In Waltham, Queen Anne Victorian holds court, hits the market for $1.19m (2024)

Spring House Hunt

“We're in a chain of people who happen to be lucky enough to take care of the house and to make it a little bit better.”

By Victor Stefanescu

April 18, 2024 | 9:49 AM

Home seller Amy Fantasia said everyone in the Waltham neighborhood where her 1892 Queen Anne Victorian sits cares about the historic property, dishing out compliments or critiquing its paint job.

“We’re in a chain of people who happen to be lucky enough to take care of the house and to make it a little bit better,” Fantasia said of the home Lynn Findlay and Martha Whitten Delaney of Coldwell Banker Realty have listed for $1,195,000. As of press time, the sellers had accepted a contingent offer on the property.

The five-bedroom, 2.5-bath home at 357 Crescent St., known as the “F.W. Wetherbee House,” extends to three stories, standing out on the block with its turquoise color, protruding tower topped with a copper finial, and plaque marking its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

The original owner of the home, according to a statement filed with the National Register, was a foreman for Waltham Watch Co. Fantasia said it previously was also a fraternity and a boarding house.

“This house, with its irregular form, complex roof configuration, richly ornamented entrance porch, stained glass transoms, and picturesque, conically-capped corner towers, ranks among the most elaborate examples of the Queen Anne style in Waltham,” the statement reads.

Features like the medallions on the ornate porch, patterned shingles, and stained glass remind passersby of the home’s antique status. Those historic attributes also carry into the Victorian’s roughly 3,490 square feet of living space.

Two living spaces flank the home’s entryway. On the right, one enters a parlor with a wood-burning fireplace framed by Trent tiles.

“We spend a lot of time in there, especially in the winter,” Fantasia said. “We have cocoa in there. We’ll make s’mores in the fireplace. That room gets really toasty.”

The room’s maple floors are the same as those in the living room, found to the left of the entryway. A circular space with curved, street-facing windows here — part of the tower — makes it the Christmas tree room, the sellers said. The dining room, also on the first floor, features the original oak floors.

The kitchen sticks out like a peninsula and rounds out the first floor. Windows on three walls and a skylight make the room really bright, Fantasia said, noting that the Sub-Zero fridge, Thermador range, and Bosch dishwasher fit well into the home’s aesthetic.

“So it’s like a nice little retrofit to make it really a comfortable space to work in,” Fantasia said, “but … it doesn’t feel incongruous with the rest of the house.”

To get to the second and third floors, and the home’s bedrooms, one climbs a carpet-lined staircase with a Lincrusta wall covering that looks like leather, a design used in other parts of the house, Fantasia said.

“It’s the most unusual thing about the house because of the condition that it’s in and … its intricate pattern,” she said of the linseed oil material. “People always comment on it and ask what it is.”

Fantasia said the plaster walls are well maintained.

The second-floor bedrooms aren’t perfect rectangles, Fantasia said, “and that just gives each room character.” Their layouts, with irregular angles and edges, means one can see the home’s bright exterior from these rooms, she said, adding that her children go to two different rooms and look at one another through the windows.

According to Fantasia’s husband, Chris Thorne, a previous owner converted a bedroom into a bathroom with a standalone shower, soaking tub, and double vanity.

The roof of the Waltham home remains in top condition, Throne said, noting that they replace just a few slates every year.

They insist that their next home must be no younger than 1920, Thorne said.

“We’re kind of old house converts,” Fantasia said.