5 Things You Might Not Know About Roslindale

Although our office is in Jamaica Plain, we also serve all of Greater Boston and specialize in its many eclectic neighborhoods including Dorchester, West Roxbury and Roslindale. In fact, our team member Mike Wood lives in Roslindale and can tell you so many of the ins and outs of this historic town. In the meantime, we’ve picked out some of our favorite Roslindale facts to help you get to know the area a little bit better.

Roslindale Was Named for Its Pastoral Beauty

The name “Roslindale” actually refers to the hills and dales in the neighborhood that make the area look like something straight out of a Thomas Cole painting. Prior to the building of trolley tracks and Forest Hill Station, Roslindale’s commercial district was surrounded by peacefully sloping hills and framed by the Blue Hills in the distance.

Legend has it that a native of the UK suggested the name because the terrain reminded him of the village of Roslin, Scotland. Though these natural surroundings are now blending into Roslindale’s trendy and bustling “downtown” (Roslindale Village to newcomers, and Rozzie Square to locals), the town still boasts over 214 acres of green space.

There’s a Very Cool Art Scene

Jamaica Plain gets all the credit for being the mural center of Greater Boston, but Roslindale has a lot of cool street art as well. In the Village you can spot a piece inspired by the Red Sox and the great win of 2004 that reversed the curse of bad luck for our hometown team. Other murals celebrate “shopping local” and draw inspiration from ancient Asian scrolls.

Off the wall, Roslindale has a flourishing set of artist’s studios that host Open Studios a few times a year to bring the community into their workspaces. In the past, over 100 artists have participated in these weekends, proving that you don’t have to hit the MFA to find beautiful local artworks.

It’s Part of Boston

A lot of urbanites are trained to think of anything outside of the North and South Ends as “suburbia” but Roslindale is considered a neighborhood in Boston. And guess what, it’s very easy to get to all the other areas of the city!

The Forest Hills T station on the Orange Line is just down the street from Roslindale and the Roslindale Village Commuter Rail stop is smack dab in the middle of town. There’s also a huge network of busses connecting Roslindale to other areas of Boston. If you’re driving, it’s a quick 15-minute trip to Fenway Park from the Village—easy access everywhere!

It’s a Book-Loving Neighborhood

When the Roslindale branch of the Boston Public Library went under construction in late 2019, the community rallied to find an alternative literary source. As a result, Little Free Libraries have been popping up all over town for neighbors to swap books and explore new genres during the shutdown.

The Friends of Roslindale Branch Library monitor the 15 little libraries to make sure they’re always stocked and well taken care of, but it’s the residents themselves who keep the project going by dropping off and picking up books. The library may be inaccessible, but the community spirit of Roslindale’s book lovers is alive and well.

It Still Boasts Single-Family Homes

In Boston, it’s an extremely tricky venture to find a free standing single-family home for sale. As areas like JP and Dorchester become trendier, prices increase and availability shrinks. But in Roslindale, where urban and suburban truly find a balance, there are still single-family homes to be found that may need a TLC to update for 2020 tastes, but they won’t necessarily break the bank.

That’s right, you actually can live in a place that has a thriving restaurant scene, a sea of breweries, and avant-garde street art, while also owning your own home—maybe even, dare we say it, with a yard all its own?

Interested in learning about available properties in Roslindale? We’d love to take you on a tour. Shoot us an e-mail at nextdoor@unlimitedsir.com.

Rags to Riches Home Edition

You may remember 2011 as the year of Occupy Wall Street protests, the royal wedding between Kate Middleton and Prince William, and an unfortunate nationwide obsession with cake pops. It was also an interesting year in the Jamaica Plain housing market. While everyone else in town was playing it safe and securing their assets, Amy Vanko decided to take a big risk: she bought the most neglected house on the block at 11 Enfield Street. And she did it with glee.

Amy didn’t see the dilapidated kitchen, dirty walls, or ancient, peeling wallpaper. She looked past the closed-off, tree-shaded façade that resembled the home of every old hermit in any horror movie. Her parents renovated every home she lived in growing up. Following in their footsteps, she envisioned her dream, a single-family home in this vibrant neighborhood of Jamaica Plain.

That year, Amy renovated the entire home. She didn’t gut it outright—she wanted to preserve the home’s historic details—but she hired the right people to help her modernize the space and its utilities in a radical way. And Amy has continued to improve on the property ever since.

