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.
Houses On High
There’s no getting around it – I love houses. Old houses, newer houses, houses large and small.
Working as a real estate allows me to indulge myself – though I have to guard my enthusiasms. It’s hard not to fall – and fall hard – when I see a fabulous house on tour. My budget keeps my home buying in check but there are fewer safeguards on my time.
It’s easy to get carried away online – spending precious time cruising through the listings on MLS. But every once in a while I indulge myself.
I call it the serendipity approach to MLS searching. When you need to pull up an MLS listing to make an appointment or answer a question an address search is typically the easiest way to find the entry.
But rather than type in “404 Elm Street” I type in just “Elm” and skim through the universe of listings on streets with “Elm” in the name.
Elm in fact would be a good one to search. So are street names like Main, North, Adams, West – any street’s that likely to have been around for a long time and have lots of old and interesting houses.
Yesterday I hit the motherlode when I searched the MLS for “High”. The search results maxed out – over 500 properties were listed for sale on High Street, Ave, etc or some variation of High such as Highland, Highfield or Highway.
And there were some glorious houses in the bunch. One after another fantasy-inducing house came up in the results. Too many to go through in one sitting.
Here are two of the most wonderful.
The first is a splendid turreted Queen Anne Victorian in Spencer. It’s really a compound with a large turreted carriage house and another small cottage. Check out the architectural details in the photos. All this on two acres for $799,000.
The second property is one of the most amazing houses I’ve come across on MLS. It’s a Japanese styled house in Fall River at 657 Highland Avenue. It was designed by noted architect Ralph Adams Cram in 1897 for Unitarian minister Reverend Arthur Knapp.
Buildings designed by Cram and his firm in Cambridge include houses at 128 Brattle Street and 26 Elmwood. Cram designed many churches including the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and at least two in Cambridge: the Unitarian church in Harvard Square and the Society of St. John the Evangelist on Memorial Drive.
The extraordinary house in Fall River with its pagoda roof is on the National Register of Historic Places. Known as “Rising Sun” 657 Highland Ave is listed for just $299,888 – under $300k and magnificent!
You gott see these Houses on High – click on the small image for lots more photographs.
Is This Your Wallet?
Is This Your Wallet?
This afternoon I got a call while at the office.
“I found your wallet on Appleton Street. I’m going to come by and drop it off.”
That took me aback. Today was our weekly Coldwell Banker tour of new listings. The tour had fifteen properties and we had driven all over Cambridge and Somerville. Though I hadn’t noticed it missing it seemed perfectly plausible that I had dropped my wallet along the way.
But no – when I looked in my bag there was my wallet. Since so much is jammed in my pocketbook – bag of keys, Flip video camera, digital camera, checkbooks, etc – I thought that maybe something else had fallen out.
When the good samaritan arrived at our office with this wallet I realized it wasn’t mine.
The wallet has been almost completely emptied. You have to wonder if someone snatched it and ditched it after removing the contents. The only remaining item was one of my business cards. Perhaps the thief wasn’t in the market for real estate?
It seems likely that the wallet owner and I have met. Call me if it’s yours.
The Railroad In Somerville
Somerville Railroads Lecture
Historic Somerville is sponsoring a lecture on Wednesday, March 3, 2011:
Transportation Gateway to New England: 175 Years of the Railroad in Somerville
John Roderick, Somerville resident and local train buff, will speak about the railroad in the Northeast with a focus on trains in Somerville.
Two of Roderick’s model trains will be on view.
The Railroad in Somerville lecture will take place Wednesday, March 3, 2011 from 7 to 9 pm.
The lecture will be held at the Somerville Museum, 1 Westwood Road, Somerville MA 02143. The museum is at the corner of Central Street and Westwood.
Admission is $5 for members, students and seniors. $8 for nonmembers
New Real Estate Listings
393 Broadway - 1st stop on our tour of new real estate listings
One of the most important things I do as a real estate agent is preview new listings. Cambridge real estate agents can tour new real estate listings up to four days per week between broker open houses and the weekly office tour for those offices that hold one.
