Just steps from the city's excellent public transportation system, this is the perfect spot to gather your family for a graduation, your colleagues headed to a conference or simply as a base to visit all that Boston and New England have to offer. We're in a lively neighborhood full of shops and restaurants, close to hospitals, universities, museums, historic sites and green spaces.
The Green Street stop on the Orange Line of Boston's subway system (we call it the 'T') is less than a block down the street. And bus line #39, a 6-minute walk up the street, will take you quickly to the Longwood Medical area, the Museum of Fine Arts, Copley Square, the Boston Public Garden and Faneuil Hall.
We’ve decorated and equipped our gracious new Boston home for our own use, so we are confident that guests will enjoy it as much as we do. It’s an 1890’s single-family (not an apartment or condo) light and airy, recently renovated with an open floor plan, freshly painted and warmly furnished with family antiques.
You’ll feel perfectly comfortable and at home as you head out from this quiet oasis to explore one of the world’s most interesting cities!
Location
The house is perfectly located in Jamaica Plain, a Boston neighborhood animated by an eclectic mix of artists, medical professionals, students and young families, and known for its many excellent restaurants.
There is off-street parking next to the house, but you will not really need a car, since restaurants and shops are so close, the Orange Line of the subway system (known as “the T”) is just a block away, and there’s a #39 bus stop an easy six-minute walk up the street.
Travel by public transportation to the Boston Marathon finish line, Copley Square with Trinity Church and the Public Library, and all the city’s many universities, hospitals, museums and historic sites could not be easier. Even Logan International Airport is accessible via subway, with just one change.
The house
There are three carpeted bedrooms upstairs: one queen, one double, and one with twin beds. On the ground floor there is a new, full-sized sofa bed in the family room. Total capacity: 8 guests.
Two full bathrooms serve the bedrooms on the second floor, one for the master suite (with large shower), and another with a bathtub and shower for guests staying in the two other rooms.
There is a half-bath (“powder room”) on the ground floor, near the TV/music room.
The main floor is “open plan,” with oak flooring throughout. The modern kitchen is equipped with granite counters, gas stove, dishwasher, large refrigerator with ice-maker and filtered water tap, microwave, coffee maker, toaster, blender and various other small appliances. In a closet you’ll find a stacked, front-loading washer and dryer.
The kitchen opens onto a comfortable dining area and spacious living room, both bathed in sunlight under 10-foot ceilings.
The neighborhood
All Jamaica Plain’s charming shops, cafés, pubs and diverse restaurants are within easy walking distance of the house; nearby too there are bakeries, a brewery, a library, running and bike paths, parks, playgrounds and Harvard University’s Arboretum, a 280-acre natural preserve and botanical research center in the heart of the city.
There is even a 68-acre (31 ha.) lake where you can rent a boat when the weather is good. Please consult http://www.courageoussailing.org/jamaicapond for more information on sailing, rowing and kayaking.
We’ll be happy to offer suggestions and recommendations, especially about our favorite restaurants, as soon as we know your particular interests.
Transportation
The “Orange Line” of the subway (known locally as the “T”) and city bus line #39 both pass nearby (about a 6-minute walk from the house) and will take you swiftly and economically to all Boston’s historic and cultural attractions.
Or you can rent a city bicycle either on Center Street or at the “T” station and ride all the way to Back Bay along the Southwest Corridor biking path and jogging park.
The amenities
The house has forced hot air heat, central air conditioning, high-speed Wi-Fi, flat screen smart TV, Blu-ray network-enabled DVD player, an iPhone dock, a printer, ironing board and iron, hair dryers, an upright piano and every utensil you could possible need in the kitchen.
Of course, all linens are provided.
Please let us know if we’ve failed to think of something!
The furnishings
We have furnished the house not with standard-issue pieces you’ll find in rentals and hotels all over the world, but with souvenirs from our travels and antique furniture inherited from our family. There are, for example, the carpet I brought back from Tunisia in 1972, a pair of upholstered “barrel chairs” given to my parents 50 years ago, a marble-topped bureau that belonged my great-grandparents, Walter and Fannie Poynter in Lewes, Delaware in the 1890’s, and a chest of drawers that was delivered to my great-great grandparents, Isaac and Sarah Davis, in Elizabeth, New Jersey probably about 1860.
We hope you’ll enjoy the warm ambience the furnishings create, the fact that each piece has a rich history … and that you will care for them as we do.
