Newton home a real charmer
Neighborhood a major draw
Ask Rachal Aronson and Andrew Sokatch what drew them to their home at 47 Maplewood Avenue in Newton when they moved in seven years ago, and they’ll point outward: It’s the neighborhood.
The excellent schools and the sense of community, they say, were the main attractions.
“There are always kids outside playing,” said Aronson, as her husband pointed to children jumping on a trampoline across the street. The couple noted that they were able to let their son walk to school alone by the third grade.
But the house itself — on the market for $899,900 — is also a handsome dwelling that makes a charming impression, even in a town filled with so many outsized, overpriced Millennium Mansions and old-money Victorians, Tudors and Colonial Revivals.
Set off from the quiet road by a small, grassy front yard, the 1925 wood-shingle home is a storybook Colonial with all the charm of a classic prewar family home.
Designed with an efficient use of space, the place feels bigger than its 1,903 square feet. It comfortably packs in three bedrooms — including a big master bedroom — on the second floor, three total bathrooms, and lots of extras, such as the den, enclosed back sunporch and family room in the finished basement. There’s also a detached two-car garage.
But what’s most striking — and surprising for a home of this era — is how bright the place is.
“It’s just drenched in sunlight,” said Aronson.
During a late afternoon tour, the place was illuminated with golden light flooding in through the many windows — including the five in the master upstairs and the huge 11-foot-by-5-foot window in the living area downstairs that looks out through the sun porch to the back yard.
The kitchen and dining area flow into one another, yet are clearly separated from the other common areas — ideal for family life.
Out back is a good-sized backyard with a towering old tree and a few evergreens that are in direct view from the kitchen.
“I can be there cooking dinner,” said Sokatch, “and watch the kids play.”