Wellesley House of the Week: Poet’s Corner colonial fully updated – Wicked Local Wellesley

By Carole LaMond, Correspondent

The gracious four-bedroom colonial at 32 Longfellow Road is a rare find in Wellesley for its setting on a nearly one-acre lot with views of the Boston skyline.

The fully updated, bright and sunny 11-room house has an additional bonus with its location in the popular Poets Corner, a close-knit neighborhood of traditional homes on short streets and cul-de-sacs with poets names such as Tennyson and Shelley. Residents say it is an old-fashioned neighborhood where kids ride bikes and walk to each others homes to play and adults get together for book groups, block parties and an annual progressive dinner that is the highlight of the year.

The area is also in an excellent commuter location with quick access to the Mass Pike, routes 128, 9, 30 and 16 and train, as well as to shopping, restaurants and recreation.

Sandy Balzer Tobin of Benoit Mizner Simon is marketing the 3,300-square-foot home on a 0.97-acre lot for $1,829,000.

The house was renovated top to bottom in the past five years, but retains all of the character of its 1926 origins with its bay and arched windows, lovely millwork - some polished to a rich patina over the years - and built-ins with decorative detail, original glass doorknobs, satiny hardwood floors and front and back staircases.

The house has a charming center foyer, a front-to-back living room with doors to a spacious sunroom, a formal dining room with a fireplace, a study, an updated granite kitchen with a butlers pantry, and a family room. The second floor has four bedrooms which include a master suite and three new bathrooms. The walk-out lower level has a playroom with a fireplace.

The addition of bluestone patios, which includes a gorgeous tired rear terrace, emphasize the amazing yard and provide wonderful space for outdoor entertaining and leisure.

The cedar shingle house has nice curb appeal with a center portico, dark shutters, a wide bluestone walk, ledgestone walls and terraces.

The front door opens to the classic vestibule of the period. Flanked by coat closets, the vestibule has double French doors which open to the foyer with a turned staircase, doorways to the living room, study and dining room.

The focal point of the foyer is the gracious turned staircase with its beautiful arched window which floods the entry with natural light. The lower staircase has a wide half flight of steps to double French doors which open to the rear terrace.

The floor plan has an excellent flow for entertaining with its easy access to the dining room and spacious living room and sunroom which opens to a bluestone patio that wraps from the side of the house to a two-tier terrace overlooking the back yard.

The front-to-back living room is filled with light from a triple window at one end and double windows at the other. Two solid double doors on each side of the wood-burning fireplace with a decorative mantel open to a sunroom.

The sunroom has triple windows at each end and a wall with beautiful arched windows flanking a French door with full side panels. The door opens to the side bluestone patio which leads to the magnificent two-tier back patio which is bordered by stone walls.

There is a cozy study with a wall of built-in bookshelves to the left of the foyer which provides a quiet workspace separate from the main activity of the household.

The dining room is off the back of the foyer and has all of the lovely original details of the home with a wood-burning fireplace, paneled molding above and below a chair rail and a bay window with a wide sill for serving, plants or decorative objects.

The kitchen also retains its period charm with its back staircase and butlers pantry, but with all the amenities of today. There are granite countertops with a peninsula with breakfast bar seating, wood cabinetry and stainless steel appliances by Jenn-Air as well as a triple window above the sink with sweeping views.

The butlers pantry has wood counters polished to a soft patina from years of use, glass-front cabinetry and a window.

The kitchen is open to the family room with a bay window bordered by a picture window that floods the room with sunlight and provides sweeping views. The room has built-in bookcases, a door to the attached two-car garage and a door to the covered porch with access to a bluestone patio that opens to the driveway. There is a half bath off the family room.

The second floor has four bedrooms that include a master suite, and three full baths.

The master bedroom has a wood-burning fireplace, a triple window with views of the Boston skyline and built-in cabinetry. There is a private bath and a sunny dressing room off the bedroom has multiple closets and windows and is large enough to be used as a nursery.

Two family bedrooms off the landing share a bath while a third bedroom, at the top of the back stairs, has a private bath.

The walk-out lower level has a game room with a wood-burning fireplace with a dramatic terra cotta tile surround, a large laundry room, a wine cellar, a half bath, storage and a door to the backyard.

The house has gas heat, central air, and the professionally landscaped yard has a sprinkler system.

Details

Address: 32 Longfellow Road, Wellesley

BR/BA: Four bedrooms, three full and two half baths

Size: 3,300 square feet of living space on a 0.97 acre lot

Age: 1926; renovated

Price: $1,829,000

Taxes: $16,933

Features of home: This gracious colonial in the popular Poets Corner neighborhood is set on nearly an acre with views of the Boston skyline. Thoughtful renovations have retained the charming 1926 details and feature a granite kitchen with a butlers pantry that is open to a family room, a formal dining room, a front-to-back living room and sunroom, four bedrooms which include a master suite and a lower level with a playroom with a fireplace. Terraced bluestone patios add outdoor space for entertaining and leisure. The house is in an excellent commuter location with easy access to major roads and rail station and is close to shopping, restaurants, library, the Cross Town Trail, Warren playground and recreation department.

Close by: Schofield Elementary School

Contact: For more information contact Sandy Balzer Tobin of Benoit Mizner Simon at 781-820-4720 direct or 781-444-8383 office or sandy@benoitmiznersimon.com. This home may be seen by appointment.

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Wellesley House of the Week: Poet's Corner colonial fully updated - Wicked Local Wellesley