Cape Cod House Hunt: Former Truro schoolhouse blends traditional and contemporary design
TRURO Perched on a hill near the center of town, the former Obadiah Brown School and Sacred Heart church was transformed into a beautiful residence and workspace about 20 years ago.
Since then, it has been the realm of Margaret Frances MacNeil, the well-known interior designer, and her company, MFM Interiors. MacNeil was deeply involved in the redesign of her home, which also features a freestanding guest cottage that can be rented.
MacNeil plans to stay in Truro, and said she has loved working and living in the space.
Welcome to cottage condominium #2 at 54 Swan River Road in West Dennis. It s tiny, but it s quintessential Cape Cod. It s just a cute little spot on the edge of Dennis Port, said Sarah Rock, real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty in Centerville.
Seriously small, with a fold-up Murphy bed to free up space when you want to entertain, the home in the Swan Pond River complex measures 303 square feet. There is a full kitchen with a gas stove, a bathroom with a shower, and a deck big enough for a full-sized patio dining set. Truly, I would call it a studio with a galley kitchen. There is one little closet with a secondary closet in the back, where (the owner) created a storage closet in the back and a clothes closet in front, Rock said.
At $429,000, this three-bedroom colonial at 59 Beach Rose Lane is the most affordable by $220,000 of the nine houses now listed for sale in Brewster.
The house sits on about a half-acre of land on a quiet dead-end street. The property includes a shed, brick walkway and 15-by-30-foot in-ground swimming pool. I definitely think the pool will be a selling point because to get a pool put in these days is a two-year wait, said Tracey Oringer, a real estate agent with Kinlin Grover Real Estate in Brewster.
An open house is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The deep end is 8 feet. There is a great slide to use to pop into the deep end. It was put in specifically for family fun as the grandchildren were being born, she said.
Here s a feature you won t find in every home: The owners of the saltbox-style house at 15 Carleton Drive in Mashpee not only finished their basement but included a classroom. They redid the basement and they have several distinct spaces in the fairly open floor plan. They have a school room set up, as well as an office and a relaxing space for people to gather, said Sarah Rock, an agent with Keller Williams Realty in Mashpee.
She added that the refinished basement also has new laminate floors and new ceiling tiles that imitate a coffered ceiling. Coffered ceilings have a series of indentations that are said to create an illusion of higher ceilings and more room.
Realtor Beverly Comeau, who specializes in selling Sandwich s historic homes, has spent the past few months researching the Dillingham family homes and wishing walls could talk. Sandwich wouldn t exist without the Dillinghams, Comeau says of one of the town s founding families. Edward Dillingham was one of 10 men from Saugus who were granted permission by the Plymouth General Court in 1637 to build in Sandwich.
A brief history lesson, so the rest will make sense.
In 1659, Dillingham moved with his wife, Ursula Carter Dillingham, and their six children into 132 Main St,, a two-story home overlooking Shawme Pond in Sandwich. Many years after Edward died, his son John decided to move the family home down the road, according to historical documents, to 71 Main St. so he could build a grander home overlooking the pond.