Sold In Belmont: Long(meadow) and Hard Fall For a Cape on the Hill

February 15, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: It would take more than 600 days and a drop in price by $400,000 to sell this Cape on the Hill.

A recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes”:

95 Longmeadow Rd., Extended Cape (1960). Sold: $1,286,000.

438 Trapelo Rd., Unit 2, Two family (1917). Sold: $520,000.

• 95 Longmeadow Rd., Extended Cape (1960). Sold: $1,286,000. Listed at $1,699,900. Living area: 4,546 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 634 days.

• 438 Trapelo Rd., Unit 2, Two family (1917). Sold: $520,000. Listed at $519,000. Living area: 1,341 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 38 days.

You may not know this but Mother Nature has a sibling: Auntie Marketplace, and you shouldn’t fool with either one.

Whether it was hubris, a miscalculation or wishful thinking, the long-time (30 years plus) owners of the very-well preserved built-out Cape on Longmeadow sought to cash in on their house by cashing out. Considering the location – one of the cozy backstreets on “the Hill” – the seller and sales associate shot for the moon in May 2014 and put out an asking price of approximately $1.7 million.

But there appear to have been two major impediments to the price tag placed on the rather roomy (4,500 square feet) abode. First was Auntie Marketplace; even in the heady environs of Belmont housing, attempting to sell a house for m0re than 30 percent greater than the assessed value ($1.2 million) takes a lot of chutzpah.

In addition, while the house is rated above average (a B+ by town assessors) and it has many nice features, the interior architecture is unlike your typical Cape. You enter the front door and suddenly you’ve been transported into a ranch with low-slung ceilings and wide front windows. The living room is quite large – the house only has seven rooms – so you’ll need that oil truck (yes, oil heat) making a delievery every few weeks. While the basement is finished, it’s like a bowling alley at 100 feet by 16 feet.

And there is a period interior design element that is an eye opener and not the good kind: wood paneling. And lots of it in the kitchen, basement and den. I understand in the 1960 paneling was all the rage as manufacturing innovations made it affordable, it was a homeowner’s dream as it did away with having to paint or wallpaper walls and was a wiz to clean. But today, paneling just screams “outdated!” It’s like you’re on the set of “Boogie Nights.”

The need for a good interior renovation – new carpeting, wallpaper, paint – will keep the new owners busy and their wallets open for at least the first year. Sort of hard to ask for a premium price when the buyer is going to shell out to bring the place into the 2000s.

So it was no surprise that the fall from the original list price was steadily downward towards its assessed value:

May 19, 2014: $1,699,900
June 23, 2014: $1,649,900
June 30, 2014: $1,599,900
By July 12, the owners decided to pull it off the market until the coming spring.
Feb. 26, 2015: $1,439,000
June 25, 2015: $1,399,000
July 3, 2015: $1,349,000
By August, the sellers again decided to once again take it off the market.
It came back on Dec. 11, 2015, at $1,299,000.

Finally, the 600-plus day long sales march was over on Feb. 12 and it sold for $1,286,000.

And what is the 2016 assessed value of the property? $1,250,000. In the long run, Auntie Marketplace is almost always right.

Sold in Belmont: Hall of Famer Accounts for Biggest Sale for a Year

January 31, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker 4 Comments

Photo: Drone shot! 107 Marsh St. from 100 feet.

A recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes”:

64 Summit Rd. #1, Condo townhouse (2005). Sold: $1,425,000.

107 Marsh St., Mansion (2015). Sold: $3,250,000.

• 64 Summit Rd. #1, Condo townhouse (2005). Sold: $1,425,000. Listed at $1,495,000. Living area: 3,453 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 5 baths. On the market: 156 days.

• 107 Marsh St., Mansion (2015). Sold: $3,250,000. Listed at $3,650,000. Living area: 7,500 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 6 baths. On the market: 125 days.

As the average house sold in Belmont in the first month of 2016 has reached $999,999 (!), this past week saw the priciest homes in their category; a townhouse in the Woodlands across the road from Lone Tree Hill Conservation land that came in at a tad under one-and-a-half million dollars (it was sold new in 2005 for $1.3 so it was a wash for the original owners who have decamped to Florida) and that new Marsh Street mansion.

