Home of the Week

Home of the Week: The man who built ‘This Old House’ lived here

The Colonial farmhouse comes with four bedrooms, two full baths, two half baths, a greenhouse, an office with its own entrance, and a rustic cabin-like getaway in the backyard.

The home sits on nearly a half acre with mature trees and plantings.

By John R. Ellement

October 25, 2023

4 minutes to read

3 Fern St., Lexington

$1,749,000

Style Colonial farmhouse

Year built 1907

Square feet 3,230

Bedrooms 4

Baths 2 full, 2 half

Water/Sewer Public

Taxes $17,537 (2023)

Lexington has a lot of history to brag about, for sure, but here’s a fascinating fact about this farmhouse. Russell Morash, the creator of the “This Old House” TV show, used to own it, and his immediate neighbors were the Silvas, including Tom Silva, who has been the show’s general contractor since the 1980s.

The listing agent and ThisOldHouse.com confirmed this.

Given this pedigree, it’s no surprise that our Home of the Week has been under constant renovation since the current owners assumed oversight in 1974. You can say it’s in the home’s DNA.

Stepping inside, one finds stairs on the right with a red-patterned runner that matches the home’s façade. Attractive raised-panel wainscoting lines the stairway and the foyer.

3-fern-st-bedroom-foyer — The front door opens to a stairwell with wainscoting. – Megan Booth

Wood paneling, blue walls, hardwood flooring, and white built-ins grace the 144-square-foot living room, found to the left off the foyer. The built-ins match the exposed beams of the coffered ceiling.

The blue walls and coffered ceiling carry into an equally sized dining room with a three-window bump-out, a metal chandelier with cloth shades, candle sconces, and six-over-six double-hung windows.

3-fern-st-living-room — Bookshelves surround a 24-pane window in the living room. – Megan Booth

The dining area features a coffered ceiling.

What follows from here could be considered a farm-to-stove-to-table setup. A doorway in the dining room leads to a breakfast area, which flows into a kitchen that is connected to a greenhouse. The flooring switches to a wide-format, square terra-cotta tile in the breakfast area, while the ceiling gives over to wood beams with a natural finish. The kitchen (324 square feet) forms a U. The leg with the gas stove ends in a dining spot with bead board, cabinetry, a butcher-block top, and seating for four — shortening the transfer from skillet to plate to mouth. A period light fixture with Edison bulbs hangs overhead. The walls are clad in bead board and square, white tiles. The Shaker-style cabinetry is custom, and some of the doors boast glass fronts. The counters are a mix of butcher block and quartz, and the appliances are stainless steel.

3-fern-st-lexington-kitchen-breakfast-bar — The breakfast bar offers seating for four. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-lexington-kitchen — The kitchen cabinetry is custom. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-lexington-greenhouse-view — The view from the kitchen into the attached greenhouse. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-bedroom-greenhouse — The greenhouse stands ready for the new owner to plant in preparation for next spring. – Megan Booth

The home office is right off the kitchen, making that trip to the coffee pot for a mid-workday jolt a short one. The office, which measures 160 square feet, has a private entrance that opens into a waiting room, as well as a half bath.

3-fern-st-lexington-office — The office has a high ceiling. – Megan Booth

Back out in the breakfast area, the house flows toward the 456-square-foot great room, but there’s a door on the left that connects to the 144-square-foot family room, the second half bath, the mudroom, and another entry to the home.

The great room is 24 feet long, but all eyes immediately land on the gas fireplace, which deviates from the traditional lowercase L formation. This one is a capital L, with a wide, muntin-less window above the long hearth. The outer walls are lined with tall windows and glass doors overlooking the backyard. The flooring is wood, the built-ins are numerous, and a grand piano barely makes a dent in the available space.

3-fern-st-bedroom-fireplace — The fireplace forms an L with backlight form a wall of windows. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-lexington-great-room — The great room features built-ins and exposed beams. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-lexington-great-room-fireplace — Windows flank the great room fireplace. – Megan Booth

The upstairs holds the primary suite, three other bedrooms, and the main bath.

The primary suite is down a sun-lit hallway (there are three windows) sealed off from the riff-raff in a private corner of the house. Just inside the door, there are two closets on the right and the door to the primary suite bath on the left. The bath offers a wall-mounted double sink setup with impressive scrollwork and a quartz counter; ceramic tile flooring; a soaking tub; and a standalone shower behind glass. The tub and shower surrounds are white subway tile — a design choice that has stood the test of time.

The bedroom itself is sun-splashed, carpeted, airy, and expansive at 361 square feet. This left space for a sitting area and deep built-ins. The bedroom also has a wall of windows, and snuggled between them is a gas fireplace faced with tile. A period chandelier descends from the vaulted ceiling and is paired with sconces and recessed lighting.

The primary suite boasts its own fireplace flanked by windows. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-lexington-primary-suite-bath — The primary suite bath features a long, wall-mounted double vanity with scrollwork. – Megan Booth

The three other bedrooms range from 98 to 153 square feet. The middle bedroom is a child’s dream, with a wood ceiling, a diamond-shaped window, and a loft ready for adventures. The bedrooms share a full bath with a single vanity, a shower/tub combination behind a curtain, and ceramic tile on the floor and for the shower surround.

3-fern-st-lexington-kitchen-bedroom-4 — This bedroom includes built-in shelving with a desk. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-lexington-bedroom-2 — This bedroom features a lofted playspace. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-bedroom-4 — The secondary bedrooms come with wood flooring. – Megan Booth

3-fern-st-lexington-bath — The secondary bedrooms share this bath with a single vanity and a tub/shower combination. – Megan Booth

Speaking of adventures, the 0.49-acre lot includes a rustic building with a stone wood-burning fireplace (believed to be functional).

Bill Janovitz and John Tse of Compass have the listing.

Follow John R. Ellement on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Send listings to [email protected]. Please note: We do not feature unfurnished homes unless they are new-builds and will not respond to submissions we won’t pursue.