Our Wednesday office tour is one of the most valuable things we can do in the course of the week. It’s to buyers and sellers’ benefit to work with an agent who has visited a large portion of the real estate sold in the city. As a buyer you want an early heads up about new listings that might work for you. As a seller you’ll get better advice from an agent who has actually been in the properties they’re comparing to yours when determining what your home is worth.
The Cambridge Coldwell Banker offices lists a large share of the properties sold in Cambridge so our office tours turn into marathons come spring as we tour new listings in Cambridge as well as Somerville, Arlington, Belmont, Medford and Watertown. By mid-spring we’re visiting more than twenty properties in a fast paced morning of visits to new listings set to come on for the weekend.
It was school vacation week in Massachusetts this week so our tour wasn’t as long as I expected. It was still a satisfying tour though with a great selection of new listings. Here’s a look at the new real estate listings we saw:
393 Broadway #7 Cambridge MA 02139 Set at the corner of Highland Ave, this has long been one of my favorite among the classic brick Cambridge condo buildings. This is a one bedroom condo listed for $329,000
19 Highland Ave Cambridge MA 02139 Just down the block we visited this beautiful townhouse condo. It’s a renovated Victorian and feels very much like a single family house. With four bedrooms and three baths it’s listed for $1,399,000.
398 Broadway #1A Somerville MA 02145 This is in one of three striking mansards set atop the hill at the corner of Broadway and Central Street. Renovated and restored in 2000, this three bedroom condo has very high ceilings, beautiful architectural detail and central air. Just listed for $429,000
223 Powder House Boulevard #2 Somerville MA This is a very cheery two-bedroom condo listed for $320,000
63 Waterhouse Street #1 Somerville MA 02144 A one-bedroom condo in the Woodstock in Teele Square listed for $249,000
14 Churchill Ave #2 Arlington MA 02476 We drove over to Jason Heights in Arlington to see this large five-bedroom condo priced at $579,000
1 Fitchburg Street #C403 Somerville MA 02143 This Brickbottom loft has Boston views and a stylish architect’s renovation. Newly listed for $389,900
If you’d like info about any of these listings give me a call at 617-504-1737. Check back next week for the latest new real estate listings.
In the meantime you can search the local real estate listings here:
SEARCH FOR ARLINGTON CONDOS FOR SALE
SEARCH FOR SOMERVILLE CONDOS FOR SALE
11 Homer Ave Cambridge – Come By On Sunday
First open house at 11 Homer Ave Cambridge
I’m holding the first open house at 11 Homer Ave in Cambridge MA tomorrow from 1:30 to 2:30. I hope you can stop by!
11 Homer Ave just came on the market for $419,000. It’s an unusual opportunity to buy a single family at this price point in the Cambridge MA 02138 zip code. It’s tough to get a two-bedroom condo with parking for much less than $400,000 so this house offers the chance to have your own home at a condo price – and to add value with renovations and updates.
The house has been well loved by one family for decades. I’ve always thought that houses have vibes and this is a happy house. The entry stairhall is gracious and the big windows let in lots of light. You’ll probably spend a lot of time in the large backyard once the snow melts.
New buyers will want to do updates but it would be possible – if you couldn’t afford to do it all at once – to live in the house and do upgrades over time as you can afford them.
The kitchen will likely be a favorite gathering spot. It’s good-sized with room for a big table, lots of cabinets, and plenty of counter space. There’s a dishwasher and a gas stove. Remove some wallpaper and paint the cabinets, maybe put on some new hardware – you could get more good years out of the kitchen before you did major renovations.
There’s a large bath on the first floor. Upstairs, the new owners may opt to turn one of the four bedrooms into a second bath.
The cellar has good ceiling height, great storage, a place for a workbench, laundry hookups, and a door to the backyard. There’s a brick and concrete block garage that will fit a compact car plus parking for another car in the driveway.
Mount Auburn Cemetery with its meandering landscaped paths, bird watching opportunities, and regular tours and lectures is across the street. Fresh Pond Reservation – a favorite destination for walkers, runners and dog owners – is down the block. In addition to the two mile path around the pond there’s also a golf course and playground. Want to vary your jogging route? – the Charles River isn’t far. A branch of the Cambridge Public Library is around the corner on Aberdeen Avenue.