Where once stood a single-story, 2,500 sq.-ft. ranch now stands a gargantuan Colonial-inspired mansion on 2/3 acre of land. I can only guess the seller includes roller skates to the buyers so they can get around the place! Let’s say the “Tiny House” trend has not come to Belmont Hill. And you know its prominence in the home sales hierarchy as the promotional package includes a photo from a drone.

And I’ll let the broker describe the manse on Marsh:

This brand new grand estate is a stunning departure from the ordinary! Follow the winding streets and mature trees of Belmont Hill to a circular drive that paves the way to this authentic colonial. A gracious fireplace living room and formal dining room enhanced by spectacular millwork. The library/office has built in book shelves. The real joy of owning this home is the dramatic great room [Great Room?] and kitchen that open and extend onto a deck. Entertain in style in the great room with massive stone fireplace, bookcases and windows overlooking a scenic setting. Step out and off the deck to a patio with built[-]in outdoor grill. The 2nd [second] floor has a sun drenched family room with soaring ceilings. The master suite provides a soothing oasis of special conveniences including gas fireplace & [and] two walk-in closets. The master bath has double vanities and acoustic tub. The architecture detail found in older homes is epitomized in this upscale new home design in a stately neighborhood. CHALLENGES COMPARISON!

In brief, it’s big and faces south. It’s so “stunning” it no longer has a living room but a “dramatic great room,” – right out of the pages of Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall”! (Well, maybe not THAT grand but it does have offsetting entry columns.) The master suite’s bathroom required a five-fixture connection, likely for the separate milk and wine faucets. All said, it’s actually aesthetically pleasing as it pushes out to the back although it does have dormers that looked thrown onto the roofline.

The Great Hall with heating grate.

And while royalty or Thomas Cromwell (probably) weren’t the buyers, it took one princely sum to be its owner: three and a quarter million dollars. That closing cost makes it the most expensive house sold in the “Town of Homes” for some time, slightly more than the house on Wellesley Road that sold for $3,092,500 in December or the Polaris House on Somerset that could only muster $2.3 million.

And there is an interesting back story to 107 Marsh. In 2002, the property was sold for $851,500 to a professor at a local business school who would soon be inducted into the Northeast Region of the American Accounting Association Hall of Fame. (The AAA – which is celebrating its centennial – is here to “promote worldwide excellence in accounting education, research and practice.”) If you do internal auditing, you’ve read this gentleman’s books.

According to records, the professors trust sold the property in June 2014 for $1.3 million to Keystone Luxury Estates LLC in Watertown. Soon after, the old ranch was blown up and the firm put down $685,000 to a well-known contractor to build the new grand house on the Marsh.

Looking a bit into Keystone, the only known asset of the company was the property and land at 107 Marsh. And who happens to be the manager and agent of the LLC that registered with the state two weeks before the sale? The professor who sold the house. So he sold the house to himself, used the proceeds – at incredibly low interest rate – to pay the contractor/architect and then dispose it for a cool million dollar profit.

And THAT’S why he’s in the Accounting Hall of Fame.

Sold in Belmont: What Would $785K Get You in Oregon? Nicer, Bigger, Better

January 23, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont (left) and Lake Oswego. No contest.

A recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes”:

• 48 Middlecot St., Brick and shingle ranch (1953). Sold: $785,000. Listed at $749,000. Living area: 1,423 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 52 days.

The one residential sale last week in Belmont is a fairly standard post-war ranch-style single family. The house on Middlecot Street in the heart of Winn Brook, that sold about $100,000 over its assessed value, has a treadbare feel to it – just look at the wear patches on the kitchen flooring and door frame. In addition, there’s a thrown together vibe through out the interior, from the hidious 1970s paneling in the basement to the mismatching bathroom detail.

So, is the best $785,000 can get you? Or better yet, what can you get in communities that resemble our “Town of Homes”? It didn’t take long to find one; a 45 hour, 3,088 mile road trip due west.

