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Home of the Week: For $699,900, a corner-lot Victorian in Melrose with four porches

The home has four bedrooms, 1.5 baths, stunning lighting, and four porches. Search the latest listings to rent or buy at realestate.boston.com.

The home has four bedrooms, 1.5 baths, and a 0.12-acre lot. A Louis Jean Media

By John Ellement

April 15, 2020

3 minutes to read

101 Upham St., Melrose

$699,900

Style: Victorian

Year built: 1900

Square feet: 2,584

Beds: 4

Baths: 1 full, 1 half

Sewer/water: Public

Taxes: $7,027 (2020)

There is a touch of the past in this updated Victorian, one of a cadre of same-style homes when it was built on this resolutely residential street in 1900, around the same time Melrose became a city. A stone retaining wall adds to the beauty of this corner-lot home, while the double red door offers that needed pop of color to its gray, black, and white facade.

Stepping inside from the farmer’s porch, one lands in a foyer cast in the glow from a candle-like chandelier dripping stones of glass. To the left, there is a stairway so curvy it seems to be racing toward the second floor. To the right is the living room, which flows off a hall lined with double-candle sconces that continues deep into the house.

All of this is tied together by what may be the original hardwood flooring.

The living room embraces the old but highlights the new — there are two windows that keep faith with this home’s history, starting at the floor and finishing three-quarters of the way up the wall as they look out to the porch and the front lawn. A plaster ceiling medallion is graced by another chandelier, one that looks like an elegant beehive made of glass. A decorative fireplace is topped with a white, carved-wood mantel, which matches the crown molding and tall baseboards — all original millwork.

A pair of tall French doors swings open like welcoming waiters steering guests into the dining room, where a third chandelier — this one boasts candle-like lights dripping with glass — hangs from a plaster medallion in the center of the room. The crown molding and chair rail are painted white in companionship with a decorative fireplace that has a stone top and a carved wood mantel. There are three windows on three walls. Found off the dining room, a comfortable den sits in a three-window bump-out with a decorative fireplace.

Another doorway in the dining room leads to the kitchen, which has been updated but also has a design touch that harkens to its origin — a high, embossed ceiling painted a light mustard color. The appliances are stainless steel, and the backsplash is white subway tile. A mix of dark and white cabinets topped with stone forms three stretches of counterspace, including a breakfast bar. An old wooden ladder-turned-pot rack hangs from the ceiling, which is about 10 feet high. A half bath and a tiny mudroom adjoin the kitchen. The half bath has a tile floor and a single vanity topped with a man-made counter. The mudroom features hooks and a door with an oval window that leads to a side porch and the largest patch of grass on the 0.12-acre lot, along Parker Street.

A stairwell descends to the full, unfinished basement, and a separate set, morning stairs, goes to the second floor. But it’s more intriguing to head upstairs from the foyer, to move past a newel post topped with a glass globe and up the curving stairwell, which ends in a landing with multiple doors. To the right, there is a small room with white,painted flooring that could be used as an office or as an expansion of the connecting bedroom. Located on the front of the house, this bedroom has three two-over-two windows, and a single-door closet. The windows open onto a porch. All of the bedrooms have wood flooring, but this one boasts an inlay.

One of the home’s bedrooms is used as a larger office, with the desk nestled into a three-window bump-out. A total of four windows offers plenty of light in the space. The room connects to the home’s only full bath, which features a black-and-white basket-weave tile on the floor, a frameless glass shower with a tile surround, dark cabinetry topped with a porcelain sink, and a heated towel rack.

The bathroom connects to a child’s bedroom with a French door to a deck on the front of the house, a semi-circular fanlight, and a fireplace with a gas insert. A door opens to the master bedroom, which has three windows, a chair rail, and a single-door closet.

The house has an unfinished, walk-up attic.

Harry S. Silverstein of the Silverstein Realty Group at Keller Williams Realty-Cambridge is the listing agent. As of press time, an offer with contingencies had been accepted on this property.

See more photos of the property below:

101 upham street, melrose

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 and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @globehomes.