For Sale By Owner

Ideally situated in one of Vineyard Haven's most attractive neighborhoods, this is a two or three bedroom, two-bathroom, custom-built cottage at 203 Franklin Street. The asking price has now been reduced to $689,000 (from $740,000). Originally built in the 1930s by Paul Bangs, who owned the food market on Main Street for many years, it has been dramatically reconstructed over the last five years using the finest materials by a master carpenter with three decades of restoration experience. 95% of the house is new construction. Among its features are: * A large, high-ceiling living/dining/kitchen area that takes eminent advantage of the oasis-like feel of the property, with its wide sky and privacy. * A raised-hearth, custom fireplace made from rare Muddy Creek quartzite hand-selected in Vermont, with an exterior chimney built of old brick from a West Tisbury farmhouse. * A large master bedroom with skylights and a bay window, and a bathroom featuring Vermont slate, with a separate tub and shower and pedestal sink. * A private, second-floor office (or third bedroom) with wide windows and its own balcony. * Hardwood floors throughout, including new Brazilian jojoba in the living room/kitchen, oak in the master bedroom, and a refinished MIT gym floor from the 1800s in the guest bedroom. * Two mahogany and cedar decks. * A rich and healthy surround of birch, fir, cypress, holly, cedar and oak, including heptakodium and Japanese flowering stewardia. * Friendly, quiet neighbors. * Three kerosene monitors for quiet and efficient heating * Insulated throughout with state-of-the-art, high-tech, non-toxic icynene. * A three-bedroom septic, constructed in 1996. * New washer, dryer, refrigerator and dishwasher * New Anderson windows and skylights throughout, most with special UV tinting. * A small basement with a 60-gallon hot-water heater. * Rental income is $2,000 per week in the summer. * Completely rewired electric service, new plumbing, and three cable-TV plugs. Enjoy the light and the quiet, watch the filtered sun roll into the western sky, all within four minutes walk of downtown Vineyard Haven, with its ferry terminal, shopping, movies, churches, banks, public tennis courts, restaurants, and health club. It is also a short walk to the public beach by the Yacht Club and two minutes from the VH library. The lot size is just over 11,000 square feet (10,000 is a minimum building lot). The real estate taxes are roughly $2,900 annually. There is approximately 1500 square feet of living space, not including the two outside decks. For more information, please call 508-693-7878.