Lake Oswego, Oregan is an upscale suburb of Portland (Portlandia!) known for its residential character. It has an outstanding school district that attracts aging hipsters who decide they would rather invest in a pricy home then stay in their artsy Portland loft and spend a fortune on private school fees. Its impressive downtown (it’s a harbor!) and shops supports a population of 36,000 with a per capita income of $53,000, compared to Belmont’s $57,000.

So here it is: for $758,000 this remodeled Craftsman Bungalow could have been yours. It’s so pretty, a late example from 1930 that was lovingly restored and renovated. The fireplace’s decreative surround, wood floors and the traditional four-over-one windows are all nice touches. Along with a landscaped yard, you get 1,000 additional square feet, two full bathrooms and nice-sized bedrooms.

Just for comparison, the Craftsman basement is thought out in color scheme and arrangement while the Belmont cellar is just creepy.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Sold in Belmont: Colonial Takes a Tumble, Ranch By The Rails A Steal

January 15, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Watch out below! Horace Road house listing falls.

4 Goden St., Multifamily (1915). Sold: $886,000.

219 Channing Rd., Brick-front Ranch (1959). Sold: $640,000

42 Horace Rd., Colonial (1917). Sold: $815,000.

A recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes”:

• 4 Goden St., Multifamily (1915). Sold: $886,000. Listed at $895,000. Living area: 2,715 sq.-ft. 12 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 114 days.

• 219 Channing Rd., Brick-front Ranch (1959). Sold: $640,000. Listed at $675,000. Living area: 1,432 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 94 days.

• 42 Horace Rd., Colonial (1917). Sold: $815,000. Listed at $945,000. Living area: 1,938 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 148 days.

The Colonial on Horace Road would appear to be priced at nearly $950,000 to squeeze ever penny out of the 99-year-old house. And why not, with “average” homes in the Winn Brook neighborhood and close to the High School on the south side of Concord Avenue selling for just north of $1 million, here was an attempt by the buyer to reap the benefits of a hot market. With an ample number of bedrooms, close to the Wellington, Chenery and High School, and with some lovely interior features – wooden floors, a corner china cabinet and double French doors – this structure looked like a sure deal for the seller.

But for this modest home near to Common Street, the market for “average” was cooling. Rather than riding the fall sales period ever higher, this house took a tumble, falling nearly $150,000 in value from the opening list price to final sale:

Aug. 21, 2015: $945,000 (Original list)
Oct. 7: $899,000
Nov. 5: $875,000
Jan. 8, 2016: $815,000

Not so the brick ranch on Channing, which some lucky person got for a song. OK, it borders the commuter rail tracks but what the buyer is getting is a well-maintained, cosy house with a landscaped backyard. And just think what it will be once the new community path is constructed adjacent to the property line (wink, wink).

Sold in Belmont: First Homes of 2016; Two Family and A Colonial

January 9, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: The first house sold in Belmont this new year: a multifamily on Trapelo Road.

35 Audrey Rd. Colonial (1950). Sold: $835,000.

5-7 Trapelo Rd., Barrack-style multifamily (1949). Sold: $850,000.

A recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes”:

• 5-7 Trapelo Rd., Barrack-style multifamily (1949). Sold: $850,000. Listed at $785,000. Living area: 3,236 sq.-ft. 12 rooms, 6 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 91 days.

• 35 Audrey Rd. Colonial (1950). Sold: $835,000. Listed at $899,900. Living area: 2,359 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 164 days.

How appropriate the first two homes sold in Belmont in 2016 included the most popular style, a Colonial, and a multifamily, that represents nearly 40 percent of the town’s housing stock. In addition, both sold for just under the median assessed value for residential housing in 2015.

Sold In Belmont: A Tiny House, a Place to the Manor Born and Mad Prices at McLean

December 31, 2015 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: A “tiny house” on Westlund.

9 Westlund Rd., Ranch (1950). Sold: $615,000.

73 Dartmouth St. Multifamily (1900). Sold: $730,000.

69-71 Carleton Rd., Multifamily (1927). Sold: $899,000.

137 Claflin St. Center-entry Colonial (1934). Sold: $805,000.

93-95 Bartlett Ave. Multifamily (1928). Sold: $708,000.

