Home of the Week

Home of the Week: A Reading farmhouse with a backyard oasis

The property has a saltwater pool, a screen porch, and an outdoor kitchen. See inside, and search the latest listings, at realestate.boston.com.

By John Ellement

July 21, 2021

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467 West St., Reading

$1,295,000

Style New England Colonial farmhouse

Year built 1882; addition 2011

Square feet 3,012

Bedrooms 4

Baths 2 full, 1 half

Water/Sewer Public

Taxes $9,588 (2021)

The resurgence of carcharodon carcharias in our coastal waters has, for some, diminished interest in swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.

No matter.

Among its many amenities, this Reading home that objectively qualifies for the noun “estate’’ contains a 648-square-foot in-ground saltwater pool with a fieldstone jumping rock, a gas heater, and wide stairs into the soothing, sharkless environment.

The 0.77-acre lot also includes a barn-like pool house complete with cupola, an outdoor kitchen underneath a pergola of Western red cedar, a custom fire pit with Rockport-mined granite and cobblestones, a stone wall, an irrigation well to care for meticulous landscaping, and a plumbed two-car garage with a 700-square-foot bonus space on the second floor. (This is an incomplete list. Fact.)

And then there is the house itself, built in 1882 but tweaked, expanded, remade, rebuilt, and refreshed into a 3,012-square-foot space. The face this home shows to the public is still that of the New England Colonial farmhouse with its sharp rooflines, and the interior is a modern homage to its past.

The welcoming porch is reached via a wide, recently installed walkway. A windowed red door opens into the living room. While newer builds relish open floor plans, this home retains some affection for the separation of spaces (and possibly its inhabitants). The living room is such a space and offers a trio of windows, recessed lighting, and a light fixture that mimics the streetlights of yore.

The house transitions to a formal dining room in which white wainscoting playfully counters the black-and-white wallpaper above it. A white chandelier that mimics candlelight hangs from a ceiling dotted with recessed lights, but natural light emanates from above the window seat.

From here, a short hallway leads to a sunny breakfast room; a half bath with a porcelain pedestal sink, white wainscoting, and tile flooring; a walk-in pantry, and then the kitchen. The latter, which takes up the right side of the house, was remodeled in 2018. It now features solid cherry cabinets (some with glass fronts); stainless-steel appliances, including a wine refrigerator; dark honed-granite counters; an island with seating for six; a farmhouse sink underneath a window; recessed lighting; a brick backsplash; double doors to a screen porch; a door to a mudroom with built-in cabinetry; and a fireplace that has a custom mantel made with reclaimed hand-hewn beams from a Maine barn. The flooring on this level is hardwood.

A 2011 expansion created a 431-square-foot family room that is open to the kitchen and nestled to the left. Stairs descend to 260 square feet of finished basement with an office and recreation space.

Upstairs, the owner suite is down a hallway past the laundry closet. Wide two-over-two windows beckon the sunshine, while a ceiling fan cools the temperature. The 406-square-foot space offers tall baseboards, recessed lighting, and a walk-in closet. The en-suite bath features shiplap walls, a double vanity with white cabinetry and a granite counter; and a modern shower with multiple heads, a glass divider, and ceramic tile on the walls and floor. Prefer to soak your stress away? The original claw-foot tub has been refinished.

Three bedrooms with single-door closets, an office, and a full bathroom with a tub/shower combination and a double vanity complete this floor. The flooring on this level is a mix of the original pine floors and wide heart-of-pine planks milled in New Hampshire.

Susan Gormady of the Susan Gormady Group at Classified Real Estate in Reading has the listing. As of press time, an offer had been accepted on the home.

See more photos of the property below:

467 West St., Reading

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. Subscribe to our newsletter at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter @globehomes.