Roxbury Queen Anne is a grand old soul
After so many years of seeing children grow into adults and adults pass on, some old houses seem to take on their own life, as if the wood beams and stone foundations hold their own souls. That's what the grand white Victorian at 1 Meredith St. in West Roxbury feels like.
Built in 1900, the place was home to only two families, the one that bought it 117 years ago, and the one that bought it 63 years ago.
Now, the latter clan is moving on.
“My parents bought it in 1954,” said Eileen Nicholas, who's listing the Queen Anne for $899,900. “They've maintained it meticulously.”
Nicholas loves telling stories of growing up in the massive, six-bedroom house — stories of hiding in the home's nooks and crannies as a child, waving to neighborhood friends from the third floor windows and taking her future husband for dates on the wraparound porch. The grandmother also likes to describe how much of the house has been kept like it was a century ago: There's the gum wood wainscoting, molding and surround fireplace with fluted columns and dentil detailing; the sliding pocket doors; the narrow windows with leaded glass at the staircase at the second floor; the bay-style window seats; and the curved walls inside the turrets.
“The integrity is so well kept,” said Nicholas. “People just don't do that (millwork) anymore.”
The trade-off, however, is that the house lacks some of the modern luxuries the market demands nowadays and could use some work here and there. The kitchen works but looks dated and so do some of the bathrooms. Yet all of it appears functioning and livable.
And from the outside, the house, with its hipped roof, dormers and pointed tower, looks strikingly well-kept and young.
It all fits in nicely in this quiet section of West Roxbury that's still home to many families.
“It's a gorgeous neighborhood with great neighbors,” Nicholas said, adding that though she'll miss the house, “Nobody can take our memories away.”