Wollaston

Wollaston Street

2000-2005

Leslie returned to real estate development in 2000 by purchasing 40 undeveloped narrow lots which were laid out in 1920 but never built out because of a lack of water and sewer as well as the fact that after almost 90 years, the lots were now owned by 18 different owners.

Leslie tracked down all the owner, made offers to purchase lots and then built the street to private way standards.

Over the next four years, she built 35 Craftsman style homes.

Inspired by the 1920’s Craftsman-style homes in Longmeadow where she lives, Leslie designed several home plans which offer the charm, simplicity of line and harmony of these houses from an earlier era, while providing open floor plans, spacious kitchens, multiple bathrooms, plenty of closets, an optional day-lit family room in the lower level and a one and one-half car detached garage. Craftsman-style homes were designed to appear low to the ground and compact so that they would blend into their natural surroundings. As a result they commonly had a single-story roof line and a relatively narrow front which minimized the home’s impact on its surroundings.

Although not imposing like the houses of the Victorian era, craftsman homes provide far more living space then their modest frontage belies. The designs of this era called for craftsman homes to be deeper that they were wide and to contain large second floor dormers front and back with plenty of windows and under-the-eves storage space.

The homes sold for between $225,000 and $340,000.