Suburbanites cross paths with downtown residents

By Sandra Miller
Beacon Hill Times
Twelve homes in downtown boston opened their doors to show the rest of Boston and suburbanites that not only do poele live in Downtown Boston, they do it with style.
On Saturday, about 150 braved the cold to loop along Washington Street to Beach Street, Kingston and Avery Streets, Temple Place to Chauncy Street, to One Devonshire Place, to School Street. Residents were asked not to touch objects in the home, or to take photos; carriages and strollers weren’t allowed into the homes. Many of the homes closed off bedrooms and other rooms, but otherwise professional designers perk up the homes in holiday style, with candles lit, music playing, and snacks provided along many of the counters.
The event was run by the Downtown Crossing Partnership, to show some of the homes that 6,000 people live in. Tour participants paid $25 to tour homes, and to otherwise find that there’s no single-families, although some units like at the Edison qualify as duplexes, that home values – from lofts to Ritz-Carlton units -- range from $520,000 to $5 million. That residents can walk to work, or hop on all of the colors of the T. Their backyard is the Boston Common; Boylston Place is a stumble away. There’s theater and fresh Chinese food. There’s clothing shops and banks. There’s no supermarkets, but there’s specialty markets such as Bina Alimentary, Lamberts marketplace and Chinese markets and fruit stands. And that everyone will breathe a sigh of relief when the One Franklin Filene’s Basement project is completed. Developer John B. Hynes III just dropped 166 condos from its 38-story tower project, which stalled in November. Some of the storefronts temporarily house artists or are hidden behind dozens of pushcarts. Still, the downtown remains lively, and more tenants – retailers, Suffolk and Emerson universities, restaurants – continue to move in.
People on the self-guided tour not only gained entry into homes, they were reminded about how fun it can be to wander downtown on your day off. Many stopped to enjoy the "holiday village" on Summer Street, with a live petting zoo, a carousel, carolers, jazz bands, and Santa Claus photos. They warmed up mid-tour by getting some holiday shopping done, stopping for a coffee or a meal, taking notice of what’s playing at the theaters, and otherwise getting a sense about how convenient and interesting the area is, even if they can’t go to The Basement right now. After the tour, a party was held at the ArtMarket, a gallery set up in an empty storefront until the end of the month.
For a few, it was also an open house for potential buyers.
“I think people in the suburbs maybe left thinking that in the not-too-distant future, they might be telling their adult kids that it’s time to leave,” said Keller Williams Realty’s Diane Davidson, who was showing off the striking Edison loft in a boutique elevator building. She said a few curious peepers expressed some interest in moving downtown someday.
“You have to know people live here, but you don’t think about it,” says Pembroke resident and Newbury Street worker Michele Ouellette. “I get to live vicariously thorugh others.”
She took the tour with a friend, Tramaine Weekes of Randolph, who said, “I’m always trying to pick up ideas.”
Weekes and Ouelette looked around the two-bedroom at Avery Place inside the Ritz Carlton, and asked questions about the unit’s ebonized flooring and unusual country-flair kitchen décor. Interior designer Alexandra Slote, who was watching the unit for the owner, was happy to answer.
“I thought this would be a good way to meet potential clients,” said Slote. “It was a little stressful -- I only had a week to pull this together.” Slote, whose client, a 31-year-old headhunter wanted a hip yet traditional home, quickly, pulled together a clean look from pieces she got at the Design Center. “She wanted a young, hip vibe, but she’s very traditional.”
Slote was a little nervous about watching the unit while strangers tromped around, but felt comfortable with the amount of security provided by the Ritz. She had placed a bow across the entrance of one bedroom, and closed off a second bedroom by placing a chair in front, but she was still surprised when peole insisted on trying to get in anyway.

“They’re trying to attract potential buyers to Downtown Crossing Area, to tell them, ‘You can live here.”

Proceeds from the tour paid for the event’s materials, and otherwise go back into the operating expenses for the nonprofit Downtown Crossing Partnership.
“We’ve been planning this since September,” said Downtown Crossing Partnership’s Kathleen Styger. “The biggest thing is getting the units, making sure you have enough different places.”
Like the first such tour in May, 12 homes opened their doors, but only two are repeats.
“It was fun,” said Mary Ann Ponti, who had shown her Washington Street loft last May to about 150 visitors. “I had two helpers, and I would chat with people. A lot of women came in from the suburbs. Mostly people made comments like ‘I can’t believe people live here, you must be happy living in the middle of everything.’”