Now when you approach 11 Enfield, you feel the warmth of the spring sun shining into the new open porch, where Amy and her family have welcomed costumed kids on Halloween. Inside you can still experience the charming historical details, like the original wood floors, high ceilings, functioning pocket doors, and an original built-in china cabinet in the dining room. But instead of being stuck in the past, Amy’s upgrades have bumped the home into a much more stylish present.

The convenient second floor laundry room, deep, spacious closets are enough to make any homebuyer fall in love. But perhaps the most entrancing upgrade is the finished third floor, which went from a dark and dusty attic to a spacious and private master suite. Solar powered skylights with electronic blackout shades flood the space with light. The open concept floor allows for a resident’s interior creativity to run wild and the bright bathroom features a walk-in shower and double vanity.

Amy is creative, artistic, and a talented crocheter, and perhaps that’s how she was able to have such a vision for the property. Thanks to her efforts, 11 Enfield’s next owner will enjoy the best of both worlds in their newly renovated, four-bedroom Victorian gem.

Think you could be the next artistic eye to occupy 11 Enfield? Call us at 617-942-1741 to schedule a private showing.

Why Boston is Better Than New York City

Let’s stop playing; Boston is just better than New York City. We’re not biased at all. This is a completely impartial and ethical list of reasons why Beantown will always be a chowder-soaked cut above the Big Apple.

History

It’s very cute that New York has the American Stock Exchange building (built in 1921 which is basically yesterday by Boston standards) and the Flatiron building, 1901, but we’ve got the Freedom Trail, the Bunker Hill Monument, the Boston Tea Party site, the African Meeting House, and about a million other sites that represent the foundation of America. In history class, it’s Boston that takes the main stage. Seriously, what was New York even doing while we were winning the Revolutionary War?

Parks

New York loves to talk about Central Park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, but frankly, that was amateur hour. After making an easy buck on that project, Olmstead came back to Boston, where he lived thank you very much, and designed the true gem of his career: the Emerald Necklace. The Emerald Necklace is 1,100 acres, versus 840 in Central Park, and it elegantly loops through the city of Boston, rather than awkwardly dividing it down the middle. Ahem. If you want to learn more about Olmsted, you don’t go to Brooklyn, you come to Brookline where the Frederick Law Olmsted Historic Site is.

Food

Boston’s Union Oyster House (1826) is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in America and you can still pop in for a bowl of clam chowder in 2020. Show us a restaurant in New York City that’s had that kind of longevity. New York may be known for pizza and bagels (though anyone who says that hasn’t been to Boston’s North End or Kupel’s in Coolidge Corner) but we’ve got clam chowder, Boston cream pie, baked beans, frappes, lobstah rolls (that’s lobster, people) and more. New York can keep their overrated, overpriced excuse for pizza; we’ll be on Martha’s Vineyard throwing a clambake with the Obamas.

Escape Routes

Manhattan is literally an island. The closest area you can flee to for a weekend getaway is Brooklyn, and frankly no sane getaway includes ironic beards and $15 lattes. From Boston you can easily drive to the beaches of Cape Cod, the mountains of New Hampshire for skiing or hiking, the rolling hills and cultural oasis of The Berkshires or the historic mansions of Newport. We’ve got mad vacation spots just a short drive from our beautiful city. And as Whitey Bulger would tell you, it’s important to have an easily accessible and scenic escape route.

Brains, Baby

Boston is really, really smart. Perhaps you’ve heard of a little school named Harvard University. In fact we’ve got over 100 colleges in the Boston area, including MIT, one of the top universities in the world for cutting edge technology. In fact, the Global Innovation Agency named Boston the most innovative city in the United States. Massachusetts has produced 62 Nobel Prize winners, compared to New York State’s measly 51. New York almost never makes the list of smartest cities in the country, probably because they’re too busy wishing they had gorgeous foliage like New England.

Real Estate

Even our real estate is better. Our houses have more character and architectural diversity. Our high rises have better views. It’s only 20-25 minutes to our financial district on the ‘T’ from even the furthest outskirts within the city proper (Hyde Park, West Roxbury). You can still get an apartment with outdoor space for under $3,000/month or buy a 2 bedroom condo with parking for under half a million dollars in several locations. Plus you won’t find the Nextdoor Realty Team at any Sotheby’s International Realty in NYC because NRT’s home is Boston.

If you are looking for a home in Boston you should contact the Nextdoor Realty Team. We can talk more smack about NYC (all in good fun, of course), grab a cup of chowdah together, and talk about helping you find the home of your dreams in this historic city.