We told you in November about the Italianate-meets-Eastlake-style house at 1 Arlington Street in East Somerville that packed quite the historical punch. It dates from the late 1850s, when it was built for Nathan Tufts (yes, of those Tufts). The second owner was a Charles Williams Jr., who, according to the city, "rented laboratory space at 109 Court Street, Boston, to none other than Alexander Graham Bell. Here, Bell invented the telephone in 1875, and one year later Charles Williams' house at 1 Arlington Street was the western terminus for the world's first commercial telephone line." Get it? The house had the first permanent home phone. Never mind all the history (which was enough to land it on the National Register of Historic Places): 1 Arlington had trouble drawing interest from prospective buyers. The price on the 8-BR, 4-BA, 4,958-square-foot spread quickly dropped from $995,000 to $899,000 before finally finding a new owner. A deal for the house closed on St. Patrick's Day for $830,000. That's a full $165K off the original asking. Click.
· Somerville House, Host of First Home Phone, Needs Callers [Curbed Boston]
· Our Big Deals archive [Curbed Boston]
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