On the Market: An Architect’s Townhouse Filled with Lofts and Ladders

Photo via Jeff Stephens

178 Harvard St. #178, Cambridge
Price: $1,495,000
Size: 2,341 square feet
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 2.5

With an architect as its homeowner, you can bet this townhouse is teeming with creative design. Even before the seller brought his vision to the space, though, the mansard roof and large bay windows of the 19th century building made a statement on Harvard Street.

Thanks to the storefront-style entry (when it was built in the 1880s, the residence included a restaurant space, too), sunlight streams in through the front of the home. Waltz through the doorway and into the dining room, where you can look up past the chandelier at a lofted sitting area, or over to the left at the elevated kitchen. Head up three short steps to fully appreciate the yellow cookery, which has floors tiled in a geometric blue, green, and yellow mosaic. Look carefully and you’ll spot the raised squares where the homeowner once bolted a vintage bus stop chair into the floor around a table—an eclectic breakfast nook.

Though less obvious, the hardwood flooring in the adjoining living area features another neat detail: The wood grain has been filled in with molten metal filings, making for a subtle silvery presence.

Beyond the many intriguing elements throughout the three-story home (see: weathered beams reclaimed from an old post-and-beam warehouse and a full bath with wood-look tiling and a double shower head), the coolest part of the interior is the way it could pass for a sophisticated version of Chutes and Ladders, with its many stairs and lofted areas. Not only do the vaulted ceilings and angles create lots of nifty nooks, from multiple studies to no fewer than nine closets, but the curving and floating staircases make the lofty space feel all the more dynamic.

Wonder where they go? The steps with blue bottom rails lead up to a glass ceiling, and out onto a second-floor deck. That pair of alluring ladders in the foyer, meanwhile, provide access to two drafting tables. This is the home of an architect, after all, and the place where he first began his firm decades ago.

If you just have to check out this grown-up board game of a house for yourself, it’s hosting open houses Thursday through Sunday this week.

For information, contact Jeffrey Stephens, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth Real Estate, jeffstephensrealtor.com.

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

Photo via Jeff Stephens

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