Back Bay home boasts contemporary design
Your own, private outdoor space in the Back Bay can be yours at Unit 1 at 425 Beacon St.
This sunny, ground floor duplex includes an enclosed landscaped brick patio, partly shaded by the neighbor’s flowering tree.
It feels like the perfect size and space for family barbeques.
The current homeowners, who have been here for about 10 years, say it’s their favorite feature about their modern home in this historic neighborhood.
Rick Egan and Sheila Devine of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage have listed the condo at $845,000.
Having a safe outdoor place for their school-age children to play, while mom and dad took care of household tasks, has been a boon for them, especially with an entrance that’s just five steps up from street level when the kids were younger.
The outdoor features are just the beginning of the amenities they’ve come home to for the past decade.
Their front door is directly accessible off the common, key-access vestibule. Upon entering, a visitor is welcomed immediately into what the homeowners affectionately call the “middle room,” but what others might refer to as the parlor.
Inside the front door is a huge middle room with a fireplace and stairs to the main living space.
Coats go in the closet right in front of you, and as currently furnished, a flowered divan stretches across the length of the brick wood-burning fireplace, adding to the parlor flavor.
The fireplace itself is in a recessed area slightly back from the main room, painted a pale, warm tan with a white mantel and moldings.
Every room in the condo was freshly painted in decorator-neutral colors in 2008. Most rooms have hardwood floors.
In keeping with traditional Back Bay style, the bedrooms are located on the entry level of this duplex, with kitchen and entertaining areas on a different level (in this case, below, offering access to the back garden).
An 11- by 14-foot master bedroom, painted a slightly paler beige than the parlor area, faces the back of the home, to the south. It has new, dark gray wall-to-wall carpeting, well suited to accent carpeting or soft and warm on the feet just as-is.
The leafy, flowering tree behind this room’s two floor-to-ceiling windows offers a measure of privacy.
The master bedroom boasts two large closets and new carpeting. The windows face south.
The owners added new molding and spacious double closets, with additional touch-latch storage for luggage above.
A second bedroom, painted a cheerful robin’s egg blue, has ample closet space and overlooks Beacon Street. A full bath features a marble and mahogany vanity, limestone floors, pale gray walls and tall mirrors.
A stairway with a charming, arched entryway and tasteful tiger-striped carpeting leads from the parlor area down one level to the dining room and living room on the left and, on the right, the kitchen, a second bath with shower, a laundry closet and an office.
The office, which is partially below ground level, faces Beacon Street.
The living room is farthest back in the home and a step down from the dining room. Oak floors, cream-colored walls and modern, custom shelving next to a modern white, poured concrete fireplace give a light, contemporary feel.
French doors in the living room open onto a landscaped brick patio that has a southern exposure.
Plate glass French doors, a couple of steps up to the back patio, offer plenty of natural light, enhanced by recessed lighting.
The dining area is physically separated from the living room only by the step. It offers plenty of space for a table for six or eight. There’s a large under-stairway storage closet at the far end.
Traveling away from these rooms and toward the front of the home, the kitchen is to the left and second full bath, with shower, is on the right. Both have limestone floors.
The kitchen, painted a cocoa brown, features white cabinetry, white Carrara marble counters with a peninsula and room for two or three barstools. It’s a good spot for coffee and the morning paper.
A laundry closet with Bosch washer and dryer is next door. The bath has beige floors, pale stone-gray walls and white diamond-shaped wall tiles.
The kitchen, painted a cocoa brown, features white appliances and cabinetry along with white Carrara marble counters.
At the end of the hall, the office space features plynl flooring – a rubber-backed floor covering that doesn’t show dirt and is easily wiped clean. Ample drawers and shelves have been built in; the home’s utility closet is accessible from this room.
The homeowners call this property “a very low-key building,” quiet and easy to live in. In addition, the outdoor patio and a deeded parking space with direct access make this residence an ideal address to call home.
DETAILS
Address: 425 Beacon St., Unit 1, Back Bay
BR/BA: Two bedrooms, two baths
Size: 1,248 square feet
Age:1890; 1991; recent updates
Price: $845,000
Taxes: $5,325 (FY 2009 with residential exemption)
Condo fee: $449.25 per month
Features of building: Five-story, historic townhouse-style building, converted to five condos in 1991; entrance is five steps up from the street; oil heat; pet friendly.
Features of home: Unit 1 is a ground and first-floor duplex with gracious central room with wood-burning fireplace, master bedroom and second bedroom and full bath on upper level; kitchen, dining room and adjoining, generous-sized, contemporary entertaining/living room with fireplace and custom built-in shelving on lower level; Office or third bedroom and additional full bath on this level; fenced-in patio off living room; garden shaded by the next-door neighbor’s flowering tree, which also flowers outside the master bedroom window.
Close by: Shops and restaurants along Newbury Street; close to Charles River, Massachusetts Avenue and bridge to Cambridge; Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory; easy access to MBTA buses, Green Line at Hynes Station and Orange Line and commuter rail at Back Bay Station; Storrow and Memorial Drives, Mass. Turnpike.
Contact: Richard Egan or Sheila Devine, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, 160 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02116. Phones: 617-247-2909 (office) or cell: 617-216-0996 (Egan cell) or 617-901-7227 (Devine cell).
Website: www.nemoves.com
This property may be seen by appointment.
