Luxury Home of the Week: For $2.68 million, an Italian-inspired villa in Lexington
12 Summit Road was built for a pair of 20th-century artists.
Along with new digs, the future owner of this home will acquire a slice of Lexington history.
The home at 12 Summit Road was built in 1919 for artists Hermann Dudley Murphy and Nelly Littlehale Murphy. The couple asked architect Harold Hathaway to model the home after a villa they liked in Florence, Italy, and the influence is most visible on the outside — in the home’s U-shape, central courtyard, plentiful archways, and loggia with carved capitals, columns, and roundels.
There’s also the 1.26-acre grounds, which include the outline of gardens designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. The Lexington Historical Commission has described these spaces as “perhaps the finest example of early twentieth century landscape architecture in Lexington.”
Today, the home is listed for $2,680,000 and offers six bedrooms, six full bathrooms, and one half bathroom in 8,685 square feet of living space. Jackie Hawkinson of Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.
Past the courtyard and stucco exterior, the home takes on a more Craftsman style. The living room shows off a stenciled cypress paneling, while the dining area offers a small greenhouse nook. The kitchen features a butler’s pantry and, down the hall, a catering kitchen — conveniently located by a side entrance. The first floor also holds a onetime artist’s studio, which has been converted to house an indoor swimming pool.
Upstairs, there are four bedrooms, including the primary suite, which is composed of a bedroom, sitting room, bathroom, and dressing room. This floor is also home to an office with a fireplace, picture-frame paneling, and an attached yoga room.
The third floor holds two more bedrooms, while the basement contains a game room and a staff suite complete with a kitchen and a full bathroom.
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