Beacon Hill townhouse is elegant restoration

A single-family house across from the House on the Hill is for sale. The six-story home at 69 Hancock St. sits on the crest of Beacon Hill and faces directly onto the Massachusetts State House – a prime location for anyone who desires to live at a choice city crossroads. T

Alex Voss of Keller Williams Realty has listed this townhouse at $4.2 million.

With five bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths, the house was built in 1839 and for many years was an apartment building with five rentals.

When the current owners took it over, they renovated extensively to return the property to a single-family residence.

The overhaul included laying a new foundation, re-pointing all the brick and putting on a new slate roof. It ended earlier this year. The place now gleams with details and luxury refinements.

At street level, you can enter through a doorway to the house or go directly into a workman’s alley that ends up in the brick garden behind the house.

Entering directly into the house puts you in the kitchen, which is large and light with white custom cabinets designed and constructed by Dovetailed Kitchens Inc. of Portsmouth, N.H.

A large family room is open to the garden-level kitchen. The glass door leads to the brick patio garden.

There are black granite counters and a wide breakfast bar. Lots of cooking will be accomplished on the Wolf six-burner gas cooktop and stove. There are an Asko dishwasher and a Sub-Zero refrigerator with custom cabinet inserts to make it look like part of the furniture. Recessed lighting provides lots of glow.

The kitchen opens to a family room with an au pair suite attached. The small suite – as cozy as you can imagine – could also be used as a guest room. It has an en suite bath that has a glass-enclosed shower and rain showerhead.

A floor-to-ceiling glass door opens from the suite onto the brick patio. A stairway opposite the au pair suite leads to a cleaned and dry basement that offers an estimated 1,000 square feet of extra storage space in addition to the 4,695 square feet of finished living area.

Up a flight, the main floor features a living room and dining room that have been restored to their full splendor with triple-crown moldings, floor-to-ceiling multi-pane windows and red oak floors.

All rooms on this floor – even the entryway – have crystal chandeliers. Both rooms feature fireplaces with marble mantels and surrounds. The living room’s fireplace is wood-burning.

 The kitchen features cabinetry by Dovetailed Kitchens. There is a six-burner Wolf gas cooktop and stove and a Sub-Zero refrigerator.

Wide, restored pocket doors separate the two rooms. A decorative plaster medallion anchors the chandelier on the living room’s ceiling. Nearby is a half bath for convenience. And off this main floor is a mahogany deck that overlooks the garden below.

You ascend a flight to the master suite, where the bedroom is large and has big windows. There is an enormous en suite bath with marble double sinks, a frameless glass shower with rain head and a tumbled sand-colored tile floor.

Two enormous closets are as big as small study spaces, and a second room off the master could be used as another bedroom or as a generous home office or nursery.

The en suite bath could be a Roman bathhouse with its expanses of marble counter and floors. In this spa, you find double sinks, a large frosted glass window and a frameless glass shower with rain head and built-in stone benches. The commode is hidden away in a private stone-clad corner of the room.

Most striking about 69 Hancock St. is the roominess of the house. Nothing feels cramped or crowded. This home offers lavish floor-through living, with many windows and much light. Even the full-size laundry and the linen closet with many shelves are spacious.

Throughout the house, there are thermostats to monitor the heat and air conditioning.

The master bedroom suite is light and white with big windows. There is an en suite bath and a fireplace with marble mantel and surround.

The lighting is also very attentive, with recessed spots throughout the house.

Up a floor are two more bedrooms with en suite baths. One bedroom has a wood-burning fireplace. These are commodious rooms with enough space for big beds and dressers.

Each bathroom is large and differently designed, with subtly tinted stone and tile. For example, the bathroom with the 8-foot-long soaking tub has white subway tiles. Another washroom with a glass shower is lined with beige marble.

On the top floor you find a wide-open, very inviting, oak-floored expanse with a skylight that could be used as a bedroom, a playroom or a sitting room. In keeping with the commodious nature of 69 Hancock St., there is also a full bath with a frameless glass shower.

Go up a couple of steps, walk out a French door and you’re on the roof deck, made entirely of recycled materials. The deck is sturdy and lovely, offering that classic Beacon Hill view of rooftops and chimneys.

Even without the prominent view of the Massachusetts State House, 69 Hancock St. promises to put you in the power position on top of Beacon Hill.

A brick patio garden is one of three outdoor escapes. The kitchen and au pair suite open up on this garden.

DETAILS

Address: 69 Hancock St., Beacon Hill

BR/BA: Five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths

Size: 4,695 square feet

Age: 1839; 2011

Price: $4.2 million

Taxes: $18,955 (FY 2011)

Features of home: Completely renovated single-family home with six floors, five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths, three outdoor areas; new slate roof; rebuilt foundation; ground level kitchen with custom cabinetry, black granite counters and high-end appliances; au pair or guest suite near kitchen that is an adorable lair with a floor-to-ceiling door opening to brick garden; living and dining rooms on first floor have fireplaces, crystal chandeliers and mahogany deck; master suite features wood-burning fireplace, restored windows, recessed lighting and large en suite bath with adjacent room; two other bedrooms on upper floor with en suite baths; top floor great room large enough for playroom, home office or sitting room; roof deck constructed of recycled materials.

Close by: Shops and restaurants along Charles Street, Cambridge Street and Beacon Street; Suffolk University; State House and Massachusetts General Hospital; easy access to MBTA’s Park Street Station for Green and Red Lines, Bowdoin Street station for Blue Line; Storrow Drive, Route 93.

Contact: Alex Voss, Keller Williams Realty Boston-Metro, 607 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116. Phones: 617-542-0012 (office) or 617-777-6439 (cell). 

Website: www.kwmetroboston.com

This home may be seen by appointment.