204-206 Waverley St. #3, Condominium (1906). Sold: $399,900.

52 Summit Rd. #7, Townhouse condominium (2005). Sold: $1,300,000.

22 Wellesley Rd. Brick Manor House with a turret (1929). Sold: $3,092,500.

20 South Cottage Rd. #102, A unit within a renovated Georgian Colonial brick building (2015/1893). Sold: $1,495,000.

20 South Cottage Rd. #101, A unit within a renovated Georgian Colonial brick building (2015/1893). Sold: $1,450,000.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes”:

• 9 Westlund Rd., Ranch (1950). Sold: $615,000. Listed at $629,000. Living area: 864 sq.-ft. 4 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 91 days.

• 73 Dartmouth St. Multifamily (1900). Sold: $730,000. Listed at $725,000. Living area: 2,016 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 71 days.

• 69-71 Carleton Rd., Multifamily (1927). Sold: $899,000. Listed at $915,000. Living area: 2,640 sq.-ft. 12 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 107 days.

• 137 Claflin St. Center-entry Colonial (1934). Sold: $805,000. Listed at $778,000. Living area: 1,686 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 57 days.

• 93-95 Bartlett Ave. Multifamily (1928). Sold: $708,000. Listed at $719,000. Living area: 2,200 sq.-ft. 11 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 127 days

• 204-206 Waverley St. #3, Condominium (1906). Sold: $399,900. Listed at $399,900. Living area: 1,044 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 79 days.

• 52 Summit Rd. #7, Townhouse condominium (2005). Sold: $1,300,000. Listed at $1,450,000. Living area: 3,240 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 1 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 113 days.

• 22 Wellesley Rd. Brick Manor House with turret (1929). Sold: $3,092,500. Listed at $3,200,000. Living area: 4,905 sq.-ft. 11 rooms, 5 bedrooms, r.5 baths. On the market: 57 days.

• 20 South Cottage Rd. #102, A unit within a renovated Georgian Colonial brick building (2015/1893). Sold: $1,495,000. Listed at $1,495,000. Living area: 2,825 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 481 days.

• 20 South Cottage Rd. #101, A unit within a renovated Georgian Colonial brick building (2015/1893). Sold: $1,450,000. Listed at $1,450,000. Living area: 2,680 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 525 days.

It was once known as Upham Memorial Hall, the building at McLean Hospital that served for 80 years as the upscale home for a select number of wealthy residents who were stark, raving mad. And a half century ago, Upham was the involuntary home of the great blues and pop performer Ray Charles, who beat a heroin possession charge by agreeing to a judge’s order to spend some time in the care of the hospital for “observation and tests.”

As for this week, the building enters its second life as the upscale home for a select number of wealthy residents who are willing to pay stark, raving mad prices to live next to other rich folks. (It’s so exclusive, developer Northland Development won’t distribute photos of the interior. “If you have to ask …”) Maybe it’s just me, but when I spend $1.5 million, I want something more private than a 2,600 sq.-ft. “apartment” that shares a floor with other “tenants.” How annoying it must be being interrupted while watching “Keeping up with the Kardashians” by some burdensome neighbor knocking on the door asking if they can borrow some Grey Poupon for their Poulet aigu de Tarragon. Oh, dear!

(I like this English version of the Grey Poupon commercial with the great English actors Paul Eddington and Ian Richardson.)

Top billing in terms of “wow” factor goes to the brick manor house on Wellesley Road, which was the long-time home of the Palandjian family, bought in 1969 by the father Petros and now owned by a trust for the kids. Although the exterior and elegant European/English landscape is more impressive than the relatively standard interior (What? No cathedral ceiling? Hrumph!)

Here’s a bit of trivia: Peter Palandjian is the last Belmont resident to play on the ATP Tour, ranking 280th in singles in 1989, reaching the quarterfinals in Johannesburg and Telford.

As for the house hidden on a back road on the Hill, its value has taken off. Appraised by the town at $651,000 just 20 years ago, it was assessed at $1.9 million in 2015. That’s a nice little $1 million bubble “profit” for the family homestead. Well, it does have a sauna in the basement, and the master bath has a fireplace, just like those in medieval castles.

