Above and beyond in South End
Customization makes $1.1M condo stand out
For most urbanites, living in a new South End condo with floor-to-ceiling windows and a roof deck with city views would be enough.
Not so for Stephen and Jen Casey, who live at 700 Harrison Ave., and are looking to sell their place — Unit 504 — for $1.1 million.
Stephen, who moved into the condo in 2009, has customized the place with wood, metal and stone details in nearly every room, putting in a stacked, cut stone backsplash in the kitchen; installing ceiling light fixtures made of old barn wood and steel; and creating a kind of decorative casing around the wall-sized window in the master bedroom that appears like two worn wood posts supporting a large wood beam.
“I made it look like a mine shaft entrance,” Stephen said while standing in front of the window earlier this week.
Then he pointed to the floor below, which was created from polished cement covered in glossy acrylic, and the old sliding barn door entrance.
After that, it was off to the master bedroom's bathroom, which was treated with artistic wood paneling fitted with slots holding LED lights, and a rustic copper surround mirror.
“It's even down to the lights he picked out,” said Jen, holding her 4-month-old infant, as she showed the baby room, which was decorated with an overhead light in a black, boxshaped lantern-style cover with square holes on all sides. When she flicked the switch, sunshine-like rays cast from the square holes across the ceiling.
In the kitchen, there was another overhead lamp that could double as an art sculpture: a shiny gray metal cylinder hanging from what appears to be a motorcycle chain rolled onto a pulley.
“It's been customized, personalized,” said Jamie Curtis, the couple's real estate agent, who's set to list the home early next week.
But the place is also practical and convenient. With 1,184 square feet and two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a private roof deck and two garage parking spaces, there's plenty of room for a small family, like the Caseys. Built in 2007, the 84-unit condo building is one of the few modern homes in the neighborhood, known mostly for its historic Victorians. The home is stocked with modern, high-end stainless steel appliances in the kitchen and expensive stone countertops and wood cabinets. And, it's virtually next door to Boston Medical Center, close to the neighborhood's cool restaurants and shops, and just a few blocks from Interstate 93.
“The highway is right here, but it doesn't feel like it,” said Jen, who commutes to work.
Yet, she said, being so close to the Back Bay and restaurants in the South End has been fun, too. “It's nice to be able to walk out and go to Stella.”
The sale of the condo is being handled by Curtis of Compass: 617-470-3219.