Fall House Hunt

Home of the Week: In raised ranch, ’76 gets eighty-sixed

Northborough property comes with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a decidedly upscale mountain retreat feel.

By John R. Ellement

September 27, 2023

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26 Dennis Circle, Northborough

$799,900

Style Raised ranch

Year built 1976

Square feet 2,076

Bedrooms 3

Baths 2 full, 1 half

Sewer/water Private/public

Taxes $9,653 (2023)

Here’s what Kathleen Brodie saw as a prospective buyer when she stepped inside this raised ranch in 1986: orange Formica counters, plaid linoleum, a giant, white-frosted globe light fixture, dour and dark walnut cabinets, shiny foil wallpaper, brown-and-white shag carpeting, and avocado green tubs, sinks, and toilets.

She bought the home anyway.

“I knew early on that I would like to change some things,” Brodie said. (That’s an understatement.) “But I never had a grand master plan.”

With time and patience, Brodie renovated extensively — sometimes to reflect her personal preferences and sometimes out of necessity. She added a portico with a metal roof on the front of the house to keep the rain from soaking anyone standing outside her front door. The portico, with its cedar columns and beams, echoes an original part of the home she left intact: the ski chalet-like wall of windows in the living area. She replaced the windows with energy-efficient, low-E ones, of course.

Back in the front entry, seven steps from the foyer ascend to the home’s primary level. Here a wrought-iron railing keeps everything in place and a partially open layout (Brodie took down a wall) encapsulates the kitchen and living and dining areas. She had the hardwood flooring they share refinished.

The 320-square-foot living room has a variety of beauty to consider beyond the aforementioned wall of windows. The space offers a visually powerful floor-to-ceiling fireplace with a cast-iron pellet stove. The fireplace is antique brick, and the cathedral ceiling is clad in natural cedar planks and sports a ceiling fan.

The 117-square-foot dining area and the 156-square-foot kitchen sit on the other side of the chimney, accessed via a floor-to-ceiling opening on the left and a door-sized one on the right. The cedar ceiling extends into the space the kitchen and dining area share, as well as the main-level hallway. In the dining area, a slider opens to a composite deck that overlooks the back of the 4.42-acre lot.

In the kitchen of our Home of the Week, the only thing orange is the juice in the fridge. The cabinets are solid maple and matching woodwork hides the refrigerator. The counters are Cambria quartz, and the backsplash is tumbled tile. The two-tier island offers seating for at least two. Two casement windows overlooking the side yard sit under a pendant light with a frosted-glass shade. The space also has recessed lighting and a ceiling fan.

From the kitchen, a hallway leads to the private side of the raised ranch: the primary suite, two bedrooms, and the second full bath.

The two secondary bedrooms (120 and 143 square feet) come with closets with bifold doors and several muntin-less windows. The bedrooms share a full bath with a tub/shower combination that reveals a surprising feature: The shower nozzle is actually a professional-grade one for dogs. Brodie needed a place to clean her pups, she said. The bath also comes with beadboard wainscoting, a single vanity topped with marble, ceramic tile flooring, and a skylight.

The primary suite (208 square feet) offers a ceiling fan, two pairs of windows with backyard views, a soft-green accent wall, Brazilian cherry flooring, and double-door closets with custom shelving. (All of the bedroom, linen, and coat closets have custom shelving.)

The en-suite bath boasts a line of windows with views of the backyard, a long single vanity topped with quartz, porcelain tile flooring with radiant heat, and a shower behind glass. In the shower, the flooring switches to marble tile, two of the walls are clad in porcelain subway tile, and the main wall features a mosaic of clear and frosted glass tiles in soft greens and marble tile.

The raised ranch’s walk-out lower level has a 425-square-foot recreation room with ceramic tile flooring and a cedar plank ceiling, a 117-square-foot office, and a half bath/laundry room with ceramic tile flooring. A door on this level opens to the attached two-car garage. Chain-link fencing that extends into the yard from under the deck offers a place for pups to stay comfortable, contained, and dry. The yard boasts extensive landscaping, including stone walls, evergreens, flowering trees and shrubs, perennial gardens, and a small pond and creek.

Linda Tolman of Andrew Abu Realtors in Northborough has the listing. As of press time, an offer had been accepted on the raised ranch.

Follow John R. Ellement on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Send listings to [email protected]. Please note: We do not feature unfurnished homes unless they are new-builds and will not respond to submissions we won’t pursue.