My favorite house is the itsy-bitsy ranch on Westlund, a stone throw away from the Winn Brook. At less than 900 square feet, it’s smaller than most condominiums on the market. It almost qualifies for a “Tiny House,” which run from 100 to 400 square feet. While the exterior needs work, the interior is rather nice. The wood floors and walls are in great shape, the kitchen is a good size, and you get a living room/dining room that supplies all you need.

The only issue facing this great starter house is who bought it. Hopefully, it is a growing family who can gain some equity from the purchase. But the marketing pitch had an ominous final sentence: “Ideal for first-time buyers who can move right in and expand the house later or developers.”

With the town’s Planning Board still months away from formulating new bylaws on bulk and height limits for new construction, this little gem could be lost to an oversized faux Colonial with no style or soul.

Sold In Belmont: A Million Dollar Flip That Fizzled on Highland

December 20, 2015 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: 6 Highland Rd. sold for nearly a quarter of million dollars profit in 2014, not so in 2015.

6 Highland Rd., Classic Colonial (1941). Sold: $1,300,000.

8 Oakley Rd. #2, Condominium townhouse (2011). Sold: $860,000.

60 Newcastle Rd. Side-entry Colonial, (1947). Sold: $800,000.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes”:

• 6 Highland Rd., Classic Colonial (1941). Sold: $1,300,000. Listed at $1,250,000. Living area: 2,237 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 65 days.

• 8 Oakley Rd. #2, Condominium townhouse (2011). Sold: $860,000. Listed at $899,000. Living area: 3,175 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 58 days.

• 60 Newcastle Rd. Side-entry Colonial (1947). Sold: $800,000. Listed at $775,000. Living area: 1,593 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 51 days.

Selling a house for nearly half-a-million dollars greater than the appraised value for a fairly standard Colonial, you’d be, as Donald Trump/Charlie Sheen would put it, “a winner.”

Dante Muzzioli was a Hall of Fame hockey coach for five decades with Belmont High School. And he proves to be a solid real estate developer. Back in November 2013, Muzzioli purchased the rundown prewar house on Highland Road for $890,000, a nice premium over the assessed value of $718,000.

Within days, Muzzioli got to work putting in $97,000 of renovations and improvements – strip and reroof, install a three-ton AC system in the attic to service both floors, and $60,000 in bath and kitchen renovations – then place it on the market. By August of 2014, the once-threadbare house sold for $1,250,000 (he had originally listed the house at $1,395,000! but that price was just crazy), a more than quarter of a million dollar profit. Try getting that margin playing with equities.

But the most recent sale did not turn out as lucrative for the new owners. A mere 14 months after purchasing the house, the new owner placed the Colonial on the market for the original sales price. If this was purposely low-balling a house to spark a bidding war, it wasn’t that successful. Not to say $50,000 isn’t hay feed, it doesn’t come close to the last jump in sales price.

In the end, the neighborhood has a new comparable sale ($1.3 million) that is way out of whack from the 2015 market value the town has placed on the value of the land and building of $872,000. What better definition of a bubble is there?

Sold in Belmont: All I Want for Christmas is a Million-Dollar House

December 13, 2015 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: 14 Watson Rd. sold for nearly a quarter of million dollars over its assessed value.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes:

206 School St., Single family (1925). Sold: $1,098,000.

140 Watson Rd., Brick Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,020,000.

31 Amherst Rd., Two-level ranch (1954). Sold: $1,025,000.

200 Rutledge Rd., Garrison Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,580,000.

4 Waterhouse Rd., Center-entrance Colonial (1938). Sold: $685,750.

29 Cowdin St., Colonial (1940). Sold: $724,000.

18 Lodge Rd., English Tudor Colonial (1935). Sold: $710,000.

• 140 Watson Rd., Brick Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,020,000. Listed at $1,050,000,. Living area: 2,277 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 57 days.

• 31 Amherst Rd., Two-level ranch (1954). Sold: $1,025,000. Listed at $1,125,000. Living area: 2,347 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 117 days.

• 18 Lodge Rd., English Tudor Colonial (1935). Sold: $710,000. Listed at $755,000. Living area: 1,783 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 93 days.

