On the Market: A Beverly Home with Ocean Views from Every Room

Photo by Russell Serbagi

68 Paine Ave., Beverly
Price: $3,850,000
Size: 2,226 square feet
Bedrooms: 4
Baths: 3

This home wasn’t just thrown up on stilts to accommodate the changing tides. As listing agent Victor Paulino tells it, the owners climbed in the bucket of a backhoe and were slowly raised up until they could see above the sand dune to the ocean, but those on the beach couldn’t see them. Then they had the floor built from that eight-foot elevation, to ensure water views and total privacy from every room. “Everyone wants to live on the ocean, but to be on the water with no visible neighbors is what makes this property one of a kind,” says Paulino. “When you’re in the hot tub, which is on the east deck, you can’t see another house.”

In fact, every element of the home was designed with the setting thoughtfully in mind. Decked in cedar shingles, the mahogany frame stands at one end of the long and narrow two-acre plot, so that a long driveway passes the tennis court and detached garage before arriving at the residence. The interior, which has only been periodically used as a vacation accommodation over the years, remains in mint condition. White oak floors and pickled wood ceilings affect a rosy, sepia-toned living space. Each room features its own George Nelson light fixture—some of which are 60 years old—which mimic the modernist flair of the minimalist exterior.

The house, explains Paulino, was built as a “design exercise.” “The idea was to use basic and simple, yet high-quality materials and to put them together in a way that exceeded the sum of its parts.” The fireplace in the living room is a nice example—concrete blocks comprise the oversized surround, creating an industrial chic break in the middle of the light and cozy lounge.

Whether you’re a book lover or not, you’ll fall for the library, which shows off a pear bubble pendant light and built-in shelves that stretch from the floor up to the top of the 10-foot ceiling. The homeowners’ family was active with the Boston Athenaeum for generations, explains Paulino, so over the years they acquired too large of a collection for just one home. The fiction perched on the shelves of their Louisburg Square habitat, while their nonfiction lived in the library of this Prides Crossing vacation home. Between the stacks, floor-to-ceiling windows meet at the corner, affording a clear view out to Marblehead Neck.

Built by architect John Lawrence in 1958, this Beverly abode unifies midcentury modern design and beach living. “This is the dream home for a family that wants to live in harmony with design,” says Paulino. For an incredible edition of spot-the-difference and dose of retro design, take a look at this August 1962 edition of Progressive Architecture magazine, which features 68 Paine way back when (just scroll down to page 110).

For information, contact Victor Paulino, Engel & Volkers By the Sea, bythesea.evrealestate.com.

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

Photo by Russell Serbagi

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