A 22-room Manchester-by-the-Sea property listed for $24 million

The current owners bought it in 1991 after it had been empty and neglected for years.

The house was built in 1902 as a summer home. Handout

By Jim Morrison -- Boston.com Correspondent

April 21, 2019

The Chimneys is a property packed with stories and with a charm that rewards you for paying attention to the details. The owners have meticulously researched the history of nearly every square foot of the home, its former residents, and the expansive grounds. The changes they’ve made have stayed true to the original design of the home.

The official address is 195 Summer St., Manchester-by-the-Sea. A previous owner named it for the seven tall brick chimneys that make the home easy to pick out from the ocean. It could accurately (though less artfully) have been called “The Numbers” for its many standout attributes: 13,000 square feet of living space, 28.02 acres, 12 fireplaces, 22 rooms, eight bedrooms, seven full baths, two half baths, 4,000-square-foot carriage house, 3,000-bottle wine cellar, one greenhouse, one 1902 Sears playhouse, one beach, and countless ocean views.

The asking price is eye-catching, too: $24 million. Michael Carucci of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

The house was built in 1902 as a summer home. The current owners bought it in 1991 after it had been empty and neglected for years. Shortly thereafter, they moved into the carriage house for 2.5 years while the house was completely renovated and restored, bringing many original details back to life and adding their own touches along the way.

The front door opens to a two-story foyer. Most of the first floor has quartersawn oak flooring and 11-foot ceilings. There are libraries on either side. The living, dining and music rooms, sunroom, and kitchen comprise the rest of this level. The 864-square-foot kitchen features a wood/coal-fired oven, two Dacor ovens, a Thermador cooktop, two Thermador warming ovens, a Miele dishwasher, a butler’s pantry, and a 25-by-12-foot breakfast area. The dining room boasts hand-painted Chinese wallpaper.

Up on the second floor, the 22-by-21-foot master suite offers a fireplace, an ocean view, two terraces, and a mahogany dressing room. There are four other bedrooms and a library on this level.

Owners Jim Mullen and Nola Anderson stress that despite the property’s extravagance, it has primarily been a private refuge for them, their family, and friends.

“After a tough day in the hurly-burly world of advertising, I could turn into my driveway, pass through a half mile of sun-dappled woodlands, and arrive at an oasis of peace and privacy where the only sound was Atlantic waves lapping our own beach,” Mullen said. “Before dinner, equipped with a substantial glass of wine, it was my habit to stroll among the thousands of blooms that illuminate the garden terraces, stopping at different benches to sit and absorb their beauty. It is the most peaceful experience I have ever known.”

The third floor was once the servants’ quarters. Today it houses three bedrooms, a gym, a yoga room and a playroom.

The Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.-designed grounds are home to acres of flower and vegetable gardens, woods, and beach. The house sits on a bluff overlooking the ocean. There are steps down to the sandy beach, and a bell from the USS New Hampshire, which sunk nearby in 1922, is mounted at the edge of the yard for letting sunbathers below that dinner is ready or their parents have arrived to pick them up.

The sunroom on the back of the house has sweeping views of the ocean. Anderson said she enjoyed watching storms come in from the comfort and warmth of the house, especially since the whole-house generator meant they wouldn’t lose power.

See more photos of the home below:

195 Summer St., Manchester

195-Summer-Street-Manchester — An aerial view of the home. *Handout*

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(Note: The Chimneys’ current owners value their privacy and control the ownership and publication rights of all photographs of the property, buildings, and gardens, including and especially Internet distribution. Publishing photos extracted from protected promotional materials is actionable under a variety of statutory and common law claims including, without limitation, statutory privacy rights, as copyright infringement and trespass.)

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