• 4 Waterhouse Rd., Center-entrance Colonial (1938). Sold: $685,750. Listed at $850,000. Living area: 1,742 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 79 days.

• 29 Cowdin St., Colonial (1940). Sold: $724,000. Listed at $749,000. Living area: 1,708 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 93 days.

• 206 School St., Single family (1925). Sold: $1,098,000. Listed at $1,098,000. Living area: 2,805 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 86 days.

• 200 Rutledge Rd., Garrison Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,580,000. Listed at $1,795,000,. Living area: 3,608 sq.-ft. 13 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 93 days.

A million dollar house on Rutledge? Of course! How about in the shadow of the Temple on Amherst Road? You bet. Even along School Street, where the production of “This Old House” came to visit, makes sense to see a price tag for a cool million.

But Watson Road? The road off of Washington below the Presidential neighborhood is typical of many Belmont side-streets, one of homes built in the same style as their neighbors; sturdy but far from fancy.

And 140 Watson is just that: the town rates it as a B grade house – heated by oil with an unfinished attic – with its last significant renovation was the installation of replacement windows a decade ago.

The town’s assessors did bump up its assessed value in the past year, to a whopping $784,000.

Somehow, this “average” house oversold its assessed value by nearly a quarter of a million dollars! Maybe the buyers misheard an important fact: it’s heating is oil not that there is oil in the basement, a la “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

The fact that an average house could sell for a fat premium should give people pause, during which time they can recall the last few housing financial “bubbles” and their impact on the community and town finances.

Sold in Belmont: The Roof on the Exploding Colonial, No-So-High French Country

November 30, 2015 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: 25 Greensbrook Way.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes:

15 Temple St., Colonial (1928). Sold: $1,060,000.

47 Homer Rd., Colonial (1940). Sold: $917,500.

10 Marlboro St., Unit 1., Condominium (2006). Sold: $420,000.

93 Country Club Lane, French Country-style (1938). Sold: $894,000.

138 Dean St., Brick Ranch (1957). Sold: $765,00.

25 Greensbrook Way, Great exploding Colonial (2008). Sold: $2,010,000.

• 15 Temple St., Colonial (1928). Sold: $1,060,000. Listed at $1,150,000,. Living area: 2,426 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2 full, 2 half baths. On the market: 68 days.

• 10 Marlboro St., Unit 1., Condominium (2006). Sold: $420,000. Listed at $449,000. Living area: 1,140 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. On the market: 74 days.

• 47 Homer Rd., Colonial (1940). Sold: $917,500. Listed at $885,000. Living area: 2,094 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 130 days.

• 93 Country Club Lane, French Country-style (1938). Sold: $894,000. Listed at $1,149,000 Living area: 2,225 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 65 days.

• 138 Dean St., Brick Ranch (1957). Sold: $765,00. Listed at $789,000. Living area: 1,353 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 61 days.

• 25 Greensbrook Way, Great exploding Colonial (2008). Sold: $2,010,000. Listed at $2,245,000. Living area: 5,663 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. On the market: 92 days.

The town calls the design of the pretty house on Country Club Lane a “French Country style” house, which, while popular in some part of the country, never really caught on here.

On closer inspection, the Belmont structure has few of the typical design elements associated with the French countryside; stonework and stone floors, wood beams, a large fireplace, small, panelled windows with heavy shutters and a mishmash of styles.

It was also overpriced, even by Belmont Hill standards. Nearing 80 years old without any significant improvements, a nearly $1.15 million price tag – or more than $500 per square foot (that’s new construction value) sent most people out the door. It’s little wonder the owners took a steep $200,000 reduction in the initial offer.

• • •

The builders of the structure on nearby Greensbrook Way decided they needed to build the equivalent of a second house on the sode of their massive exploding Colonial. Because who doesn’t have use for nearly 5,700 square feet of livable space! You literally need roller skates to effectively get around the place. The “main” section is all about space with a massive 19-foot ceiling height (If you need to ask how do you heat this barn, you can’t afford it!) and blown out walls to give almost freakish amount of openiness. And what wouldn’t a house be without a 1,000 sq. ft. master suite. The secondary section has bedrooms, au-pair suites, a media room and three vehicle garage.

