A $1.2 million residence for sale in Slide River is lacking one factor some could obtain unnerving — it was created with out nails.
The residence, called “The Climbing Sun,” was crafted working with a Japanese system regarded as “kanawa tsugi,” which bonds wooden in interlocking joints, fairly than nailing it together.
It is a seminal Japanese Arts and Crafts house and was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, who was an influencer of Frank Lloyd Wright. Cram also taught at Massachusetts Institute of Know-how till he retired in 1930.
He is known for creating “buildings of the United States Armed forces Academy at West Position and the Gothic transformation of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York Town,” according to the Cultural Landscape Foundation.
The house in Fall River, created in 1894, has “beamed ceilings, beautiful woodwork, a skylighted central staircase, 4 operating fireplaces, house offices on the two the 2nd and 3rd floors, as very well as 6 bedrooms,” in accordance to the listing.
It was developed using 26 species of wood and also has the authentic Walnut doorways, which are now extra than 127-several years-outdated.
Recent proprietor Mary Wheeler retired this summer season, and her and her spouse are seeking to downsize.
“Even even though we like this household and it’s quite snug, it’s far more than we want to cope with,” she mentioned. “We just want to have one thing more simple.”
She remembers the moment they walked by way of the door for the very first time and how spectacular it was.
“We walked in and seemed at the wood, and my husband’s whispered in my ear and said, ‘We’re heading to obtain this home,’” Wheeler stated.
She pointed out there is so numerous intricate details to the house, this kind of as hen carvings in the wooden in the course of the household.
A home called “The Increasing Solar” is for sale in Slide River for $1.2 million.
One more detail is that one particular of the wood poles in the eating space is a tree trunk, she claimed. There are also stones powering each and every of the four fireplaces, which assist heat the total dwelling.
Wheeler and her spouse have labored to restore the residence because they acquired it in 2011 for $295,000. At that time it had pink shag carpet and was adorned in a Victorian fashion, “which was the age of the residence but not naturally the style of the residence,” she reported.
They redid the floors, adjusted the wallpaper and more.
One of the issues they have not restored is the teahouse.
“I have a photograph of the outdated tea dwelling which is magnificent,” Wheeler mentioned. “And I generally believed it would be excellent to turn the tea household back into a tea property.”
The teahouse door is tiny, on the other hand. This is traditional for Japanese teahouses, which typically have very low, compact openings so that samurai would will need to de-arm in advance of entering.
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu explained to the Japan Periods that eliminating their weapons would imply that “everyone is equal in the tearoom.”
She hopes the future proprietors like and treatment for the home as considerably as she does.
“Someone who definitely has a vested fascination in getting care of this. It is lasted for 127 decades without the need of white paint, and I surely would not want anybody to buy it and convert it into condos,” she mentioned. “They have to occur listed here and value what this is.”
Yet another dwelling by Cram is on the industry in Maine.
The Ledges at Whittemore Dwelling is on the market for $2.5 million in York, Maine.
“Everywhere there is architectural curiosity: the syncopation of the ribbon windows the opposing curves of the triple gable window and adjoining tower the two 1st-floor home windows above the decrease doorway,” the listing states. “Even the smallest aspects command interest.”
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