What You Get: $725,000 Homes in Connecticut, West Virginia and the District of Columbia

What you Get

$725,000 Homes in Connecticut, West Virginia and the District of Columbia

A converted barn in Weston, a 1905 house in Charleston and a condominium in Washington.

By Julie Lasky

Built as a barn in 1929 — at the edge of the Aspetuck Valley Country Club golf course, less than nine miles north of the train station in downtown Westport, Conn. — this house was converted into a residence in 1949 and updated in 1985 by its last owners, the artist Toby Heller and her husband, Gilbert, both of whom died in 2017. The property is being sold by their estate.

Size: 2,268 square feet; 1,200 additional square feet in the walkout basement

Price per square foot: $202

Indoors: An entrance hall leads to a double-height living room with exposed struts and beams and barn-wood floors. Built-in bookcases flank the living room threshold, and a wood-burning brick fireplace is set into a wall. On the other side of the wall, a dining room with an exposed-beam ceiling is separated by a peninsula from a kitchen with white cabinets and high-end appliances. A large screened porch next to the dining room opens to a side yard.

Turning right from the front door takes you to a bedroom and a bathroom with a washer and dryer. There is also a small library off the living room on this side of the house, and a powder room next to the front door.

The upper level overlooks the main floor. It includes a master bedroom with a vaulted ceiling and a long en suite timber-sided bathroom, and an artist’s studio in the former hayloft. The house also has a walkout lower level with a carpeted bedroom that has multiple closets, an en suite bathroom and an office.

Outdoor space: The three-acre property includes a wildflower meadow, a pond and a swimming pool. A shed with electricity could be converted into a pool house.

Taxes: $15,133

Contact: Jillian Klaff, Jillian Klaff Homes, William Raveis, 203-858-2095; raveis.com


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CreditJeff Haines

Known as the Breezemont Mansion, this house was built for Cornelius Clarkson Watts (1848-1930), a former attorney general of West Virginia who ran for governor of the state. It is on Watts Hill, in the Edgewood Historic District, and is visible from the highways that run along the Elk River as well as from downtown Charleston. Occupied at one point by an architecture firm, it is zoned for commercial and residential use.

Size: 5,829 square feet

Price per square foot: $124

Indoors: The house has had many improvements in the last 20 years. The floors have been lightly refinished, so as not to erase evidence of their age. The repaired windows retain their original wood and glass. All of the brass hardware has been refinished and lacquered. The tiled fireplaces on the first floor were restored by an artist and, in three cases, equipped with gas-fired “coal baskets.” The heating and cooling systems were updated with geothermal pumps and a gas heater.

Double sets of doors with the original leaded glass (pierced by a bullet hole that has never been adequately explained) open to a paneled foyer with a tiger-oak fireplace. To the left, through pocket doors, is a formal living room with a fireplace and built-in wood-and-glass cabinets. A hallway leads to an office and half bathroom.

On the other side of the foyer, to the right of the entrance, is a formal dining room with a fireplace and several large windows surrounding the seating area. Pocket doors lead to a large room with a cherry-and-granite kitchen upgraded in 2013 with new cabinet fronts, drawers and appliances. The space also has a family room that was Mr. Watts’s office; a mantel clock has been removed from the Craftsman-style fireplace, but could be reinstalled.

Up the dramatic paneled staircase, past a stained-glass window, is a second-floor landing with exposed beams and a fireplace. Two large bedrooms are on this level: One has a fireplace, a dressing room and an en suite bathroom with a fireplace, an antique soaking tub, two showers and a closet with a washer and dryer; the other has a fireplace and is across the hall from a bathroom with a whirlpool tub and a walk-in shower. A nearby walk-in closet opens to a private balcony.

The finished third level has two bedrooms, a sitting room and a full bathroom.

Outdoor space: The house has an impressively wide and deep double-decker front porch supported by Ionic columns. The upstairs balcony is reached from the second-floor landing, and there is a long rear porch. The 0.6-acre property was extensively landscaped in 2001 and has been maintained. A carport was built behind the house to match the portico on the side.

Taxes: $5,116 (2018)

Contact: Joshua McGrath, Real Estate Central, 304-419-1750; realestatecentral.biz


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CreditAnna Muhhina/Home Visit

The property is in a complex made up of two towers on 12 acres, in the northwest Wesley Heights neighborhood. This affluent area has boutiques, specialty food stores and green spaces. Glover-Archbold Park, with a three-mile trail running through it, is a block east, and the campus of American University is half a mile north.

Size: 1,814 square feet

Price per square foot: $400

Indoors: This 12th-story corner unit is on the second-highest floor in the building, with views of the surrounding treetops. One enters a hallway with refinished wood parquet floors and storage compartments with sliding doors that resemble shoji screens.

Actual shoji screens open to a large combined living-and-dining room with parquet floors and built-in corner cabinets and shelves. A swinging door connects the dining room to a sleek white kitchen with new appliances, including a wine cooler and a half freezer (there is also a separate refrigerator and freezer).

To the right of the front door is an area with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, including a master suite with a wall of built-in cabinets and a private bathroom with double sinks, a walk-in shower and a bidet. The guest bathroom has marble floors and walls.

Outdoor space: Sliding doors in the dining room open to a balcony with space for a cafe table. The building has a swimming pool, fitness center, party room, laundry facilities and 24-hour concierge. The condo fees cover additional storage space and underground garage parking for one car.

Taxes: $3,385 (2017), plus $1,671 monthly homeowner’s fee

Contact: Leigh Slaughter or Nevine Gargour, Long and Foster Real Estate, 202-420-1820; longandfoster.com

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Published at Wed, 16 Jan 2019 14:01:25 +0000