Hopedale pond - Dutcher St. historic Draper Duplex 3-4 bd

About our home
Our home is an historic Draper duplex on Dutcher Street in Hopedale, a small bedroom community on the southeastern edge of Worcester County. Hopedale occupies the valley of the upper Mill River in the greater Blackstone Valley of central Massachusetts. We are roughly equidistant to Boston, Providence and Worcester (http://www.hopedale-ma.gov/public_documents/index ). The Drapers believed that good houses make good workers and created a model self-contained company town with one of the best collections of architecturally significant double houses in the country, built on hills and in valleys in garden settings which preserved the views.

Our duplex sits on Hopedale Pond with terrific pond views and immediate Parklands access. We are within easy walking distance to the Village, Community Center, Library, Town Hall and all three schools: Bright Beginnings Preschool, Memorial Elementary School and Hopedale High School (7-12). Shopping, pharmacies, banks and Milford Regional Hospital are within a mile. Milford and Bellingham offer major malls and many fine restaurants. Forge Park commuter rail to Boston is 15 minutes away; there is easy access to I-495, Route 16 and Route 140.

Draper duplexes won international awards for their good houses make good workers designs in the early 1900s and are a unique architectural asset to Hopedale. This is one of the best in location and condition! Weve added a new roof; new thermal windows throughout; new oil furnace and tank; new half-bath; new kitchen and laundry appliances. A comfortable 3rd floor office overlooks the Pond. A larger third floor space is semi-finished and has been a playroom/work area. There is lots of storage space and a sunny full basement with workshop that opens directly to the yard and pond. The requisite white picket fence encloses a backyard ideal for children. Heat is forced hot air. A/C could easily be added, but Pond breezes are wonderful. We manage with window units, and only need those a few nights a year!

Take a quick tour!
As you enter from the traditional wrap-around screened porch there is an entry area with closet and maple burl stairway to upstairs. The bay-windowed living room has a pocket door and leads to the dining room and new, custom half-bath (with Dutch door!). The kitchen, with new appliances and hardwood floor, overlooks the pond (that was our deciding momentfirst seeing the pond from the kitchen!) The range is a two-oven gas/electric range, great for both parties or a small family meal. There is a built-in China closet and plenty of cabinet space. Upstairs the bright master bedroom also has bay windows and morning sun. The largest bedroom (which could also be the master) has a walk-in closet. All bedrooms have oak hardwood flooring. The third smaller bedroom faces the pond and is very sunny all year. The bath has new floor tile and wainscoting. A walk-in linen closet is outside the bedrooms. In the third floor attic is an office (or fourth bedroom), with its own closet and perch above the pond. The rest of the semi-finished attic has been used for play space and projects, as well as storage. The basement is reached from the kitchen, and is bright and dry. There is a workshop and new high-efficiency Bosch washer and dryer. The oil tank room serves as a garden storage area.

What we think is special!
Summer evenings are magical on the enclosed porch with privacy and pond views. After dinner, walk half a block to watch a ball game, use the playground, play a game of tennis, or take in a free summer bandstand concert. Fall brings spectacular colorful views and winter is a wonderland with XC skiers passing on the town-maintained Parklands. More active? Put in your canoe, go up the pond and its like the Maine woods in the upper Parklands. Walk or XC ski the 2 mile circuit around the pond, or join the fishermen and kayakers in the summer, and the skaters and ice fishermen in the winter. Hopedale also enjoys a lovely golf course, less than two miles away. Southwick Zoo and the biking trails of the Blackstone Valley are also close by. These have been great hits with kids and grandkids!

The home has been well-cared for, with attractive plantings and flowering trees. Off-street parking is ample, and we have Town water and sewer, and all utilities. Our condo association has only the duplex units, and no fees. (Both sides are available, and are similar, but distinct.)

Rental demand in the area is good, and when we moved here our son and grandchildren moved next door. They moved to California for an exceptional job opportunity and we have been renting the second unit. We are retiring closer to family in NY (my wife has just retired as Superintendent of Schools in Hopedale). Weve loved our time in Hopedale and are looking for someone who equally will love the house, the Pond and life in a small, historic and beautiful community. Come discover Hopedale and our Draper duplex!

Note: About Hopedale
Hopedale began when Adin Ballou founded a utopian community here in the 1840s. The Drapers were part of that group and eventually developed the famous Northrup Draper Loom, making Hopedale a major participant in the Blackstone Valleys textile industries. The machining of the Northrup looms made Hopedale the high-tech center of New England in the late 19th century, and by the 1900s the looms were shipped throughout New England, the South and across the world. Though the Draper plant closed in the 1980s, Hopedale has maintained a small industrial base, an airport, and some commercial activity. Hopedale has only 6000 residents, excellent schools, and the classic feel of a family-centered small New England town..