In Georgian, a trip back to the 1700s
(Matthew J. Lee / Globe Staff Photo)
WEYMOUTH - Pushing through the greenery draped over the stone steps, the house suddenly appears, resplendent in bright yellow paint with white trim, sitting on a sloping lot enveloped by maple, black walnut, and pine trees. There are also fruit trees and grapevines.
Built around 1790, this Georgian Colonial is loaded with period touches - because it has never been fully updated. The floors are wide-planked, ceilings are 9-feet high, and some of the windows have been in place since George Washington was in the White House. It is known as the Captain William Wildes House, after one of its earliest inhabitants.
Entrance through a side door leads into what quickly becomes the pattern for the rest of the first floor. The living room, dining room, sitting room, and what we today would call the family room all have fireplaces trimmed with Delft tile and are rich with crown molding. The rooms are abundantly sized, painted in two tones of blues and grays, and are bathed in natural light from the 12-over-12 paned windows. The kitchen is large, was updated with wooden cabinets and modernized with an electric burner inside a brick hearth in recent years, and has tall windows looking out onto the grounds.
The second floor contains the bedrooms, including the master with its own fireplace, and a full bath. Closet space is adequate throughout. The third floor is what experts call the monitor room, a small square space with two windows looking out onto the property and Commercial Street.
Located across from Legion Field - which itself may one day be updated - the challenge here is an overabundance of the original. The next owner will need both patience and deep pockets. A new roof and heating system were installed last year. Viewed from above, this house is shaped like a T, with the main house forming the crossbar. In times past, the leg of the T was an apartment for teachers, but is now in need of total rehabilitation.
Broker Peter B. Brown Jr. of Peter Brown Realtors in Weymouth says the nearly two-acre lot has drawn interest from developers, but the current owners are ignoring them, hoping that the property will enchant someone else the way it has held them in thrall since they sold their car to buy it in 1941.
A detailed survey of the home is available at the US Library of Congress collection of historic American buildings. Using the search term of Wildes or Weymouth, check out memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/index.html.
JOHN R. ELLEMENT
