Photos by Lara Kimmerer. Click to enlarge and watch as a slide show.
-
- Front
-
- Back
-
- Family Room
-
- Studio/Office
-
- Kitchen
-
- Master
-
- Dining
-
- Bedroom
-
- This Old House 2003
-
- Front
-
- Studio/Office
-
- Master
-
- Family Room
-
- Kitchen
-
- Dining
-
- Bedroom
-
- Back
-
- This Old House 2003
Architect Mark Connor spent 12 years renovating this erstwhile bungalow into a fun, bright, happy space for his own family. Featured in This Old House magazine in 2003, the size was almost tripled, though Connor successfully managed to blend the modern with the traditional, keeping the house consistent in outward appearance with its neighbors, while opening up the floor plan with volume and light. Noting in the magazine article that his building crew consisted of his brother and his 75-year-old father, the house was truly a family labor of love. “Once I drew the plans,” said Connor, “my father had to figure out how to make them work. I remember him shaking his head and grumbling ‘Can’t you just draw a straight line?'”
While there is plenty of rectilinear angles, there are also plenty of pleasant surprises once a visitor steps in off the traditional front porch. A stained-glass window adds a churchly light in the cathedral-ceilinged living room, which is open to the dining room beside it and a catwalk library above. A master suite has an office loft above a fireplace. A tower in the rear of the house contains an artist studio/office, with lots of light. A second stairway leads back down to where most people will likely want to spend the bulk of their time, in the family room, open to the modern kitchen. A curved wall of windows overlooks the deck and lush back yard and there is another fireplace and some of the many built-in custom cabinets. There is a finished walk-out lower level with hardwood floors, and a one-car garage.
Some specs:
- Three bedrooms and the studio, which could be a fourth
- Two full baths, including an en suite master
- 2356 s.f. of living area
- 6500 s.f. corner lot
- One-car garage
- Gas-fired hot water baseboard heat, three zones
- Gas range
- Three mini-split central air conditioning units
216 Oakland Avenue. Offered at $749,000. Available for showing starting Friday, July 11, with open houses on Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th. Please use CONTACT button to request a private showing.
