Milton Victorian looks to the hills

MILTON - Though it overlooks a major commuter pipeline in Route 138, this painted lady, newly draped in green and gold, is more historically associated with the Great Blue Hill behind it: the founder of the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, A. Lawrence Rotch, lived here in the early 1900s, and his successors followed suit for decades afterward. Off the main entry is a living room with a fireplace, built-in bookshelves, high ceilings, and tall windows. The kitchen is modern, yet has a cast iron, wood-burning stove that provides heat in winter. The formal dining room is supported by a expansive butler’s pantry. Most of the first floor is decorated with fabric wallpaper that has been painted a gentle yellow. Floors are refinished, darkly veined oak.

The second floor hosts four bedrooms off a central hallway. The master suite is spacious and has a private entry to shared bathroom and a laundry hookup in the closet. The third floor has three airy bedrooms, original built-in closets and cabinets, a full green-tile bath, and a glass door that shuts off the world below, making it a prime in-law, teen, or nanny suite.

In the adjacent horse barn, owners David Swift and his husband, Dr. John Swift, have replaced the hayloft but otherwise kept the building functioning as a barn, as there are riding trails across the street at the Blue Hills Reservation. The house sits on its own wedge-shaped one-acre island, with Canton Avenue and Brush Hill Road serving as a jug-handle for northbound traffic turning off Rt. 138. Road noise is noticeable outside, but barely so inside. Broker Laura Cahill of RE/MAX Cahill Properties in Milton is planning an open house today from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.