Price$497,800
Est. Mortgage: $/month
MLS Number 229730
- Residential
- Bathroom 3
- Bedrooms 4
- Square Feet 3,520
- Acreage 1.6
This Williamstown MA semi-secluded home for sale and new to the market enjoys a remarkable location being just a brief and comfortable walk to the Williams Campus or the summer theater on the one hand and on the other, step out your back yard onto the Berkshire trails reaching from the nearby Hoosac River to the Williams College Cole Field athletic fields for exercise and enjoyment. Tucked away in the lush greenery of summer the home is completely private from the neighbors whose homes emerge in the late fall and winter months. Airy open spaces, high ceilings are the hallmarks of the interior spaces. The vaulted ceiling living room with brick fireplace invites a flood of light through its southeast facing window wall. The spacious kitchen and breakfast nook open into the more formal dining space adjacent to the living room making for excellent entertainment flow and both of which open to the first floor deck. A first floor bedroom doubles as den or office along with the full bath. The second floor includes two moderate sized bedrooms, full bath and master bedroom which opens to its own private deck. There is one additional feature that sets this home apart; the spacious suite that serves as a home office, artist’s or writer’s studio or full apartment. Convenience, privacy, functionality and style, all rolled into one.
--- The house sits on 1.8 acres on a hillock well above the adjacent flood plain. It is an easy walk through meadows to the college playing fields, then the campus, then the town center. Adjacent to this pathway are several miles of trail along the Hoosac River.
--- The fully private, natural vistas extending from the windows of the second floor office are protected indefinitely. The miles-wide area below the house, spreading across the Hoosic river valley to the base of Pine Cobble, is all a flood plain. It can never be developed. The very few houses built on the side of Pine Cobble are barely visible, and then only in winter. The current residents will greatly miss experiencing from those windows the gradual changing of the seasons. In the fall the trees retreat; in the spring, like the wood come to Dunsinane, they advance.
--- A complex of office, waiting room, and bath, served by a separate entrance, is located over the garage. (It was used for the private practice of psychotherapy.) The alcove in the office has already installed hook-ups for electricity and water; it can easily be converted into a screened-off kitchenette and compact laundry. The waiting room can become a bedroom. In relation both to the adjacent master bedroom and to the waiting room, the office is sound-proofed by two sets of double doors and by specially designed walls employing steel/air barriers.
--- A special permit issued by the Williamstown Zoning Board of Appeals on December 17, 1988ruled that “the proposed home occupational use fulfilled the eight conditions” set forth in the town's Zoning Bylaws. There are two paved parking spaces, easy to maintain in winter, at the top of the entrance to the driveway. Close to north-south Route 7, but far enough away not to hear any traffic noise, the office is both readily accessible and remarkably quiet.
--- The downstairs of the house and all of the office space is heated by gas. The gas bill for 2014 was $1581.The upstairs of the house is heated by electricity. The electric bill for 2014 was $1743.
--- In June, 2015 a 32-panel roof solar array was installed, costing $22,000. There are two sources of benefits to the new homeowner from this installation. The first is from savings on electric bills (the array is projected to produce 85% of the home's electricity use). The second is from what are called Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC's). SRECs are a source of profit completely separate from savings on electric bills. Issued by law for only the first ten years of operation (although they are likely to retain a lesser value after ten years), they are owned by the homeowner and can be sold at auction (through a broker or “aggregator”) to electric utilities in order for them to meet Massachusetts legal requirements that they secure a portion of their electricity from renewable generation. Thus their value is determined by a combination of market forces and government policy. RGS Energy conservatively estimates their total ten year worth to be $18,700. Using a combination of savings on electric bills and the income from SREC's, the installer, RGS Energy, estimates that with the new owner's purchase of the original owner's $22,000 investment, the new owner should realize, by year 10, a combination of savings and profit of $37,000, which will expand by year 20 to $63,000, and by year 25 to $79,000.
--- The roofing over the garage was installed in March, 1996; the roofing over the house was installed in August, 2002. The house was last painted (Woodscapes Solid Hide Stain) in the summer of 2008.
--- Annual town taxes as of March, 2015 were $8474.
--- The house was tested for Radon in December of 1988, resulting in a pCi/l of 1.7. The accompanying letter states: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set the non-action level for exposure to Radon gas in the home to be any level under 4.0 pCi/l.”
Close to village center contemporary. A unique combination of in-town proximity to the williams college campus with privacy and affording near and distant views. Vaulted ceiling glass wall living room w/fireplace, dining area, 3 decks, 3-4 bedrooms, 2 car garage, spacious sound-proofed home office suite with separate entry, alcove plumbed & wired for kitchenette, waiting area, 3/4 bath & ac. Attractive low maintenance grounds, borders protected land and walking trails. Solar array installed 2015 reduces electric bill significantly.
Listed by Paul Harsch, CRB, CRS. GRI of HARSCH ASSOCIATES'
