What $750,000 buys you in Connecticut, Missouri and Minnesota
Noank, Connecticut | $749,000
A one-and-a-half-storey cottage built in 1846, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a 0.26 acre lot
This property sits in a small, historic village on a peninsula between Groton (about six miles northwest) and Mystic (about three miles northeast), on Connecticut’s southeast coast. It occupies a residential and commercial street near the waterfront, at an elevation high enough to avoid flooding. (The Flood Factor website ranks the 30-year risk as minimal.) The home is within blocks of deep-water marinas and popular restaurants, including Costello’s Clam Shack and Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough. A liquor store up the street makes deliveries with a golf cart.
Cut: 1,721 square feet
Price per square foot: $435
Inside: The current owners, one of whom is a retired building contractor, bought the house five years ago and installed a new kitchen. The front door opens into a small hall. To the right, French doors lead to a living room, approximately 12 by 14 feet, with hardwood floors, two exhibits, a built-in library, and a propane fireplace. This room and the hallway that runs along it extend into a living-dining room that spans the width of the house (approximately 24 feet) and contains built-ins and a non-functioning fireplace.
A door and walkway provide access to the kitchen, which features white and knotty pine cabinets with marble countertops, white subway tile backsplashes, a center island, and stainless steel appliances. Beyond the kitchen is a second hallway which connects to a white tiled bathroom with a corner shower. Sliding doors at the back open onto a patio.
The second floor contains a small hallway with entrances into two bedrooms with sloping ceilings and skylights; a full bathroom; and a dressing room. The back bedroom opens to another large closet; beyond that is a windowed room approximately 13 square feet by 19 square feet which currently contains a full-size washing machine and dryer.
Outdoor space: A white picket fence decorates the front yard. The back patio is paved with bluestone, and there is a large lawn, pergola and shingled storage shed. A gravel driveway provides ample parking space.
Taxes: $7,572
Contact: Judith Caracausa, Market Realty, 860-912-9903; marketrealtyllc.com
St. Louis | $729,999
A 1902 American Foursquare with four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, on a 7,187 square foot lot
This home is in the Central West End neighborhood, about a mile north of Forest Park, with its lakes, lagoons, and cultural riches, including the St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Museum of Art, and Forest Park Golf Course. The neighborhood has many shops and restaurants and is near the Barnes-Jewish Medical Campus, St. Louis University, and the historic Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.
Cut: 4,073 square feet
Price per square foot: $179
Inside: The glazed main entrance leads to a central hallway with tiger stripe oak paneling, carved door frames and fluted columns. To the right, pocket doors open into a double salon containing bay windows to the front and side, and a pair of currently non-functional brick fireplaces flanked by stained glass windows.
On the left, another set of pocket doors opens onto a royal blue dining room with period lighting. There, the fireplace is covered with subway tiles and surrounded by plaster decor. At the end of the central hall is a powder room with vintage-style light fixtures and wickerwork floor tiles.
Turning left before the tiger striped oak front staircase – which has a diamond mullioned casement window on the landing, with a bench – takes you into the kitchen. The newly updated room features marble patterned ceramic tile flooring, silver metallic hardware, lighted upper cabinets and a walk-in pantry. The service staircase is on one side and a veranda on the other side leads to the backyard.
On the second floor, the bedrooms have connecting doors as well as hallway entrances, providing opportunities to create a large master suite with a study and private bathroom (with marble flooring, Shaker-style vanity with double sinks and a walk-in closet). in the shower). A second bathroom is painted in purple and has a bathtub with a shower head. There is also a glazed utility room.
The third floor features two additional bedrooms with hardwood floors and skylights and a bathroom with a marble vanity and shower.
Outdoor space: A swinging porch is in the front, and a lawn and garden beds are in the back. A detached brick garage can be entered on foot from the garden or by vehicle from a rear driveway.
Taxes: $11,031 plus annual owner fee of $500 covering landscaping and maintenance of common grounds
Contact: Robin Halterman or Traci Stix, Dielmann Sotheby’s International Realty, 314-456-6733; dielmannsothebysrealty.com
St. Paul, Minnesota | $739,900
An 1890 Queen Anne home with seven bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, on a 6,098 square foot lot
This pale lilac home sits on Summit Hill, seven blocks south of Grand Avenue, the neighborhood’s main shopping corridor, and less than 15 minutes from the downtown areas of both twin cities. Cafes, wine shops, parks and a Pottery Barn are all within walking distance. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is about six miles southwest.
Cut: 4,033 square feet
Price per square foot: $183
Inside: A deep rocking porch with columns leads to an interior with narrow plank hardwood floors and a black and white color scheme. The house has had only five owners in 130 years. Many of its Victorian trimmings have been left intact, while its systems have been updated with central air conditioning.
The paneled and glazed front door opens into a hall separating a double living room and dining room on the right from an office and a staircase on the left. The living room features a front-facing bay window with leaded glass on a central pane and a currently non-functional fireplace with a green tile surround and mirrored trumeau. The original chandelier is fringed like a flapper dress.
More leaded glass decorates the side windows, while a matching fringed chandelier hangs from the ceiling as you head into the dining area aft. Here there is a stained glass chandelier and a fireplace with a wrought iron grate, as well as a wall of fitted wardrobes adorned with arched door fronts and leaded glass.
The leaded glass is centered in the bay window of the office immediately to the left of the front door. Beyond the staircase is an aquamarine powder room, then a kitchen wrapped in wood cabinetry with laminate tops and Harlequin diamond pattern ceramic wall tiles.
An illuminated post cap in the shape of a girl holding a basket of flowers is a stair novelty, and is supported by a trio of wallpapered leaded glass windows and walls above wainscoting in a black and white pattern.
The second floor master bedroom features a bay with a leaded glass window. It connects to a living room which contains shelving and a decorative green marble fireplace, and also incorporates an open dressing room with a pedestal sink, double closets and a green and white tiled bathroom. Two smaller bedrooms on this floor share a bathroom with mint green walls and a clawfoot tub.
The third floor, accessible via a rear staircase, contains a large bedroom which opens onto a front-facing balcony, as well as two bonus bedrooms.
Outdoor space: The house has a deep porch and a fenced back yard containing a brick paved patio. The two car garage at the foot of the lawn is accessed via a rear driveway and has a finished area with electricity on its upper level.
Taxes: $10,006
Contact: Samantha Marks or Julie Gould, Re/Max Advantage Plus, 651-238-6155; remax.com
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