Two modernist exclamation points in the Cambridge-Belmont borderlands, including one said to have "frightened" the neighbors, have each chopped their prices by $100,000.
The 4,863-square-foot, copper- and cedar-clad spread at 245 Grove Street was designed by Robert Augustine and built by developer Duncan MacArthur, who liked the finished product so much he decided to buy it. He put it on the sales market in December for $2,450,000. We noted then the house's history going back to its development nearly seven years ago. The Globe called Augustine's design "an aggressive, modernist profile that homeowners seem to either love or hate." Hate, they did. Nineteen neighbors petitioned the city to create a Neighborhood Conservation District to prevent such architecture from ever going up again (one neighbor pronounced herself "frightened" by the house). The house stayed and it now wants $2,350,000.
Meanwhile, up the street, 255 Grove Street, another MacArthur-made modernist exclamation point, wants $2,295,000 (both houses have been on the sales market just under three months). Like 245 Grove, the 2,959-square-foot house is all sharp angles from the outside and sunny open spaces inside. And, lo it may appear a tad sterile, the listing continues to assure us that "this home also has soul." It last traded in October 2010 for $670,000.
· Listing: 245 Grove Street [Zillow]
· Listing: 255 Grove Street [Zillow]
· Modernist Lightning Rod 245 Grove Goes on Sale [Curbed Boston]
· Another Modernist Exclamation Point on Grove Street [Curbed Boston]
· Our PriceChopper archive [Curbed Boston]