Living Large: 27 Colchester Street, Brookline

Rachel Slade's off-kilter take on hub dwellings.

Home Run

living largePhotos by Eric Scott Smith, Artizen Studios

Where can you live in palatial splendor mere blocks from Fenway Park, with easy access to the T and excellent public schools to boot? That’d be the easternmost edge of Brookline, where Gilded Age estates line the streets and big money is spent on major rehabs. Case in point: the Edward Darley Boit House. Once home to Boit and his four daughters (the subjects of a John Singer Sargent painting that hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts), this Federal Revival manse, built in 1903, was beautifully restored about 15 years ago by two developers. Though the home now features many modern amenities, the formal rooms, complete with soaring ceilings, enormous fireplaces, and the original hardwood windows, boast a grandeur you can’t find in new abodes. The property is currently set up as a condo, with the third floor and an additional single-family estate on the grounds deeded to separate owners. But the two main floors are yours, along with exclusive yard rights. And you can’t beat the guaranteed parking—your driveway!—for Sox-Yankees games.

ON THE MARKET

Address: 27 Colchester St., Brookline

Listing Price: $3.3 million

Listing agents: Robin Allen, 617-921-1019, and Shari Sklar Jacobson, 617-512-5169, William Raveis, raveis.com; Neil Farmer, Farmer & Flier, 617-262-8888, farmerandflier.com

Stats: 6,066 square feet; five bedrooms, four baths, one half bath

 

Scarce Supply

Potential homebuyers might want to stick to window-shopping right now. According to a recent report issued by the National Association of Realtors, inventories of existing homes for sale were near a 10-year low nationally. Last fall, Boston-area condo inventories were down nearly 18 percent from the year before, which resulted in quick sales (53 days on the market was the median). That means less time for negotiating, hemming, and hawing.

Say Aah

If your least favorite part of getting a spa rubdown is bundling back up and braving the cold winter winds afterward, consider the services offered by Mass Mobile Massage. For $140, a licensed therapist will knead out your knots for an hour in the comfort of your own home, then depart leaving your bliss intact.

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