In fulfilling my promise of yesterday, I’ve posted one of my new listings today which I believe will be sold in a relatively short period of time. Most people know where River Heights Addition is here in Mason City, but most don’t know where Saint Francis Park Addition is. The reason for this is that most consider River Heights Addition to be all the homes located North of Hwy. 122, West of South Carolina, East of S. Connecticut, and South of East State Street. In actuality, Saint Francis Park Addition is split in two by Hwy. 122 to where half of it’s South of the highway and the other half is North. Most can’t imagine the difference there is in values of those homes when comparing the “north side” to the “south side”. It seems the highway has been an insulating factor for the values of residences located in the River Heights Addition as well as the homes in St. Francis Park Addition which are located on the “River Heights” side. This is why most people don’t realize that part of what they believe is River Heights Addition is in actuality a portion of St. Francis Park. Make sense?
With that said, the home I listed on the north side of the highway is located at 536 – 5th St. SE and when walking in it for the first time, my suspicions were fully confirmed. Since the owner has lived there for over 50 years, there hadn’t been a time for me to see it since I’ve not been a Realtor that long. It has nearly everything a first time buyer in this market would be looking for in its price range. First and foremost, I must say it has been immaculately cared for as well the qualities of the updates. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs, 1 ¾ baths, main floor laundry room, newer thermal windows, steel siding, central air, circuit breaker wiring, and all the appliances staying with the home which includes washers and dryers. The owner mentioned how wonderful it was to raise her family there and be able to enjoy the back deck and rear yard with her flowers and garden. There’s a single garage with opener as well as a storage shed that stay. The wonderful thing about the alley access is that it’s paved! With all the alleys there are in Mason City, there are too few of them paved. Having a paved alley makes for a nice finishing touch to a homesite. There’s a very interesting original feature of this home which I’d never seen before. There’s a rounded plaster wall in the living room which on its rounded backside is the entrance to the upstairs. I mentioned to the owner how charming it was and she said, “Whenever we’d have company, there would always be someone commenting on it.” Whomever created that rounded wall must have been a master plaster/builder who wanted to immortalize his skills. Even the oak baseboard was steam bent to fit the turned wall. After taking the photos and walking back through the home, I decided I’d fallen in great “like” of the home and while driving away I said to myself, “I hope whomever purchases that home will realize how well it’s been updated and maintained and’ll work to keep it that way.” I now know why every time this home had caught my eye when driving past, and now fully understand it wasn’t just those charming picture windows, but rather the whole package. I’ll certainly say today was the day a curtain began rising on an absolutely charming home in Saint Francis Park Addition. Make sure to click on the link below to view this beauty.
