15 Ripley Ln, Weston, MA 02493

House was expanded and renovated in 1994-96 by Silva Bros. Construction & Bechtel, Frank, Erickson architects, both of This Old House fame. Includes new 3000 sq. ft. outbuilding with 1000 sq ft, northern-lit art studio. House has an 1100 sq. ft. heated, fully equipped woodshop built & occasionally used by the Silva Bros. Outbuilding (1996) & columned porch/ outdoor dining area (2002) both featured in This Old House magazine. Traditional New England clapboard style home with open floor plan based on space & light, with liberal use of large custom Marvin windows arranged to take advantage of stunning natural views. Complete privacy - house is sited at end of 350 ft. drive and is completely surrounded by mature forest. Four acre parcel with 671 ft. Ripley Lane frontage could be divided into 2 Weston "Residential A" lots without a variance. The grounds include a variety of garden areas located on a number of different levels that can be viewed from the house's two fully glazed Edwardian-style sunrooms. The 3-room master suite with fireplace, walk-in closet and full bath counts as only one of the house's 3 listed bedrooms. Neighborhood Description Less than a quarter mile long, Ripley Lane is the only surviving remnant of Weston's colonial-era "Jericho Road", which originally extended 1 1/2 miles south to the Boston Post Road, until it was closed in 1785 because it was believed to be haunted. The Lane has 6 homes ending in a 1740 farm, abutting 900 acres of Weston conservation land. It is still possible to walk from Ripley Lane 1 1/2 miles south to Weston Center and the Post Road without ever crossing a road. In the 18th & 19th centuries, following the English tradition of naming agricultural parcels, 15 Ripley Lane was known as "Swail Orchard". It is still so named in its parcel description in Middlesex County's Hall of Records. The parcel remained an orchard until the 1940s, and is still bounded by its original colonial-era stone walls. The word "Swail" in "Swail Orchard" refers to the wooded valley which runs thru the western portion of the parcel. A small, year-round stream courses thru the parcel's valley, with a colonial-era earthworks dam (now breached) at the northern end of the property. Bounded by Weston's Jericho Woods to the south, the College Woods to the east, and the Ogilvie Woods and Lincoln's Audubon land to the north & west, the Ripley Lane area has one of the lowest population densities in Eastern Massachusetts. Because the parcel's riparian valley has never been farmed, it contains some of Weston's oldest oaks and hickories - truly remarkable for an area that is less than 15 miles from Boston's waterfront.