52 Park St #3, Somerville, MA 02143

Available 9/1 (or the weekend before) and secretly situated in a neat but otherwise nondescript three-family is this giant, open plan, top floor one-bedroom apartment that has had only one set of tenants after recently being gutted and custom remodeled with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, original century+ old hardwood in two rooms and new hardwood in a room added as part of a building addition. There are high ceilings throughout, so if you're tall enough to raise your arms and hit the ceiling in most buildings, don't worry about that here. Depending on how long your strides are and how snowy it is, the building is a 10-15 minute walk from Harvard, Porter, Inman, and Union squares--five minutes from either Market Basket or the Whole Foods on Beacon. If you've got a good arm you could probably hit Brooklyn Boulder with a tennis ball from the deck (please don't try this). Should you still need a car, Park St. is one of the few in the city where on-street parking is remarkably easy. You DO have to be careful about street cleaning days--it's Somerville after all. You can easily and quickly walk to Harvard Yard, Divinity School, Law School, Graduate School of Design, etc., and the 83 bus picks up a block away to get to Central Square. If you have ever asked the following questions about apartments you visit, you need to see this place: "How are two people supposed to work together in this kitchen?" This one is designed for the preparation of massive, elaborate meals--complete with a raised-counter peninsula for bar-type seating--so if you're an aspiring gourmet, this is your dream apartment kitchen. You could have every gadget known to man set up on the counters all the time and there would still space for prep, cleaning, and plating. Oh, and cabinet space? Far beyond what is necessary, approaching unreasonable, if not ridiculous. "Why on earth is the laundry coin-op if I'm paying thousands of dollars for an apartment? Does this place need my quarters too? Who even has quarters anymore now that there's an app for parking meters?" There's laundry in the basement shared by the three apartments' residents. It's free. Be nice. "I have a cat. Where am I supposed to put the [removed] litterbox?" We built a nook in the bathroom that fits a litterbox below shelving for storage. It only makes sense. "Am I going to have to haul this dresser up three flights of stairs?" Well you could, but we had a dresser built in to the wall in the L-shaped bedroom, so that should take care of a lot of your storage needs. "How much does it cost to heat this place?" (YOU SHOULD BE ASKING THIS) Nothing. Heat, HW, gas, and water/sewer are included. You are responsible for your interwebs though (take advantage of having access to RCN for their remarkably good customer service, or if you do the DirecTV thing, there's already a dish mounted outside). "Am I supposed to come with first, last, security deposit, and fee all at once?" You're not. I do not collect last month's rent in advance, and one half-month's rent of security deposit can be paid up front or over a few months. This money gets held in an interest-bearing savings account (it's the law). I am the building owner. There is no fee for talking to me. "This sounds great. What's the catch?" Well, we are near a commuter rail line, so you can hear it when it rumbles by. It's the sort of thing you'd notice for a week and then never again. If you have more questions or would like to see the place, you know what to do. I can do lease lengths of whatever duration makes sense for you. If this place looks like it's right for you but the price is wrong (insert Happy Gilmore clip here...or don't), visit anyway and make an offer as to what you think is fair and I'll see what I can do. Good luck in your search! nb: pics are from before current tenants moved in, so that's what it'd look like empty. It's currently furnished but won't be when you move in. Update: The current tenants have