apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Please, someone buy me that house.

No its mine!

It's a cool place, but saying that it is "now for sale" is a bit strange. It has been on and off the market for a few years.

Needs more windows for my taste...

neato. I think it's a little odd that there are two kitchen tables. But it's well done.

Agree with home body...

def. not enough windows.

*also i'm from boston and i've heard rumors that alewife T was build over an old chemical dumping site. and that several people who have worked in that station for many years got brain cancer..... there's also these orange chemicals that seep through the walls in the station.. verrry suspicious if you ask me but i can't confirm this.. so def. do your own research if you're thinking of buying this place!

I think it's disappointing that they seem to have put very little care into the landscaping (what little there is). Red cedar mulch is soooo hideous. The house looks awesome.
Also not a fan of the location.

I want that round kitche table... where do I find it?

Lets see - if I give up coffee I'd save 2.10$ a day - which means I could afford this house in....oh. :(

Yeah, the house(s) are gorgeous - I'd choose the stacked box house more than this one. But the landscaping is really an after thought on all three. The stacked box sits in the middle of a gravel driveway.

Does it come furnished? Okay...

Not in love with this one. Hate the knotty pine. Seems cold (apart from the obvious winter scene). Exterior is just depressing -- curb appeal needs improvement, even if minimalism is the goal. This just looks un-done.

Some descriptions (like the Dwell article) make it sound like the front building (the rusty metal cottage) and the back building (the black box with the knotty pine room) are separate residences. But then there are photos of both in the boston.com coverage. Are both for sale for one price, or what?

I wish I were moving back to Cambridge - I'd seriously consider this.

Any ideas about the desk in the bedroom? It's exactly what we're looking for.

What a shame that someone took an 1894 cottage and stripped all of its character. If you want something modern, buy a modern style home, or have something built. Or....at least have enough respect for the home to keep its original elements. I know, there has to be upgrading with heating, insulating and the usual repairs, etc. with an older house. Unfortunately, the character is lost for good now.

From the pictures it looks as though the cottage includes the first floor of the "Black Box". It is connected with a little translucent walkway. I also think that is the only part of the house with a good deal of windows.

While I agree that this is a very agressive renovation, without really seeing the original home (actually the first link has a very small photo) it is hard to call it a shame or that they should have had respect for the original home. Just because it was built over 100 years ago does not make it worth keeping the character of a generic characterless home. There are plenty of poorly built, badly laid out homes that are not "restoration worthy" but still old in U.S. terms. I don't think we will be calling for the faithful restoration and character saving of all poorly built McMansions in 100 years.

I would argue that this home has a lot more character now than ever, though it definitely could use more windows and some real green space as other commenters have noted.

As developers these people really took a chance, they could have done a standard "flip" and changed the home just as much (granite counters etc..) and it would have been more palatable to standard homebuyers and made more money but they are definitely offering something very different. You could argue it is fairly self serving for the ego of the designers because it's not really a success if it sits on the market with no one living in it yet has been published in many magazines.

OKAY GUYS!

This is next to Alewife and the projects. It's a SKETCHY neighborhood.

I repeat: very sketchy neighborhood! Not the Cambridge one romanticizes...

Hey TraceyJ
I think it's an Ikea table!

DBLOG:
It looks like a 1970's Hon desk.

I saw the two other houses on the lot back when they were for sale just about 2 years ago. The other is also quite well known: three stacked cubes clad in marine plywood -- a wallpaper* cover, and the last is pretty unremarkable, for an architect bespoke project.

They are /really/ close together, so the lack of windows is a design feature. The best model for the three units are as three disconnected condos on a shared (and mulched) lot.

So I can't speak about this house, but the other two were rather uninspiring, for opposite reasons. The marine plywood one was completely impractical for most people, but fun (you would have to want to live in art, rather than a pretty house). The unremarkable house was clearly more practical, but quite over-priced, given its size, location, neighborhood, and the fact you got zero private yard.

http://www.uni-a.com/news_wallpaper.html