The bus on Mount Auburn stops at Homer Ave – you’ll be in Harvard Square in minutes. In addition to the bus – it’s actually the electric track-less trolley – there’s easy access to commuting routes from 11 Homer Avenue. You can quickly get to Memorial Drive, Storrow Drive, and routes 2, 3, 93, 95, and 128.
11 Homer Avenue Cambridge MA 02138 will be open tomorrow, Sunday, February 20, 2011 from 1:30 to 2:30. If you can’t come by call Liz Bolton – that’s me! – at 617-504-1737 to schedule an appointment to see the house.
Green Line Extension to Route 16
It's the Red not the Green Line - but too beautiful a photo to resist
There’s a meeting this Wednesday to talk about the possibility of extending the Green Line to Route 16 / Mystic Valley Parkway.
This is the kickoff of a “community visioning process” to discuss the benefits and impacts of the potential Green Line extension to Route 16.
I’m a big proponent of bringing the Green Line to 16 – there’s a dense neighborhood that will be served by a station at Route 16 and it would be a huge loss to only bring the Green Line to Tufts. My fear from early on is that we’d end up with another T line built to serve a college, rather than a neighborhood, a la the Boston College line.
The Green Line extension will improve property values, make transportation so much easier for Hillside, East Arlington, Somerville and West Medford residents, and allow locals to consider going car free. It will improve quality of life for decades to come.
Just think… you’ll be able to hop on the T and head into Boston, take the T to the airport rather than a cab, invite friends and family over to visit even if they don’t drive, tell prospective tenants that “the house is two blocks from the T Station”, etc. $4 a gallon gas – heck, $6 or $8 a gallon for gas – no problem – commute on the T and rent a Zip Car when you want to drive.
The Community Visioning Kick-Off meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011 from 6 to 8 pm at the Brooks Elementary School, 388 High Street, Medford MA.
Jumbo Cash
Jumbo Cash In Medford
I was surprised to see this Jumbo Cash Accepted banner on the Tasty Gourmet on Boston Ave. I was psyched – I thought Medford had gotten its own alternative currency.
The alternative currency I had heard a lot about was Berkshares. Berkshares is a local currency for the Berkshire region in Western Massachusetts. It’s intended to encourage people to shop locally and works just like cash in over 400 establishments in the Berkshires. It’s a very interesting way to actually see how shopping locally keeps money in the community.
Turns out, however, that Jumbo Cash is simply the Tufts debit card. It’s sort of an expanded meal card. The Jumbo Cash card is now accepted at more than 20 local off-campus stores and restaurants.
Jumbo Cash – convenient but not world changing.
Porter Square Condos
Porter Square Cambridge - Bikes By The T
If you’re a Cambridge real estate buyer you’ll find a good variety of Porter Square condos to choose from. In fact, since Porter Square straddles the Cambridge – Somerville line, you’ll probably want to consider options on the Somerville side of the square as well.
Porter Square is a popular neighborhood in large part because of the Red Line T station here. You’re just one stop from Harvard Square on the subway and it’s a quick ride into Boston. The commuter rail that goes into North Station stops here and heads out to Belmont, Waltham, Concord and Acton in the other direction.
Davis Square is a ten minute walk and the fifteen minute walk to Harvard Square takes you down a stretch of Mass Ave that’s lined with fun shops, restaurants and pubs.
The Porter Square shopping center is a big draw. Here you’ll find a large Star Market (officially now called Shaw’s I guess but forever Star Market to me), an independent bookstore Porter Square Books, a package store, Tag’s hardware and housewares store, Cambridge Naturals, a toy store and more.
What sort of condos can you find in Porter Square? Many Porter Square condos are in converted two and three family houses. There are townhouses nearby on Russell Street, artists’s studios on Porter Road, high end loft style buldings close by, and a number of larger buildings built over the years on Mass Ave and on some of the side streets in the neighborhood.
Porter Square condos for sale in Cambridge will appear below. Click on the small photo for additional info and more photographs. Want some help finding a condo to buy in Cambridge or Somerville? Give Liz Bolton a call at 617-504-1737 or send her an email.
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