reservations

Jonathan Knight / Photo by Mona Miri

A fitting top story for 2022, the year we were all hangin’ tough. New Kids on the Block superstar Jonathan Knight had it all: a rewarding career, a loving family, a postcard-worthy farm on protected North Shore land, and a dream home underway. Then lawyers from the most powerful conservation organization in the state came knocking. Spencer Buell reported the details. Read more>>