On the Market: The Somerville Home That Comes with a Mysterious, Thousand-Pound Safe

Photo via Coldwell Banker Realty

38 Otis St. #2, Somerville
Price: $525,000
Size: 1,230 square feet
Bedrooms: 4
Baths: 1

Here’s your chance to get into the one quarantine hobby you probably haven’t thought of yet: safe-cracking. This condo currently for sale in Somerville offers the rare opportunity for some hands on experience. You may have read about the uniquely furnished dwelling last week in the Boston Globe—after buying the three-level home with his friends in early 2020, Manoj Mishra discovered a 1,000-pound locked safe tucked away in one of the bedroom closets. And since that sighting, he and a bevy of strangers have been trying to get it out of the house. So far, no luck.

Photo via Getty Images/The Boston Globe

But one man’s trash, as they say, is another man’s treasure. And for reasons that have more to do with COVID-19 than the gargantuan safe in the closet, the current homeowners have decided to sell, passing on either a very heavy nuisance or a metal-encased treasure trove onto the next buyers. If you’ll have it, that is: “If someone makes an offer to buy the unit with the safe, the sellers will be happy to include the safe in the sale,” says listing agent Nancy Kramer of Coldwell Banker. “Otherwise, they will find a way to remove the safe prior to closing.”

Previously purchased as one residence, the home is now being divvied up and sold as two deeded condo units. The first floor claims two bedrooms and a bath, while the second unit comprises the top two floors, which boast four bedrooms, a bathroom, and a thus-far-unopenable vault. Prior to the 2020 sale, the building had been in the same family for 40 years, explains Kramer, so it was in need of a few updates—the kitchens in both units, for instance, now enjoy shiny new granite counters, a cute tiled backsplash, and freshly painted cabinets.

The first-floor unit (which is going for $445,000) recently accepted an offer, but the buyer backed out, so both condos are still on the market. For any local house hunters looking for a recently updated East Somerville find, a comically large conversation piece, or the ultimate puzzle: Get your offers in.

For information, contact Nancy Kramer or Peter Cote, Coldwell Banker Realty, coldwellbankerhomes.com.

Photo via Coldwell Banker Realty

Photo via Coldwell Banker Realty

Photo via Coldwell Banker Realty

Photo via Coldwell Banker Realty

Photo by Nancy Kramer

Photo via Coldwell Banker Realty

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