Built and first sold in 2008, there is one thing somewhat particular about the house: it appears to have a hard ceiling on the final sales price. Both in 2008 and this year, the house sold for a deep discount of its list price, coming in at $2,010,000 (giving back $685,000 and $235,000 respectively) each time. You can understand the first sale being impacted by the financial crisis on 2008-9 but what kept the buyers holding onto their wallets is a question mark. Is the popularity of the “small(er)” house movement creeping upward impacting the supply of high-end buyers?

Sold in Belmont: Somerset Street’s Shooting Star Flares Out

November 21, 2015 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: The drone view of 240 Somerset.

240 Somerset St. Failed modern residence (2010). Sold: $2,300,000.

17 Hammond Rd. Side-entry Colonial (1925). Sold: $930,000.

97 Channing Rd. Side-entry Colonial (1935). Sold: $654,500.

39 Sharpe Rd. Split-level Ranch (1955). Sold: $800,000.

6 Stella Rd. Brick and shingle Tudor (1931). Sold: $1,000,000.

65 Bow Rd. Garrison Colonial (1932). Sold: $1,154,000.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 240 Somerset St. Failed modern residence (2010). Sold: $2,300,000. Listed at $3,450,000. Living area: 4,166 sq.-ft. 12 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. On the market: A year-and-a-half.

• 17 Hammond Rd. Side-entry Colonial (1925). Sold: $930,000. Listed at $999,000. Living area: 2,481 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 82 days.

• 97 Channing Rd. Side-entry Colonial (1935). Sold: $654,500. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 2,481 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 77 days.

• 6 Stella Rd. Brick and shingle Tudor (1931). Sold: $1,000,000. Listed at $1,095,000. Living area: 2,560 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 105 days.

• 39 Sharpe Rd. Split-level Ranch (1955). Sold: $800,000. Listed at $799,000. Living area: 1,485 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 77 days.

• 65 Bow Rd. Garrison Colonial (1932). Sold: $1,154,000. Listed at $1,125,000. Living area: 2,732 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 57 days.

Do you smell smoke on Somerset Street? Oh, don’t worry, it’s only the owners’ hoped for sales price for an ever-so-hip manse that crashed and burned around them. The mansion that was described as “look[ing] like a space capsule” fell more than $1 million short of its original list price after taking nearly a year-and-a-half to find its actual value.

So how did a house designed by a signature Boston architect and built on Belmont Hill across the street from the Habitat – that itself cost seven figures to purchase – take such a dive, falling from an asking $3.45 million to sell at the bargain of $2.3 million? Well, how about a little history.

Before 2005, there was a modest house owned by the artist Elizabeth Archer on an acre-and-a-half at the tip-top of Somerset Street. Looking at the site and calculating all the money he could make developing the site, developer Ed Fay of Belmont Builders Trust gave Archer an offer she could not refuse: $2,250,000 for everything, building and land. No fool, Liz took the money and Fay kept the property in his back pocket looking to sell the property for a quick profit down the road.

But Fay waited a bit too long as the real estate market for upscale homes softened considerably with the financial meltdown of 2008. By 2009, Fay was only too happy to unload the site for $2.5 million ($1.3 million for 240 Somerset and $1.2 for 250) to a pair of “long-time friends who desired residencies in proximity to each other, and who intend to reside in these new homes with their families.”

The two were Dr. Alexandra Vacroux and Andrea Rutherford, besties since the time they were working finance in the Wild West known as post-Soviet Russia when oligarchs ruled the land and money flowed like Tovaritch vodka in a Moscow nightclub. Since Vacroux was at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian & Eurasian Studies and Rutherford was attending THE Law School, why not plop down a little over a million each and the pair can be a real life Rhoda Morgenstern and Mary Taylor Moore.

While Vacroux, at 250 Somerset St., went with a more traditional semi-Colonial/Farm House design (which, in itself, is quite interesting and aesthetically pleasing), Rutherford and her husband, former Wall Street Journal journalist, author and Pulitzer Prize winner David McClintick, decided to build with a concept in mind; the heavens and the road home. As a rock album in which all the songs relate back to a central story (re The Who’s “Quadrophenia”), this house’s narrative would be the North Star.

