Gorgeous East Boston home has period details
A handsome home with spacious rooms and early 20th century details is located at 22 Thurston St. in the Orient Heights section of East Boston.
Joseph DeAngelo and John Ranco of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty have listed this home with its fantastic location at $529,000.
The home has 2,034 +/- square feet of living space on just the first and second floors, and there is a lower level au pair apartment with a separate entrance. In addition, there is an amazing amount of storage.
It is possible to sit on the front porch and watch the boats cruising on the water with the Boston skyline behind them.
On May 19, 1909, an application was filed to build a house at 22 Thurston St. Fredrick H. Gowing of Boston was the architect and Mrs. E. Mahoney, the owner. In its entire history, the home has had only three owners.
A wide front porch with columns runs along the front of the house and wraps to half of the side. Shallow bays, each with two windows, are part of the four front rooms on the first and second floors.
The front doors opens to a foyer with the living room on the left and the dining room on the right.
Double pocket doors can close to provide privacy to either or both rooms.
Straight ahead a winding staircase leads to the bedrooms, and a hallway beside it goes to the kitchen or family room.
The living room has a charming period mantelpiece with a mirrored overmantel, but there is no fireplace behind the ornamentation.
The living room has a wooden mantelpiece with a built-in mirror, Corinthian columns, decorative tiles and fireplace cover, but, as was common with the advent of central heat, no fireplace behind.
The dining room has a center chandelier and a pretty built-in china cabinet with a leaded door. The dining room, like the rest of the home, has hardwood floors. A door from the dining room leads to the kitchen.
The kitchen has built-in wooden drawers and storage cabinets. The eating area, the gas range, and the refrigerator are in the same spacious area.
A butler’s pantry off the kitchen holds the dishwasher, the sink and more cabinets. A half bath is also off the kitchen. Across the hall is a family room with a charming stained glass window.
The dining room features a lovely built-in china cabinet with a leaded door and a center chandelier.
A grand, curved stairwell ascends from the foyer to the second floor where there is a full bath and three spacious bedrooms. There is a large walk-in closet off the hall that could be used as a nursery or a study, plus two walk-in closets in the master bedroom and a walk-in closet in the other front bedroom. A sun porch is off of the master bedroom.
A full stairwell leads to the attic where there are windows on three sides. Although it is now used for storage, it could be turned into a master suite or other living space.
The basement has an apartment that includes a full bath, a kitchen, a sitting area and bedroom. A storage area, a second full bath, and the laundry room are also there, and there is a door that leads to the back yard.
The heat is forced hot water by gas, and central air conditioning was added in 2003.
The large windows in the home flood all of the rooms with light, and those in the front rooms provide wonderful views of the harbor, of downtown Boston and of the planes at Logan Airport.
The family room on the first floor has a beautiful stained glass transom above a wide window.
Long before the existence of the airport, East Boston was a group of five islands, two large (Noddle’s and Hog), one medium (Governor’s), and two small (Bird and Apple), which were used as grazing land for livestock. Gov. John Winthrop was an early owner of Governor’s Island. His pear and apple trees there are said to be the first planted in New England.
The second battle of the Revolutionary war, the Battle of Chelsea Creek, was largely fought on Hog Island on May 27, 1775.
William H. Sumner, son of Gov. Increase Sumner, wanted a turnpike from Boston to Salem constructed over Noddle’s Island, but a turnpike bridge to the island would prevent ships from reaching the Charlestown Navy Yard, so the turnpike went through Charlestown instead.
In 1833, Sumner formed the East Boston Company to develop Noddle’s Island. Roads were laid out in a grid pattern, a bridge to Chelsea was built, and a ferry to Boston begun.
In 1904 a harbor tunnel was built for a subway. Finally, in 1934, a car tunnel was built and named for William Sumner. (Sumner Hill in Jamaica Plain was named for him as well.)
The Flying Cloud, which was built in Donald McKay’s East Boston shipyard, set a speed record from New York to San Francisco in 1851 and broke her own record in 1853. That record stood until 1989.
The turned staircase in the foyer has lovely woodwork including the original carved newel post.
Hog Island became Orient Heights. Its hills prevented using the grid pattern, so it was not developed until the 1880s.
In 1898 Fredrick Law Olmsted developed a park on Wood Island, a part of Noddle’s Island. It attracted thousands of visitors yearly until 1966 when it, like Governor’s, Bird, and Apple in the 1920s, became part of Logan Airport.
Today, the homes around 22 Thurston St. are large and substantial, long settled into the neighborhood. Just around the corner is the Orient Heights Yacht Club, and Constitution Beach is nearby. At the other end of the block is the Orient Heights Branch Library that holds a weekly story hour for children and a monthly evening book discussion for adults. Not far away is the Blue Line Orient Heights MBTA station.
DETAILS
Address: 22 Thurston St., Orient Heights, East Boston
BR/BA: Four-plus bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths
Size: 2,034+/- on first and second floors
Age: 1909-10
Price: $529,000
Taxes: $2,201 (FY 2009 with residential exemption)
Features of the home: Handsome home with original period details – pocket doors in the living and dining rooms, the china cabinet, the mantelpiece, kitchen drawers and cabinets in butler’s pantry and stairwell; hardwood floors; walk-up attic with windows on three sides; au pair apartment in basement with private entrance; abundant storage; outstanding views.
Close by: East Boston restaurants; Orient Heights Yacht Club, Orient Heights Branch Library, Constitution Beach, Suffolk Downs; easy access to MBTA Blue Line at Orient Heights station, Routes 93 and 90
Contact: Joe DeAngelo or John Ranco, Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, 556 Tremont St., Boston MA 02118. Phones: 617-426-6900 (office) or 857-362-1807 (cell).
Websites: www.TheBostonRealEstateTeam.com or www.sothebysrealty.com.
An open house will be held at this home Sunday, Nov. 15, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
