Classic Victorian has modern finish
At the start of a tour yesterday of 25 Rutland Square —a six-level, Second Empire Victorian brick home built during the middle of the Civil War — the owner made somewhat of an odd offer.
Instead of asking to begin by showing off the house’s two-level roof deck, spiral iron staircase or the double parlor with twin Juliette balconies, she pointed downward, and pushed toward the ... garage.
There, in the basement of this $5.28-million home, was what appeared a typical garage that could fit two small cars and had enough private parking spaces outside to accommodate three more.
But anyone who knows the South End, where parking without getting a ticket is considered a game of skill and luck, understands why this mundane cement room is anything but normal.
In fact, little about this rare single-family home in this historic Boston neighborhood is normal, save for its Victorian rowhouse facade, with the towering curved window bays and draping mansard roof.
And from that lowly garage, everything is, quite literally, looking up.
The place was gut restored about a decade ago, just before the current owner and her husband, both of whom wish to remain anonymous, moved in.
“The house was turnkey when we moved in,” said the owner. “We got lucky. But the intention was to make it look original.”
Many of the historic details of the house were kept intact or at least re-created — such as the elaborate and decorative crown moldings in the parlor, the milky marble fireplaces, and the curvaceous, vanilla-colored staircase with smooth wood rails that loop up the home like a caramel dessert.
A few modern finishes give away the place’s renovations, including the Brazilian cherry floors, the quaint yet contemporary kitchen with a huge granite-topped square center island and a big six-burner range, and the big top floor office with a custom built-in light-wood desk and coffered beadboard ceilings.
The sheer size of the home is an uncommon find in downtown Boston, where most similar 19th century mansions have been chopped up into condos. The place has four bedrooms, five total bathrooms and, at 4,300 square feet, the home is nearly double the size of the average American house.
If there is any drawback to the home — besides its hefty price tag — it’s that there are so many points of interest here, it’s hard to know where to focus. The double parlor and the dining room below are the two most striking examples of the place’s 150-year history. The parlor is especially elegant, and deceptively feels untouched. Walk up a floor, however, and the master bedroom and its 9-foot-by-18-foot master bath with three tall windows feel luxurious, bright and new. Same goes for the bedrooms a floor up and for the office and yoga studio at the top. Though the deck off the kitchen downstairs would make many South Enders envious, the one on the top is spectacular. Guarded from the outside with a brick wall with empty window openings peeking out to the Hancock tower, the deck has a built-in sauna.
A spiral staircase makes for a dizzying walk up to the top of the building, where everything is in sight: The Christian Science church’s dome, the Prudential Tower and the rest of the city.
But if these heights have you shaky, there’s always that cozy garage downstairs.
Tracy Campion is handling the sale of the