House hunting? This former town hall in Kingston warrants a closer look
The 1841 Greek Revival has closets with vault doors, the original office doors, and a jail cell.
The glass door of this Kingston home may say “Board of Selectmen,” but behind it, you won’t find a group of elected officials ready to conduct business.
Nor is there tax money in the five working vaults or scofflaws in the basement jail cell.
The best things this Kingston home has to offer aren’t the 13-feet-high ceilings or its view of the town green. It’s the standout features that were part of its nearly two-century-old history.
Listed for $1,000,000, the Greek Revival at 23 Green St. was built in 1841 as Kingston’s Town Hall or Town House. Town Hall was relocated in 2003. Someone bought the old building and updated the infrastructure, but Jane Bates saw its beauty and potential as a single-family home. In 2019 Jane and her husband, John “Jack” Bates, moved in and converted the property into a single-family home.
The 3,252-square-foot home now has three bedrooms, two full baths, and treasures from when it was the Town Hall. A letter written by Thomas Jefferson was found in the attic and is now stored in Kingston’s historical archive, said Kelsey Berman of Waterfront Realty Group, who has the listing. And there are doors original to the Town Hall that read “Accountant,” “Treasurer,” “Assessor,” and more.
The first stop behind the black double entry doors is a 297-square-foot gray foyer cast in the glow of two half-moon chandeliers. The foyer also offers built-ins and hardwood flooring.
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Straight ahead is the 580-square-foot eat-in kitchen, behind the door labeled “Board of Selectmen.” There is a gorgeous chandelier with shaded lights, a two-tier island with an apron sink and space for seating, and two pendant lights. The real eye-catcher, however, is the “Kingston Town House” sign that hangs above the stove and is original to the building. Not to be outdone, a vault door opens to reveal a walk-in pantry.
When the Bateses first purchased the property, some relatives were skeptical about their plans.
“They just couldn’t see what Jane saw,” Bates said of his late wife.
The main floor has three bedrooms. The primary bedroom, which measures nearly 345 square feet, and a secondary bedroom that clocks in at 378 square feet, have vaults for closets, Berman said. The home has a total of five rooms with vault doors: the two bedrooms, the pantry, and two storage rooms in the basement.
The secondary bedroom sits at the front of the home, to the right of the double entry doors. The room is filled with natural light from three windows that look out at the gazebo on the town green.
If you notice the lingering eyes of passersby, be prepared to be asked for tours of the home. Bates tells of strangers asking to see the home, including a couple on their wedding day.
Usher them into the 380-square-foot living room, found to the left of the double doors. Stairs here lead down to the 3,128-square-foot walk-out basement, which has four rooms, a bathroom, and a jail cell. Bates has left this floor mostly unused, but there is lots of space for the future owner to repurpose.
“Someone like Jane is going to come along who says, ‘This is special, and I want to be here,’” Bates said.
The home sits on 0.35 of an acre and has central air and a detached one-car garage. The 512-square-foot attic is unfinished, Berman said.
Correction: Because of a reporting error, the progression of ownership was incorrect in a previous version of this story. The Globe regrets the error.
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