Home of the Week: For $888,000, a condo with an industrial vibe in the heart of Providence
Large windows offers views of the city skyline. Unit features exposed beams and brick and high ceilings.
116 Chestnut St., Unit K, Providence
$888,000
Style: Condo
Year built: 1888
Square feet: 2,969
Bedrooms: 2
Baths: 2 full
Condo fee: $719 a month
Taxes: $18,303 (2018)
Members of the Champlin family helped create this city’s Jewelry District when they built this five-story brick factory 131 years ago. Their manufacturing business is history, but the building has survived, having been acquired and transformed into 12 condos by the Rhode Island School of Design in the 1970s. (The family has persevered, too, and now run the $400 million Champlin Foundation.) Each condo owner has part ownership in the building.
One of the best features of this building is the view. More than a century since it was built, the Champlin is still the tallest structure in the immediate neighborhood, and every window offers a skyline view.
It’s easy to see why a remodel, rather than a demolition, was the way to go in this elevator building. The ceilings in this fourth-floor unit are 12 feet high, and the industrial structure is intact as evidenced by the thick wooden beams running from one end of the unit to the other. Air ducts, painted black, parallel the beams. There is a fire sprinkler system, and the floor is painted and sealed shiny concrete.
The front door opens to a small foyer with bare-tree wallpaper. The entrance connects to a hallway that runs right into the heart of the unit. (There is a large laundry/utility/workout room off the foyer).
To the left behind a door with a large pane of frosted glass is the first of two bedrooms. It features broad windows, a closet accessed via double doors, and carpet.
Across the hall is the first of two full baths. It boasts a single vanity with black distressed cabinetry and a marble countertop, a marble floor, and a shower with a ceramic subway tile surround.
Down the hall is an intimate den created when walls were put up to break up the industrial space. The room is — like every inch of this unit — awash in the sunshine from large windows, many of which can open. The den, which has a bar, connects to the main living areas via cutouts in a wall.
Opposite is a kitchen that pays homage to the unit’s factory roots: Wood planks rest on black pipes where one would otherwise find upper cabinets. There’s plenty of prep space on the man-made-stone counters and on the island, which is a poured-concrete pentagon. The appliances are stainless-steel, including the glass cooktop. The solid wood and chipboard cabinets are an industrial chic, sleek black, and hanging lights (a mix of pendant and industrial workshop) offer ample glow for food prep.
The kitchen looks out at the living and dining areas, which account for a good chunk of the nearly 3,000-square-foot unit. It’s here that the building’s industrial past, highlighted by wooden beams that look as if they were taken from a 19th-century clipper ship, is most obvious. The brick walls have been painted a creamy white, creating a perfect backdrop for the owner’s art collection. One accent wall is an electric blue.
In a corner, a door opens to the master suite. Here, directly across from the carpeted area surrounding the bed, is a set of windows that look something like saloon doors. The master bath, found behind a frosted door, features a soaking tub, a shower with glass doors, and a double vanity with porcelain bowls atop a caramel-colored quartz counter. The flooring and the shower surround are ceramic tile. The cabinetry and the lighting are modern.
The suite also offers a windowed walk-in closet with custom shelving and a balcony.
The listing agent is Don Martone of Century 21 North East Group in Cranston, R.I. The unit can be sold fully furnished. There will be an open house on Sunday, April 7, from noon to 1 p.m. The unit includes two tandem parking spaces.
See more photos of the home below:
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.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com