Renovated Chelmsford barn takes you on a trip to another time

136 Boston Road
Chelmsford
Price: $649,900
Style: Antique
Built: Circa 1900
Square feet:1,555
Rooms: 8
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Sewer: Public

The first clue that this isn't your average converted big red barn is the 10-foot round clock face perched above the front doorway, flanked by two stained-glass windows.

Welcome to what feels as much a museum as a cozy home.

Once an antique store, this barn was converted to a modern living space 30 years ago by George Leaurendeau, a restoration carpenter who preserved its character by using as many period materials as possible.

Antique tools adorn the barn door. Inside the log-cabinlike living room is a wood stove, next to a wooden cabinet that hides the television.

The kitchen has handmade cabinets with wood counters and a breakfast bar resembling an old diner seat. Nearly every room has beams or wooden ceilings as well as wood walls. The home is bright, with skylights and transom windows on the open landing to the second floor.

But the real fun-house touch comes from that giant 150-year-old timepiece. It is essentially a clock tower, with the large face exposed to the outside and the rest of the works inside.

The 9-foot pendulum is hidden inside the walls, with only its bottom showing in the basement.

The clock base with a smaller face keeps time in the living room, and the gentle tick-tock soothingly resonates throughout the floor.

"Sometimes you don't want to think you're in the 21st century, and you can feel you're in your own little world," said Ali Ludwig of Century 21 Minuteman Realty, one of the listing brokers who will hold an open house today from 12-2 p.m.

MINDY POLLACK-FUSI