Centers And Squares
Welcome to Centers and Squares
As a Cambridge real estate agent, the city squares of Cambridge, Somerville and Medford and the town centers of Arlington, Watertown and Belmont, Massachusetts are my home turf. And as a lifelong New Englander who’s lived within twenty miles of Boston most of my life, I can introduce you to other nearby towns as we search for your new home. If you’re planning to sell your home in Cambridge, MA or nearby you’ll find plenty of info about the home selling process here too. Questions? Send me an email or call me at 617-504-1737.
Cambridge Neighborhoods – Strawberry Hill
History of Strawberry Hill in Cambridge
The Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts is in the western corner of Cambridge where Cambridge, Belmont and Watertown meet. Town boundary lines were more fluid in the past than many realize – Strawberry Hill was first part of Watertown, then made a part of the newly incorporated town of Belmont in 1859 and eventually annexed to Cambridge in 1880.
Strawberry Hill is situated between two of Cambridge’s loveliest spots – Fresh Pond Reservoir to the north and the historic Mount Auburn cemetery on the southern border. The wide tree-lined boulevard, Aberdeen Avenue, at the edge of the neighborhood, connects these two landmarks. Aberdeen, lined with two families, is unusually wide because trolley tracks originally ran down its now grassy center.
While much of Strawberry Hill was divided into lots in the mid-1800s, economic downswings slowed development and many of the neighborhood’s houses were not built until the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of the houses have generously sized lots and grape arbors, expansive gardens and even chickens can be found in the neighborhood. Between the main roads that flank the neighborhood – Huron Avenue, Mount Auburn and Belmont Streets – a number of the side streets are one-way which cuts down on traffic.
Strawberry Hill Resources
Neighborhood conveniences include the large grocery store, Star Market, and the Cambridge Public Library Collins Library branch. Fresh Pond Reservation has a public golf course, playground, and a 2.25 mile path around the pond. The Haggerty School for grades K to 6 is on Cushing Street. Trolleys and buses run on the main routes making the neighborhood very accessible by public transportation even though it is about 1.75 miles to the T at Alewife or two miles to the Harvard Square T stop. Two trolleys serve the neighborhood – the 71 and the 72, and two buses – the the 73 and the 75.
Real Estate In Strawberry Hill
Like other neighborhoods in Cambridge, MA, real estate options for buyers in Strawberry Hill include condos, single family homes and multi-unit properties, primarily two-families with a few three-families in the mix.
Condominiums in Strawberry Hill include inexpensive one- and two-bedrooms in converted brick apartment buildings on Homer Avenue, loft style units in a converted industrial building on Aberdeen Way, and renovated units in multi-families. Newer townhouse style condominiums are scattered throughout the neighborhood in small associations and the larger development at Fresh Pond Place on Huron Avenue. Sales prices for Strawberry Hill condos in the last few years have ranged from $190,000 for a one-bedroom on Homer Ave in 2008 to $705,000 paid in 2005 for a three-bedroom condo on Huron Avenue with views of Fresh Pond.
Only a handful of single families have sold in Strawberry Hill in the last few years and those that did sold for prices ranging from the mid-$400,000s to $600,000.
Multi-family sales in Strawberry Hill since 2005 have ranged from a three-family in need of major renovation that sold for $360,000 in 2007 to an unrenovated triple-decker with a single family house on one parcel that also sold in 2007 for $1,175,000.
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