South Boston Victorian home overlooks Thomas Park
On Evacuation Day, Bostonians celebrate Washington’s first victory, back in 1776.
The British retreated from Boston Harbor, encouraged to do so by four Fort Ticonderoga cannons the colonial troops pulled up to Dorchester Heights.
Today, a monument stands at the top of that hill, commemorating the event.
And right across the street, on South Boston’s historic Thomas Park, an impeccably restored Victorian single-family row house stands, ready for a new owner.
Built 98 years after Washington’s victory and restored as a labor of love during the past 10 years, 18 Thomas Park is an absolute jewel of a home. Melinda Sarkis of Hammond Residential Real Estate is listing the property for $799,000.
“There is nothing that needs to be done to this house,” Sarkis proclaims.
The exterior is charming, painted in numerous colors to show off its Victorian details.
The entry doors are solid wood, with cut glass filtering the light.
Enter the house and admire the foyer’s unusual coat rack, made out of pulls from a 1901 pump organ the current owners found in the home.
The living room is exquisite with its high ceiling, crown molding, marble mantelpiece and parquet floor.
Straight ahead is a staircase with its original mahogany banister and carved spindles. “The spindles get more elaborate as you go up,” Sarkis notes, but exploring that will have to wait a moment, as you acquaint yourself with the home’s first floor.
To the right, a double parlor is replete with architectural detail and decorated in a comfortable contemporary style that respects the history of the place.
The current homeowners embraced the idea of modern amenities in an historic home.
They worked with interior designers Kara Butterfield and Lindsay Bentis, who had the know-how to integrate the old with the new.
Chimera light fixtures fit in perfectly, but so do the many original, restored ceiling lights throughout.
The kitchen is new. Stainless steel appliances, Carrara marble counters and a butcher block center island provide everything a chef could want.
A visitor can’t help but admire the high ceilings and restored moldings. Light pouring in through extra large bow windows illuminates the polished, inlaid parquet floors.
The fireplace mantels are carved marble; heat registers are hidden inside. The doorknobs shine; they’re made of mercury glass.
The front parlor is a contemporary living room with period detail; the back parlor, with its big sectional sofa, currently makes a fabulous family room.
New owners could easily turn the space into a dining room, since there is a butler’s pantry adjacent that would make serving meals a snap.
The long, spacious pantry has new life as a wet bar, featuring butcher block countertops, a bar sink and a wine cooler.
The downstairs dining room boasts original wainscoting and a reconstructed storage cabinet assembled from pieces found in the home.
Furniture Design Services created the cabinets, some with glass fronts, which continue all the way up to the ceiling.
Even with all these modern conveniences, the room looks like it has been this way forever, because the cabinetry is the same deep color as the rest of the wood in the house, and the moldings have been carefully recreated.
Downstairs on the garden level is a brand new kitchen. A sky blue accent wall seems to disappear, making the kitchen feel like part of the back garden, which is planted with perennials and sports a small lawn and a Trex deck.
This kitchen, completed last year, has everything you need to prepare a family dinner or a fancy repast for company.
Designed with open shelving and contemporary white-painted cabinets, its appliances include a deep stainless Franke sink, KitchenAid dishwasher, with gas for cooking on the GE Profile stove, a sculptural GE Monogram range hood and a Frigidaire Gallery refrigerator freezer.
The counters are Carrara marble; the center island is topped with butcher block.
The master bedroom features a marble mantelpiece, decorative crown molding, period lighting and a parquet floor.
In the cooking/cleanup area, handmade subway tiles from Ann Sacks cover the walls. The floor is gorgeous – dark, polished ash.
“It’s great for entertaining,” says Sarkis. “You set up the buffet on the island and go out to the garden.”
Next to the kitchen, a downstairs dining room has its original wainscoting and an original light fixture. A bow window has been fitted with shutters for privacy.
The homeowners found a paneled storage cabinet in pieces upstairs and painstakingly reconstructed it in its original location on the wall of this room. Now, it’s a handsome built-in, exactly right for the space.
This level has a tiny, exquisite powder room, with a rectangular space-saving sink and basketweave marble floor. The laundry room in the back hallway features a high efficiency Frigidaire washer and gas dryer. A storage closet is nestled under the stairs.
There are two bedroom levels upstairs served by a restored marble bathroom on each of the floors.
Each bath features a clawfoot tub with a view of the city skyscrapers and the harbor.
Two of the bedrooms have working marble sinks and marble mantels. From the master bedroom in the front of the house, you can see all the way to the Blue Hills.
“Can you imagine waking up in the morning to this?” Sarkis asks. The cozy office, lined with bookshelves, also has an enviable view, with the park and the monument front and center.
Peabody and Stearns designed the white marble Dorchester Heights Monument at Thomas Park.
As you descend the stairway on a steamy summer day, you might wonder why the house keeps so cool, since you don’t see or hear an air conditioner. Perched on the top of the house is a cupola, surrounded by windows displaying 360-degree views.
“When you open up those windows, the whole house gets a vortex of air,” Sarkis says.
DETAILS
Address: 18 Thomas Park, South Boston
BR/BA: Four-plus bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths
Size: 2,764 square feet
Age: 1874, 2001-2009
Price: $799,000
Taxes: $5,407 (FY 2010 with residential exemption)
Features of home: Lovingly restored Victorian row house facing South Boston’s historic Thomas Park; original architectural details, marble and stainless steel kitchen, high ceilings, hardwood floors, marble fireplaces, large windows revealing city and ocean views, private backyard garden, laundry room, new rubber roof, four zones of gas heat.
Close by: Shops and restaurants near Broadway, historic Dorchester Heights monument, Carson Beach, JFK Library and Museum, UMass/Boston harbor campus; easy access to MBTA Broadway station on the Red Line, Route 93 and the Mass. Turnpike.
Contact: Melinda Sarkis, Hammond Residential Real Estate, 10 Berkeley St. Atelier | 505, Boston, MA 02116. Phones: 617-587-4600 (office) or 617-587-4609 (direct) or 617-943-8333 (cell).
Website: www.hammondre.com
This property may be seen by appointment.
