Opportunity awaits buyer in Jamaica Plain

In the Stony Brook Valley section of Jamaica Plain, close to the MBTA’s Forest Hills station, a three-family Victorian house at 235 Wachusett St. is on the market, together with an adjacent double lot at 221-225 Wachusett that has been approved for development.

Fred Alibrandi of Otis & Ahearn Real Estate has listed the combined properties at $859,000.

“This is an incredible opportunity for a developer,” he says.

In the early 19th century, this area was agrarian, with large summer estates owned by prominent city leaders who lived in the Back Bay and on Beacon Hill.

Improvements in transportation with horse-drawn rail service along Hyde Park Avenue, the Boston and Providence Railroad and the later extension of the elevated train to Downtown Boston seven miles away led to the creation of a streetcar suburb that was quickly being settled.

One hundred years ago the Boston Dwelling House Company, seeking to provide moderately priced housing for the families of those who worked in the nearby rail yards, drew up a 30-acre subdivision of clustered single- and two-family houses set on curved, tree-lined streets between Walk Hill and Wachusett streets and Woodbourne Road.

An 8,000-square-foot double lot at 221-225 Wachusett St. in Jamaica Plain has approved plans for a three-family house.

The idea was to create a garden city, like those surrounding London.

Today this neighborhood is completely developed and has remained intact since World War II. Now designated as the Woodbourne National Historic District, it is recognized as “Boston’s first successful garden-city project and as one of the last philanthropic housing ventures to be developed Boston’s reform-minded gentry,” according to the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

Wachusett Street forms the western boundary of the historic district, which is perhaps “Boston’s best collection of Arts & Crafts architecture,” according to the commission. Nearby are two large garden cemeteries – Forest Hills and St. Michael’s – and small pocket parks or cul-de-sacs, enhancing the garden-city image.

The house at 235 Wachusett St. is just one of two three-deckers within these boundaries. Originally the house was located on Hyde Park Avenue, one block away, but in 1920 it was moved to its present site.

(The other is at 211 Wachusett St., which has a flat roof.)

The dining room in the third floor apartment has a built-in china cabinet and a wooden mantelpiece with carved garland ornamentation.

No. 235 has not been renovated, yet it has retained many architectural details.

Its shingled exterior has a wide cornice, bordered with dentil molding, and a gabled roof. Columned sun porches and rear decks are on each floor, and three-window bays face the street and the south side of the building.

Each unit has a formal living room, dining room and kitchen with a pantry off a straight hallway. On the other side of the hall, on the north side, are two bedrooms and a bath.

Plaster ceiling medallions are in the living rooms and dining rooms, and each floor has high ceilings. The frames of the windows and doors have bull’s eyes at the corners, and the dining rooms include wooden mantelpieces although the fireplaces are blocked.

The living rooms in the first- and third-floor units also have wooden mantelpieces, and the third-floor apartment has pocket doors between the living room and dining room, where there is a built-in china cabinet.

The woodwork has not been painted in this apartment.

The dining room flows into the living room at the front of the house, but pocket doors could close off the space.

The dining rooms have a smaller, higher window in the middle of the bay that features colored wavy glass that is not original.

The living rooms at the front of the house have a three-window bay that draws in lots of natural light.

The basement is full-sized and has separate heating systems – two gas-fired boilers and an oil burner – and the attic has three gables and lots of standing room.

The owners of the property grew up here, says Alibrandi. A double lot next to the house, comprising 8,000 square feet, is available for development.

The owners have obtained city approvals – a building permit was issued in May – to construct another three-unit building that could be either apartments or condominiums. It is sited in the middle of the two lots.

A driveway between the house and the lot would be shared, says Alibrandi, and parking spaces would be constructed behind both buildings.

Architect-designed floor plans show a building with three units with three bedrooms and two baths. Each has a sun porch and a rear deck.

The plan also shows a living room with a bay that is open to the kitchen with a center island. 

The foyer to the third apartment on the top floor shows its elaborate oak staircase with spindles.

The kitchen is also open to a formal dining room that has a bay.

Beyond the main living spaces is a hall, off which are the master bedroom with an en suite bath and two more bedrooms on the other side of the hallway. The hall concludes with a full bath with a combination tub/shower. A slight turn leads to the door to the deck.

A driveway between the house and the proposed dwelling would be shared, says Alibrandi, and parking spaces would be constructed behind both buildings.

DETAILS 

Address: 221-235 Wachusett St., Jamaica Plain 

BR/BA: Six bedrooms, three baths

Size: 4,349 square feet 

Age: 1920

Price: $859,000  

Features of property: Three-family unrenovated house with an adjacent double lot, approved for development for second three-family house with nine bedrooms and six baths. Plans are included. 

Close by: Arnold Arboretum, Southwest Corridor Park, Forest Hills Cemetery, St. Michael’s Cemetery; easy access to MBTA Orange Line at Forest Hills, connecting buses and commuter rail, Route 203.

Contact: Fred Alibrandi, Otis & Ahearn Real Estate, 200 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116. Phones: 617-267-3500 (office) or 617-851-8050 (cell).

Website: www.otisahearn.com

An open house will be held at this property Sunday, Oct. 30, from noon to 1:30 p.m.