Boston's Beacon Hill presents a stunning townhouse

When you hear Bostonians refer to “the Flat of the Hill,” they mean the level, western part of Beacon Hill, a neighborhood with many handsome red brick townhouses.

Stand on the corner of Chestnut and Brimmer streets and look up at a stately center-entrance Georgian. It has been attracting admiring glances since 1917.

When you enter through the arched front doors and step through the green marble entryway, you’ll find a living space with a brilliant balance of old and new.

The current homeowner has lived here for more than 20 years, and the house worked perfectly for him. Local architect Patrick Ahearn lived here before that.

And if you’re looking for a generous city home in an unbeatable neighborhood, it might work for you, too.

“This is one of a kind!” exclaims Jim Keough of Daniel A. Mullin Associates Real Estate, “These don’t come up too often, these corner houses.” 

The home, which is sunny, rich with architectural detail and almost 5,000 square feet in size, is on the market for $4.399 million.

If you look to the right while standing in the reception foyer, there’s a bright, gracious dining room with moldings framing the wainscot and ceiling.

There is plenty of room here to seat 10 or 12 at a long oval table. Natural light floods the room through tall windows. “When these blinds are open, you need sun block,” Keough jokes.

Behind the dining room, there is an impressive butler’s pantry with a granite counter, a slate tiled floor, and cherry and glass cabinets.

A Sub-Zero fridge is concealed in the cabinetry and next to it, at the far left end of the room, is a gorgeous wine closet.

The formal dining room is elegant with ceiling moldings and paneled wainscot.

A bar sink completes the space, which would be a convenient caterer’s kitchen, although there is a complete kitchen on the garden level. Keough demonstrates the dumb waiter, which could be used to transfer food from there to here.

On the opposite side of the foyer is an elegant library/office with lots of built-in bookcases. A beautiful fireplace features a cherry mantel and granite hearth. This room can be closed off from the foyer with pocket doors.

A surprisingly spacious powder room is located off the foyer, and that is a good thing, because the home’s second level is a major entertaining space.

The dramatic curved staircase, carpeted in a dark check, leads up to a spacious music room, where a grand piano holds court.

This must be the spot where party guests with champagne glasses gather for sing-alongs. It’s dramatic, with a polished granite floor.

If you walk through to the right, you’ll find a glorious two-story living room with an indoor balcony, columns, curved moldings and six windows, three large and three smaller windows, high on the walls.

A two-story living room with a curved balcony and a green marble fireplace adds drama to this space.

The windowsills are made of green marble to match the green marble fireplace. Deep niches provide places to put objets d’art, and there is plenty room for visitors to mingle or sit and relax.

The room on the opposite side of the floor is a comfortable man cave. There’s a built-in for a flat screen TV and a wet bar. Glass shelves can hold bottles or decorative items.

“It’s a great entertaining space, and that’s what he did,” says Keough of the current homeowner. However, new homeowners might envision a guest bedroom here, and that’s certainly possible.

There’s a full bathroom adjacent with a green marble vanity, marble floor and walk-in shower.

The third floor is currently used as a guest suite. It is high above the street and very quiet. The good-sized corner bedroom adjoins a walk-in closet so roomy it could almost serve as another bedroom.

The bath on this floor has a walk-in shower and a green marble vanity. A stacked Maytag washer and dryer are concealed in a closet.

A contemporary hideaway with seven windows and a door, the master suite is this home’s most luxurious space. 

The dramatic curved staircase leads to a music room.

The en suite bath has a big shower with six pampering showerheads and a bench.

Black marble on the floor and counter adds a touch of drama, and there is a separate water closet for privacy. Hardwood floors reflect light in the master bedroom. A tray ceiling is positioned over the bed.

The excitement up here is on the two roof decks with elegant wrought iron railings and romantic 360-degree views of the city.

They are ideal for warm weather entertaining. “When the leaves are all in, you feel like you’re in a tree house,” Keough says.

With all this, you haven’t seen the whole house yet until you descend to the garden level.

The home’s elevator will take you there so you can view the cherry and marble kitchen.

The appliances include a Sub-Zero fridge concealed in a cabinet, a GE Monogram microwave and wall oven and a KitchenAid induction cooktop and grill with a granite-tiled backsplash.

Don’t forget the dumb waiter. You’ll use it to send culinary creations up to the butler’s pantry on the first floor.

Visitors may sit by the brick and cherry kitchen fireplace, or they might relax in the paneled family room. Like every other floor in the house, this one has an attractive bath.

In addition to all its visual charms, the house has central air conditioning and a built-in vacuum cleaner, and it is fully alarmed.

In a part of town where it’s sometimes a challenge to park, the new homeowner won’t have to worry, since there are two parking spaces available at Brimmer Street Garage: one for rent and one for sale.

An elegant library/office off the foyer has built-in bookcases and a fireplace with a cherry mantel and granite hearth.

DETAILS

Address: 87 Chestnut St., Beacon Hill

BR/BA: Two-plus bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths

Size: 4,889 square feet

Age: 1917; 1992

Price: $4.399 million

Tax: $39,383 (FY 2011)

Features of home: Spacious single-family townhouse on the Flat of Beacon Hill provides a good balance of charming, classic architecture and contemporary luxury; south-facing, with large windows and plenty of natural light; five floors of living with large space for entertaining on the second floor and two roof decks.

Close by: Boston Common; shops and restaurants along Charles, Cambridge and Beacon streets; the State House; Mass. General Hospital; easy access to MBTA Red, Green and Blue Lines, Storrow Drive, Routes 90 and 93.

Contact: Jim Keough, Daniel A. Mullin & Associates, 73 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116. Phone: 617-267-3300.

Website: www.mullinrealestate.com.

This property may be seen by appointment.