250 Somerset St.

And talk over the top: dubbed the “Polaris House,” the 4,000 sq.-ft.-plus abode was designed by Boston architect Robert Augustine (you can see another of Augustine’s designs – and wonderful success – on the Cambridge-side of Grove Street at 219 Grove) is a modern-day manse representing “New American Architecture” in three parts, a pair of stubby wings centered by a zinc-clad silo. You open the front door and just hope a cascade of corn doesn’t bury you. To get to the living quarters, you need to hike up a not-so-special metal circular stairway up into the circular room with the 19-foot high ceiling. Getting dizzy?

Robert Augustine’s-designed house at 219 Grove Street in Cambridge.

Upstairs, one bedroom has the North Star skylight, there are large windows that overlook the Habitat and a kitchen finished in “a burnt orange, metallic, automobile-quality paint.” To each, their own.

The couple spent about $2 million building the home, completed in 2011. All totaled, think at least $3.5 million for the land, construction and landscaping the one-acre.

But it didn’t appear living in the ‘burbs – where your closest neighbors is the stray pack of Eastern wolf-coyote hybrids – in a big ol‘ house where you had to descend Somerset St. (last paved in the middle of the last century) to get to Belmont’s single renowned restaurant made it for the couple. Like the reverse of Green Acres:

Darling, I love you,

But give me Park Avenue!

Which for the couple, it was decamping to Andover (Belmont North, with better roads).

So, what to do with Polaris? And here’s the issue for any salesperson: when it comes to custom homes: one couple’s concept and vision are a potential buyer’s deal buster. Whenever the term “eccentric” and “quirky” are used describing a house, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

Just take a look at the big feature: the skylight aligned with Polaris. It’s all well and good that you can peer out to see the North Star, but unless you’re an astrophysicist, after the first dozen times most people could care less as it’s covered with three feet of snow and ice for four months of the year. For the select number of buyers who are looking for a multi-million home on a road that resembles a cow path in the Swiss Alps, you want some practical features along with the unique. And how many times did the salesperson hear, “How much is it going to cost to have some beautiful wooden cabinets put in the kitchen? We’re not into auto parts.”

Not that the seller didn’t pull all the stops, going so far as getting Boston Magazine – the Hub’s version of Tatler for the smart set – to run an ad/article last year.

But nothing seemed to help. And the fall was brutal: It went on the market on Memorial Day weekend in 2014 and sold a week before Thanksgiving, 2015. It must have felt like being in a meat grinder.

May 27, 2014: $3,450,000

Oct. 7, 2014: $2,950,000

May 5, 2015: $3,200,000

July 13, 2015: $2,950,000

July 17, 2015: $2,795,000

Aug. 12, 2015: $2,650,000

Sept. 15, 2015: $2,699,000

Oct. 19, 2015: $2,599,000

Nov. 18, 2015: $2,300,000 and sold.

Minus original costs, commissions, taxes and other expenses, the former owners took a bath of more than a $1 million on their trip to Polaris.

In a funny way, the problem with the house was location, location, location. Polaris would be a big hit in Palo Alto or Mercer Island, where some 30-something app millionaire would find it cool to put his “man cave” in the skylight room and have the North Star shine in as he plays “Fallout 4,” and not so much the staid mutual fund exec or medical insurance senior VP who are seeking a three SUV garage and hates the idea of walking up all those steps, despite the celestial view.

The Belmontonian

Belmont's Independent Media Outlet Covering the 'Town of Homes'

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Sold in Belmont: Colonial Takes a Tumble, Ranch By The Rails A Steal

Sold in Belmont: First Homes of 2016; Two Family and A Colonial

Sold In Belmont: A Tiny House, a Place to the Manor Born and Mad Prices at McLean

Sold In Belmont: A Million Dollar Flip That Fizzled on Highland

Sold in Belmont: All I Want for Christmas is a Million-Dollar House

Sold in Belmont: The Roof on the Exploding Colonial, No-So-High French Country

Sold in Belmont: Somerset Street’s Shooting Star Flares Out

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