Decks are stacked in favor of estate on Hull hilltop
55 SUMMIT AVE.
The summer of 2023 has featured jumbo-sized electric bills, deodorant-destroying levels of humidity, thunder, lightning, rain, tornadoes — and more rain.
So maybe it’s time to sneak in a clambake on the sands of Black Rock Beach before the next storm rolls in. The beach is 400 feet from the 143year-old Gambrel and converted barn that make up this single-family property in Hull’s Green Hill neighborhood, according to the listing.
At 2,286 square feet, the Gambrel contains five bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a kitchen, and a kitchenette spread over three levels. The flooring on all three is pine, save for one of the full baths. The main entry, a 72-squarefoot vestibule, is on the second floor, which is ground level on one side of the home.
This level offers an open floor plan encompassing the main living areas, including a sunroom that is one of the largest spaces in the house (340 square feet). Double-hung windows do triple duty here as sources of natural light, providers of ocean breezes, and beholders of excellent neighborhood views. One all-window corner is set up as an office.
The open floor plan on this level connects the sunroom to the dining room, as well as the living room, which ends in a library with floor-toceiling bookshelves on three walls. The 252-square-foot living room also features a working fireplace with an aqua mantel and surround by Deb Ogden of Laughing Water Designs and an inset mirror. Pops of color throughout the home like this (see the scarlet bathroom, the third-floor hallway, and the aqua bedroom) add a visual lift that would brighten even the coldest winter day on the New England coast.
The dining room is built around a crystal-and-iron chandelier, and at 143 square feet it’s large enough to host a table for eight. A windowed door opens to a 262-square-foot deck, one of three on the property. The dining room also flows into the 146square-foot main kitchen. It is galley style and offers butcher-block counters of maple, stainless steel appliances (the stove is gas), white cabinets with wooden knobs, bead board, recessed lighting, sliding-door pantry cabinets, and a central light fixture with a mural-like blue glass globe. A concrete square the owner created frames the sink, which sits under a pair of windows and open shelving.
The half bath (18 square feet and narrow) surprises with a wall-mounted sink, scarlet walls, and a light fixture with a tube-like globe shade featuring an ocean scene.
The primary bedroom (168 square feet) is one level up, sharing the third floor with a spring green hallway, two more bedrooms (99 and 143 square feet), and a full bath. The primary bedroom has a ceiling that follows the home’s Gambrel roofline, two doublehung windows, and a French door to a deck that runs the length of the house and overlooks Straits Pond.
All three bedrooms have singledoor closets, but one also offers two builtin wardrobes. The bedrooms share a bath with a white double vanity, a clawfoot tub, two windows, a leaf-like bronze and crystal chandelier, and a standalone shower with a beach stone floor and a gray slate surround.
The home’s lowest level has one bedroom (with a wood stove), a kitchenette, a laundry room, storage, and a shower-only bath with white tile on the floor and walls.
Let’s move on to the barn, which has not hosted animals in quite some time. And given that barns are usually cavernous, both levels feature open floor plans. The main room on the first level is 323 square feet and holds a kitchenette with a built-in cooktop, as well as expansive living, reading, bedroom, and dining areas; French doors to a slate patio; a glass door to a stone walkway and garden; and a door to an L-shaped deck (288 square feet) that hugs two sides of the barn. There’s also a full bath with a round shower, ceramic tile flooring, a porcelain sink, and a window.
The barn’s upper level is set up as an art studio, but it is counted as the sixth bedroom on this property.
The lot is 0.25 of an acre and does not require flood insurance.
Justin L. Green of In Realty Inc. in Dorchester is the listing agent.