Unless they are building a new house, potential buyers know that if they are successful in their search, they will end up living in someone else’s house.
So it had better be good.
The two-story condominium Hammond Real Estate broker Tracy Shea has for sale on Bunker Hill Street is good.
It is clean and clean-lined. Fixtures are simple, of good quality, convenient and classic. The home’s ten-and-a-half foot ceilings and wide doorways make it light and airy. Its spacious rooms are arranged logically and have plenty of shelves, storage and a couple of nooks and crannies in which to tuck away computers and files. Owner and architect Eric Nelson and his wife, writer Emily Costello, have painted the rooms in colors ranging from ivory to sage to caramel, all complimenting one another and lending a feeling of peace. Systems are new and efficient. A new owner could move in with little work. The price is $589,000.
The lighting in the house is luxurious, as it should be, since it was designed by Nelson, who once worked as a lighting designer in the fashion industry. Electronics in the hallway control all the lighting on the main floor. To top it off, the home has a deck off the kitchen with a back yard that brings in more light from the warm morning sun — the best kind.
The 1860s Second Empire-style brick house is a twin of the next-door building that was featured on the TV program “This Old House” in 2000. The part of the house that is for sale occupies the main level of the house and the basement.
When you enter the house, you’ll notice the original front door’s contemporary steel lever. It hints that what you’ll find on the other side is part contemporary, part old. The hall floor — in fact all the floors on the main level — mixes the original pine and reclaimed pine, all refinished and in fine condition. The large living room to the left is outfitted with minimalist floor-to-ceiling bookshelves suspended on tension wire. The shelves are perfect in that they take up little visual space, but they contrast nicely with the room’s original details. The dining room lies behind the living room.
“The house easily accommodates 50 people at a party or one person reading,” said Nelson.
A half bathroom and the kitchen occupy an ell reached from the end of the spacious hall. The kitchen is pretty, with contemporary cabinets, glass tiles on the back splash, marble counters, a Viking stove and a quiet 18-inch dishwasher that holds what looks like the same amount of dishes as the more standard 24-inch variety does.
A door leads to the deck, which is at the same level as the kitchen floor, making it easy to carry trays of food or little children outside.
Downstairs are two spacious bedrooms with nice windows and good lighting, plenty of storage and a large bathroom with a washer and dryer.
This is a condominium where many kinds of owners could live. A single person would find it spacious and convenient, as would a couple. A couple starting a family could live in it for eight or 10 years before the children grew old enough to want their own rooms or large enough so that the space would seem cramped.
Shea can be reached at 617-242-5775, ext. 204, if you want to make an appointment to see this perfect Charlestown house.

One item on every Charlestown non-profit organization’s calendar is the deadline to apply for mitigation monies from the Charlestown Neighborhood Council, which can help pay for garden supplies to sports equipment to books. Chairman Tom Cunha announced the CNC Mitigation schedule for this year’s applicants at the CNC meeting on September 6.
Application forms, which became available in June, are still available for interested non-profit organizations to apply for this year’s funds totaling $50,000. An applicant must be a non-profit organization and 75 percent of the program’s beneficiaries must be current Charlestown residents. Applicants must submit relevant financial records for the past three years, and if this is not possible, then an existing Charlestown non-profit organization must sponsor the applicant. An application that includes specific plans for funds must be received by the deadline.
Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Sept. 23 and can be mailed to CNC Mitigation Funds, P.O. Box 397, Charlestown, MA 02129.
The CNC Criteria Committee will meet on Oct. 6 to review all applications to ensure that the correct information was provided and all organizations meet the requirements.
All eligible organizations will be notified to present their plans for the funds and will be asked to appear before the committee on either Oct. 17, Oct. 20, Oct. 27, and if needed on Nov. 7. The committee will ask each organization a series of questions and will request follow-up if additional information is needed.
The Mitigation Committee will meet to discuss the applications and to review any new information on Nov. 17. The committee will then meet on Nov. 29 and each member ranks the applicants, divides the funds and submits their decision to the committee. The individual allocations are then averaged together, the results are published and the money is awarded.
On the CNC meeting on Dec. 6 the awards will be announced, and the cycle wraps up in January, when the BRA board meets to officially disburse the monies to the CNC, which in turn gives the funds to the organizations.
The Mitigation fund was created as part of an agreement between the BRA, the Massachusetts Highway Department and the CNC as mitigation for the Charlestown community during the development of City Square. In exchange for the disruption to the local community, the CNC negotiated with each residential and commercial developer to create a formula for contributions to the mitigation fund, which totaled approximately $1 million. The BRA acts as a custodial entity and holds the funds in the Charlestown Mitigation Trust pending CNC distribution decisions.
For further information on the Mitigation Committee awards, please contact CNC Secretary Peggy Bradley at 617-242-2039.

