The antique Victorian house at 11 Clapboard Hill Road looks like a small cottage as one views it from the road. In truth, it is a 6,011-square-foot residence hidden behind stone walls and strategic landscaping of perennial flower gardens and mature trees.
This updated vintage house sits on a 3.47-acre largely level and partially sloping property in the Greens Farms area. The estate is a private haven that includes a tennis court, heated in-ground swimming pool, bluestone patios and terraces, stone courtyard, art studio, and gardens. Its gardens are designed to bloom throughout the summer months.
The symmetry of the grounds and gardens complement the house, which is not symmetrical. The property could be mistaken for a botanical garden or an arboretum with the number of trees and specimen plantings it has. The pool garden was fashioned after the Italian Renaissance gardens of Villa d’Este in Tivoli.
Between its gardens and bluestone terraces and patios this property provides the best of indoor and outdoor living.
Interesting architectural details are visible throughout the house, which was built in 1900 and updated to infuse modern amenities into its early 20th century charm.
A stone wall lines the front of the property and a stone path leads past quintessential Victorian gardens to the formal front entrance, the door of which has beveled glass. Inside, the foyer is large enough to have a small sitting area, but small enough to convey warmth, which sums up the feel of the house as a whole. There are some rooms that are quite large, and yet they are more comfortable than intimidating. Other rooms, like an office, the first-floor staff quarters and laundry room, are more typical in size for the period in which the house was built. The staff quarters could serve as an au pair suite.
Although the current owners appreciate antique houses and furnishings, they have given a nod here and there to the modern day. The first-floor powder room features wallpaper of an artistically rendered herd of zebras galloping across a forest green background.
Step down into the formal living room, which has a wet bar with glass shelves, two walls of built-in bookshelves and a fireplace with a decorative white wood mantel. There are recessed window areas and a door to the courtyard, which can also be accessed via the formal dining room and the atrium area of the gourmet kitchen.
What was the original front-to-back parlor of the house now serves as the library. The dining room has recessed cupboards with scalloped Colonial arches. The family room has a chair railing and detailed millwork that resembles fluted columns at the wide entrance into the room.
A large sunroom doubles as a billiard room and has French doors to the terraced stone patio overlooking the pool.
The gourmet kitchen has a ceramic tile floor, two center islands topped with marble counters, a farm sink, and glass-front cabinets with interior lighting. The kitchen has Viking Professional appliances, including a six-burner range top with a griddle, double wall ovens, refrigerator, wine cooler and beverage refrigerator. The eat-in area has two walls of windows, skylights and a vaulted ceiling.
Upstairs, there is a unique open space, sort of like an interior courtyard. The owners use this as a den or sitting area or casual family gathering space. There are five bedrooms on the second floor, all of which are accessed from this carpeted “courtyard,” and all are en suite. One bathroom has a sauna.
The master bedroom has a fireplace. Another bedroom has a door to a balcony/wood deck.
Outside, a border of hornbeam hedges hides the tennis court. The art studio has a vaulted ceiling with lots of natural light. A vegetable garden is enclosed with deer fencing.
For more information or to set up an appointment to see the house, contact Melanie Smith of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties at 203-319-3409.
ABOUT THIS HOUSE
TYPE: Antique Victorian
ADDRESS: 11 Clapboard Hill Road
PRICE: $3,800,000
NUMBER OF ROOMS: 12
AMENITIES: beach rights, 3.47-acre property, tennis court, heated in-ground swimming pool with spa, art studio, proximity to Greens Farms train station, bluestone patios, stone courtyard, pergola, skylights, stone walls, invisible fencing, built-in bookshelves, wet bar, butler’s pantry, gourmet kitchen, four fireplaces, green shutters and window boxes, front and rear staircases, staff quarters, fenced vegetable garden, sauna, security system, audio system, large sunroom, French doors, central air conditioning, landscaped flower gardens, specimen trees, balcony
OTHER INFORMATION: six bedrooms, seven full and one half baths, two-car attached garage, full unfinished walk-out basement, zoned hot air steam oil heat, attic, shed, random width hardwood floors, workshop, wall-to-wall carpeting, laundry/utility room, wood roof, stone foundation, septic system, public water
SCHOOLS: Greens Farms Elementary, Bedford Middle, Staples High
ASSESSMENT: $2,137,800
TAX RATE: 18.07 mills
TAXES: $38,630
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