Home of the week: An environmentally friendly home in Stow next to conservation land
It’s quite the accomplishment to marry time-tested techniques and modern technology, but this contemporary home, positioned next to conservation land, succeeds.
This story originally appeared in The Boston Globe on October 19.
It’s quite the accomplishment to marry time-tested techniques and modern technology, but this contemporary home, positioned next to conservation land, succeeds. From this quiet perch, you can channel the Norse from centuries ago as you grab your cross-country skis and hit the trails behind the home. Upon your return, you can give an appreciative nod to those environmentally conscious inventors of the solar panel as you gaze up at the roof.
Another time-tested technique in evidence takes the form of the home’s timber-frame construction, which makes the most of passive solar heating. Thick beams create a two-story great room evocative of a barn or the Globe Theatre. The room is south-facing, and the beams push the eye toward the back, where there is a stone fireplace with a wood stove and a two-story solarium serves to warm the house and connect it to an expansive deck that extends via wooden walkway to a gazebo. To the east of the solarium are the dining area and kitchen, separated by a partial wall. The kitchen features a double sink, white cabinets, an island with an electric stovetop, and granite counters that run underneath large windows, creating a perfect spot for contemplation and tea.
See inside 37 Wedgewood Rd. in Stow:
Back in the great room, a comfortable den occupies the north corner and leads to an office with built-ins and a half bath, both with radiant-heat floors. On the western side of the great room is the master suite, accessed via its bath, which has a water closet, a double vanity, floors with radiant heat, and an oval shower stall next to a whirlpool tub. The master bedroom faces south and offers two sliders to a deck. Windows above the doors help visually connect the space to the woodsy 5.5-acre lot, which abuts the Marble Hill Conservation Area and boasts more than 500 azaleas and rhododendrons. The bedroom has two other surprising features: a closet with a rotating rack and a corkscrew stairwell that leads to a loft. The loft could easily become another office.
From the loft, an elevated walkway offers views of the great room, glass doors to two second-floor decks in the solarium, and access to the home’s other two bedrooms. Both have sliders to a shared deck, and one offers a loft reached via ladder. A full bath with a tub/shower combination and a second set of stairs to the lower level complete this floor.
An attached 450-square-foot workshop with radiant-heat floors is a great place to store equipment and warm up after hitting the trails out back or at Nashoba Valley Ski Area, about 20 minutes away in Westford. The basement is unfinished, and the two-car garage is tucked under the great room.
The listing agent, Betsy Purcell of Keller Williams Realty Boston Northwest, will hold an open house on Sunday, Oct. 23, from 1 to 4 p.m.
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. View other listings in the area at realestate.boston.com.
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