It was standing room only at the first autumn meeting of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council on September 6. The big draw was Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole and her announcement that there will be a full service police station in Charlestown.
O’Toole said that the personnel and services at the station will include 24/7 access, police officers on every shift, Charlestown beat officers, an auto officer to handle motor vehicle issues, a “truck team” that specializes in monitoring truck traffic, and a fuel facility for Charlestown and District A-1. There will also be members of the drug control team, an investigative team and some form of cadet training. There are no plans for holding cells in the design.
The facility, which will replace a small office located on Bunker Hill Street, will be built on a Boston Redevelopment Authority site at Hayes Square.
Because there will be an estimated three-year period while the facility is being built, O’Toole said that there will be an interim solution.
“We’re going to put in a double-wide trailer in Charlestown, with police officer coverage,” she said, adding that in response to complaints regarding police visibility there will be day and evening hours so that people can file reports. The interim facility will be in Hayes Square, the same location as the permanent station. Officers will be on duty from 7:30 am – 11:45 p.m., staff will include undercover officers. O’Toole said that it will be in place by mid-October, according to plans by her department and City Hall.
In response to some concern from residents that the interim solution would become the permanent solution, O’Toole responded that the funding is secure.
“Money for design has been appropriated,” said O’Toole, adding that HKT Architects of Somerville has been selected to design the building. O’Toole added that Patrick Brophy of the Department of Neighborhood Development will be the project manager.
There were some questions regarding the approximately $11 million allocated toward the police station in the city’s 2006 – 2010 city budget, which will cover the design phase of the project. O’Toole said that the entire project has been approved by the city, and that the “bonds have been issued but [the city] doesn’t float the bonds until construction is slated to begin.”
O’Toole said there will be an official announcement of the design phase in October. She estimated that it will take approximately one year to complete the design, followed by a three-to-six month period to allow constructions firms to bid on the project, and for the city’s review and approval process to be completed.
She also said it will take roughly 18 months to build the facility, adding that if there are any surprises on the worksite, it could take longer.
“It’s etched in stone – it’s happening,” said O’Toole, as she described the process, the cost and the plans. “There is going to be a police facility in Charlestown.”

Construction is now underway for the Charlestown Firefighters Memorial Park, which will honor Charlestown-born Boston firefighters who were killed in the line of duty.
According to Tom Cunha, chairman of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council who is among those helping to organize the effort, the park, which will be located in front of the Charlestown Working Theatre at the corner of Bunker Hill and Charles streets, commemorates 13 fallen firefighters dating back to 1904. In its center, a stone monument will have the Firefighter’s Prayer engraved on the back and the names of the firefighters on its front. The park will also contain eight benches, as well as a memorial fountain. Thomas Celata, the developer of the Charles Street Townhouses, on whose grounds the park will lie, originally proposed the idea for the memorial. Sadly, he passed away before his plan came to fruition.
A formal dedication for the park will be held on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 3 p.m. with an interfaith prayer service at St. Francis de Sales Church. Water drawn from Engine #32 will be blessed at the church and then carried to the park, where it will be deposited into the fountain.
Donations for the project should be made payable to the “Charlestown Firefighters Memorial Fund” and sent c/o The Cooperative Bank, 201 Main St., Charlestown, MA 02129.

Last week’s Charlestown Neighborhood Council meeting with Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole showed how important a police station in the town is to everyone, the Boston Police Department and the residents alike. Both groups came in force, so to speak, with at least 10 police officers and more than 100 residents in attendance.
O’Toole’s good news was that her department has named an architect for the station.
The next piece of good news is that there will be an interim station set up at the site of the future station in Hayes Square. Police will staff that station from 7 a.m. to 11:45 p.m.
The third piece of good news was that the new police station will be a real one, with staffing round the clock. It will serve several purposes. Police cars from two districts will refuel there, and cars can be repaired there. This will increase the police presence substantially. Patrol cars wouldn’t have to come from New Sudbury Street if they were needed in Charlestown, since they would already be here.
Town residents have wanted a real police station for many years. There still is time for this plan to be derailed, since design and permitting will take at least a year, choosing a contractor another six months and building the station another year and a half.
But O’Toole’s public commitment to the police station in front of such a large audience is credible.
One more problem, which was brought up by at least one meeting participant, is that the time of day officers will staff the interim station. It is often after 11:45 p.m. that the action gets going, and it usually stops by 7 a.m.
If staffing times need to be changed it appears that O’Toole’s office might be open to it, if community pressure is great enough.
Community leaders should be pleased that their efforts have finally been rewarded. It’s been a long process, but a successful one.