Home of the Week: Love triangles, alleged kidnap attempts, and a train

This home is as beautiful as the first owner’s love life was headline-grabbing complicated. See inside at realestate.boston.com.

Wrought-iron and concrete fencing lines the yard of this Spanish Colonial Revival, which has enclosed and heated front and side porches. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe staff

By John Ellement

October 24, 2019

3 minutes to read

353 South Main St., Haverhill

$899,900
Style: Spanish Colonial Revival
Year built: 1906
Square feet: 5,126
Bedrooms: 5
Baths: 2 full, 2 half
Sewer/water: Public
Taxes: $9,482 (2019)

Built in the early 1900s for “Mayonnaise King’’ John F. Howard — whose turbulent personal life (his sons were accused in plots to kidnap him after he left their mother) was covered by newspapers in two countries — this Spanish Colonial Revival has been preserved and updated, especially during the current owner’s 30 years of stewardship.

This expansive house, guarded by a wrought-iron and concrete fence, sits some 90 feet deep on a 0.65-acre corner lot with a fountain. A broad walkway flanked by iron lightposts leads to a front porch with wide, curving windows. The front and two side porches are fully enclosed with carpeting and heat. (The flooring underneath is fir.)

The front door opens into a vestibule, and a second permits entrance to a spectacular foyer: Two candle-like chandeliers cast a warm glow, while four Grecian columns help bend a kneewall to the right to create the parlor. Ceiling heights here are about 10 feet, and the flooring is oak — features found throughout the entire first level. The dentil crown molding is extensive.

To the left and behind sliding pocket doors is the living room, where the visual magnet is an elaborate wood mantel with tiers of shelving obtained from a Newport, R.I., home. The functioning fireplace is gas-fired. A second pocket doorway connects to a formal dining room with a coffered ceiling, a bay window bump-out, and a built-in buffet. A third leads to a side porch.

A swinging door connects to an updated kitchen with terrazzo marble floors, high-end stainless-steel appliances, granite counters, mahogany cabinets with glass fronts, an island that seats six, and a china cabinet. The kitchen also is connected to the family room (with a door to the second side porch), a butler’s pantry, and the enclosed back porch and deck.

A half bath completes this floor.

Back in the foyer, beautiful board-and-batten wainscot lines the stairs, but be sure to stop on the landing and admire the elaborate stained-glass window. The second-floor landing is nearly large enough to qualify as a room and has a walk-in closet with built-in cabinetry.

Past the closet is a 234-square-foot master bedroom with recessed lighting, hardwood flooring, and four windows with decorative muntins. (The owner kept the original glass windows and installed storms.) There are two closets, including a walk-in with a stained-glass window and cabinetry.

The full bath on this floor has a steam-capable shower with multiple heads behind frameless-glass doors, as well as a deep jetted tub framed in granite, a single vanity topped with granite, and a laundry chute. Squares of Italian marble cover the floor and the walls halfway.

There are three more bedrooms on this floor: one with a walk-in closet, one with two closets and a bay window bump-out, and one with a sunroom.

The former servants’ quarters on the third floor have been converted into a suite featuring three closets (storage, cedar, and walk-in), a built-in desk, maple flooring, arched windows, and a full bath with a tub/shower combo, Italian marble, and a long single vanity topped with white Corian.

The basement is unfinished, but the poured-concrete floor is new and painted gray. This level houses the laundry room, utility space — and a ride-on train for children. (The owner says he will part with the train for the right price.)

Howard was a Dusenberg owner and investor, and this property was designed for car aficionados. The property offers parking for 20 vehicles in the paving stone driveway and a two-car carriage house. The two-story building has a car wash, heat, a half bath, living space on the second floor, and an interior clad in bead board.

Tracy Salvi of the Willis & Smith Group at Keller Williams Realty in Newburyport is the listing agent. Showings are by appointment. The home is in the Bradford Common Historic District.

See more photos of the home below:

353-South-Main-St-Haverhill

The front page headlines on the alleged kidnap attempt in the Boston Daily Globe:

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.