Fresh views on tap at JP condo
The rush-hour drive to the condo at 41 Lourdes Ave. in Jamaica Plain is a reminder of how crowded the Boston neighborhood has become. But walk into the contemporary twobedroom home, and it feels kind of like you’ve left the city behind.
“Being in here is like being in a treehouse,” said the condo’s owner of 18 years, Lynley Rappaport, as she pointed out the handsome kitchen’s door to the lush woods outside.
Then Rappaport waved to the big living area off the kitchen, with its four skylights that flooded the place with late afternoon sun that sifted through the leafy branches beyond.
“I look out those skylights, and it’s like floating” in the trees, she said.
The bright, white minimalist condo — which she has listed for a half-million dollars — has served her well, she said, as she readies to move. The home, built in 1988 and in a boxy and contemporary style, appears strikingly new, thanks to the hardwood floors that were upgraded in recent years and the kitchen — with its wood cabinets and granite countertops — that was renovated over the last decade.
For only having 1,130 square feet, the condo also feels surprisingly spacious. The first floor houses the kitchen, living room, dining room and one bedroom, while the lower floor houses the main bedroom, bathroom and laundry and storage room. Both levels walk out to decks, where Rappaport said she enjoys drinking wine at sunset and tending to gardens grown in raised plots.
She also said, while holding her 2-year-old, that the location in Jamaica Plain — a few minutes from Centre Street by car — is also ideal for raising kids.
“Now, with the little one, there are so many parks here,” she said. Yet, she added, the area is also close enough to downtown that she can bike to the office. “I even cross-country skied to work from here one winter.”