Fenway townhouse has solarium, roof deck
During Boston’s Gilded Age, many distinctive cultural institutions were constructed. Symphony Hall was built in 1900.
Isabella Stewart Gardner built her palatial home in the Fenway in 1903.
Jordon Hall of the New England Conservatory of Music was built in 1904, and the Museum of Fine Arts, originally located in Copley Square, was constructed between 1907 and 1909.
So, it is not surprising that brick bowfront rowhouses similar those in the Back Bay and the South End were built in the area behind Symphony Hall about the same time.
It was a perfect spot for lovers of the arts, and it still is for many reasons.
In addition, many medical facilities and schools, including Harvard Medical School, Simmons College and Boston University’s Huntington Theater have been established in the area. Not far away are the Back Bay Fens, the Prudential Center shops and Fenway Park itself.
Decades later, on Dec. 15, 1986, a developer received permission to construct a new condominium complex on the sunny side of Symphony Road behind Symphony Hall. There are 11 units in the complex.
Rene Rodriguez of Cabot & Company has listed Unit A, a four-level townhouse, at $1.135 million.
It has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a wood-burning fireplace, a chef’s granite and stainless steel kitchen, a solarium, a roof deck, a study, a lower level storage room and an off-street parking spot.
Symphony Road is a one-way street between Westland and Gainsborough streets that runs from Hemenway to St. Stephen streets.
The sun-filled living room has double ceiling height and a wood-burning fireplace.
A charming feature is the nearby community garden. A cast iron fence separates it from the sidewalk, and beautiful hostas of several varieties fill the beds beside the fence.
Another cast iron fence encloses the yard at 41 Symphony. The steps to Unit A lead to an open porch in a recessed entry on the parlor level. Inside, the living room is filled with light that enters from windows on both the first and second floors.
A wood-burning fireplace surrounded by green marble is in an angled wall. At the end of that wall, a built-in cabinet provides storage for glassware and serving pieces. A chandelier hangs from the ceiling.
Foldable louvered shutters cover all the windows. The staircase to the upper floors is on the right wall just beyond the balcony of a study on the second floor.
The hardwood floors in the living room continue past a powder room on the left and a storage room on the right and into the open dining area and kitchen.
A large island with a breakfast bar and storage cabinets and drawers separates the kitchen from the dining area.
The island and birch-colored kitchen cabinets have countertops of black granite.
Black granite atop the birch-colored cabinetry provides a nice contrast that complements the stainless steel appliances.
The stainless steel appliances include brands by Frigidaire Galley, General Electric Profile and Sub-Zero. The back door of the room opens onto a small deck with stairs to the parking space and to the adjacent lower level storage room.
One flight up from the living room is the study with a balcony that overlooks the living room. A guest bedroom suite is situated at the back of this floor. The generous bedroom has an exterior deck with stairs to the kitchen level and on to the parking.
The en suite guest bath is attractive with wide pine floors, a corner shower, a pedestal sink and bead board wainscoting. A closet in the bath contains the Miele clothes washer and dryer. In the original unit, this floor was the master suite.
The next or third level now holds the master suite.
The master bedroom with a sitting room is at the front, and the enormous master bath is at the back.
In the spa-like bath, twin lavatories are at each end of the long, two-level Crema Marfil marble vanity.
The master bath is spacious and spa-like with a huge marble vanity, a soaking tub and a glass-enclosed shower.
The deep soaking tub is surrounded with the same marble as on the vanity top. A large, glass-enclosed separate shower, opposite the vanity, is flanked by a commode room and a huge custom closet.
This level once held two bedrooms with a bath between them. The plumbing is still in the wall if the new owner needs more bedrooms and would like to return to the original configuration.
The top floor of the condo has a beautiful family room with hardwood floors and windows at the front and back. It, like some rooms on each level, has some walls of exposed brick.
A fairly new addition on this level is a solarium with a granite wet bar and under-counter refrigerator. The glass sliders that make up one wall of the solarium open to the inviting roof deck. The family room has been used as a bedroom in the past.
The windows of the unit are insulated. There is a security system, and cable is available. Pets are allowed in the building, which is managed by an owner association. The 2,253 square feet of living space does not include the solarium, the lower level storage room or the decks.
Rodriguez says that many of the neighbors are doctors who work in the nearby medical facilities or are musicians from the Boston Symphony or the Boston Pops.
DETAILS
Address: 41 Symphony Road, Unit A, Fenway
BR/BA: Three bedrooms. Two-and-a-half baths
Age: 1987; recent renovations
Price: $1.135 million
Size: 2,253 +/- square feet
Taxes: $8,683 (with residential exemption)
Condo fee: $596 per month
Features of building: Attractive attached brick building with embellishments, built in 1987.
Features of unit: Charming and appealing home with a versatile floor plan; chef’s kitchen with high-end stainless steel appliance, granite counters and custom cabinetry; balcony; solarium; roof deck; lower level storage room; adjacent off-street parking space,
Close by: Symphony Hall, Huntington Theater, the Museum of Fine Arts, Jordan Hall, Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum, Simmons College, Berklee College of Music, the gardens and recreational facilities of the Fenway, Fenway Park; shops at the Prudential Center, Newbury Street, or Copley Place; easy access to MBTA Green Line, Storrow Drive.
Contact: Rene Rodriguez, Cabot & Company, 213 Newbury St. Boston, MA 02116. Phones: 617-262-6200 (office), 617-896-5006 (cell) or 617-504-7133 (voice).
Website: www.cabotandcompany.com
This property may be seen by appointment.
