Home Buying

Home of the Week: Raised ranch charms with ‘Brady Bunch’ style, but don’t play ball in the house

Westwood home sits on a pond and offers three bedrooms, 3 full baths, and a rec room (of course!).

By John R. Ellement

February 15, 2023

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5 Willett Pond Drive, Westwood

$1,295,000

Style Raised ranch

Year built 1976

Square feet 3,264

Bedrooms 3

Baths 3 full

Sewer/water Private/public

Taxes $16,684 (2022)

Were this raised ranch to have a theme song, it might be “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” or the opener to “The Brady Bunch.” Like those famous tunes from entertainment past, the orange shag carpeting in our Home of the Week is a fashion choice from another era and in keeping with an architectural time that exuded individualism.

This two-level home on Willett Pond was built in 1976 — shortly after that movie and TV show became part of the social fabric — and is on the market for the first time. Located on a dead-end, the house sits on a small rise overlooking a yard that flows in a gentle slope down to the pond in the back. The front walkway, which is partially torn up for the installation of a new septic system, ascends from the driveway past most of the house, ending at stairs before a double-doored entry shielded by a gabled overhang.

Behind the doors is a foyer lined with Italian tile that is the polar opposite of bland. Ahead are four steps up to the main floor. Just to the right, stairs descend to the finished lower level.

The stairs to the main level are our introduction to the aforementioned orange shag, which is found in many rooms, including the primary suite. A wall at the top of the stairs is covered from floor to ceiling with thin slabs of stone an Italian craftsman individually selected, according to the seller. Brown beams cross the white ceiling. Combined, the L-shaped dining room/living area measures 472 square feet and is awash in natural light spilling in through trios of casement windows and two geometrically interesting ones.

An entrance in the dining room pivots to another open space: a 443-square-foot one the family room, breakfast nook, and kitchen share. In the breakfast nook, a pair of sliders to a deck overlooks the pond. A wood-burning fireplace, one of two in the home, is the focal point of the family room, while a hanging light designates where the breakfast table should go — right before the sliders to the deck.

The U-shaped kitchen features hardwood cabinets in a cherry stain, a ceramic tile backsplash that mimics terra cotta, stainless steel appliances, long granite counters, and wood flooring.

A 29-foot hallway connects to the home’s private spaces: the primary suite, two more bedrooms, and a full bath with a tub/shower combination behind a frosted-glass door, a white vanity with a Formica top, a matching dressing table, and Arabesque ceramic floor tile. The tub, toilet, and sink match in their golden hue.

With orange shag underfoot in the primary suite, one has views of the backyard and pond on the 1.09-acre lot. The bedroom (228 square feet) also offers a pair of closets with bifold doors and an en-suite bath with a mottled ceramic tile floor, a single vanity, and a shower insert behind a sliding frosted-glass door.

The other two bedrooms on this level range from 136 to 168 square feet. The larger one sports lime green grass-cloth wallpaper and electric green carpeting, while the other has tan grass-cloth wallpaper and brown carpeting, according to the seller.

Very much in keeping with the “Brady Bunch” era, the lower level boasts a 267-square-foot rec room with a fireplace, a wall clad in stone, and a slider to a screen porch. Other highlights of this level include an office (where you can channel your inner-Mike Brady fondness for architecture), a bonus room (but don’t play ball in the house), a laundry room, a second home office, and a shower-only bath with penny tile flooring.

The home comes with central air on the upper floor, an outdoor shower, and a two-car garage.

The pond, a man-made creation from 1913, is mostly private. Homeowners can join an association that allows power boats (members only), fishing, and swimming, but there is an easement for general public use in certain areas.

Maggie Coppens of Coldwell Banker Realty in Westwood is the listing agent.

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