After the firehouse
An 1800s station is reborn as a million-dollar condo in East Boston
Any reservations that Frank and Julia Carrano may have had about purchasing East Boston's first $1 million- plus residential property disappeared when they saw the firehouse pole in the living room.
``That was the deal maker, right there," says Frank Carrano, an emergency room physician at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, as he gives a tour of the $1.15 million condo he shares with his wife. ``It's actually pretty useful. It's the quickest way to get downstairs from the office."
The pole is a testament to the condo's past life. From the late 1800s to the late 1930s, the Carranos' home was an East Boston fire station. When steam-powered engines were replaced by diesel trucks, the fire station became a storage facility. It fell into disrepair and sat mostly neglected for several decades, until Franklin Cafe executive chef and real estate developer David DuBouis purchased the property four years ago and turned it into a state-of-the-art, 3,600-square-foot condo (with an additional 1,500 square feet of deck space and an 1,100-square-foot heated garage). There is also a 1,200-square-foot condo at the back of the building.
``Living in a fire station is a total urban fantasy," DuBois says. ``It's such a rare opportunity. I knew I had to do this space right. I wanted this to be nothing less than amazing."
For DuBois, making the space perfect meant wiring the house for smart-home technology. From touch pads located throughout the condo, the Carranos can adjust lighting, temperature, music, and TV. A touch of the ``movie" button on the pad dims the lights, lowers the blinds, and turns on the television and DVD player in the living room. Hit the ``party" button and the lights strategically dim in the 2,800-square-foot main living area. Both the guest and master baths have features such as heated floors, heated towel racks, and heated mirrors (keeping them steam-free).
The couple, who have lived in the condo for just over a year, had searched the city for a loft-like space, but primarily found new buildings that lacked the history of their fire station.
``I remember telling my father that we were going by the condo before we ever saw it in person," says Julia Carrano, an account manager for a local software company. ``I think we both knew immediately that this was home."
