A Cape Cod, MA, farmhouse-style house that sold after only 10 days had been in the same family for over 90 years.
The listing at 9 Oxbow Road in East Falmouth, built in the 1930s, had never had a renovation other than maintenance and some updates, so it not only retained its historical charm, but was priced to move at $399,900 on a street where $1 million homes are the norm.
“The home will require significant improvements, ideal for contractors, investors, or ambitious homeowners prepared to undertake a comprehensive renovation,” says the listing. “A true hidden gem just waiting to be refinished and brought back to life.”
Many were up for the challenge.
“Oh my god, nonstop, nonstop interest,” Sotheby’s International Realty-Falmouth Brokerage listing agent Kerrie Marzot tells Realtor.com®. “Literally over 40 showings. Multiple, multiple offers. It was very, very busy.”
Pictures show the time-capsule quality of the house, including all the original wood kitchen cabinetry and hardware, original wood floors throughout, and a large ceramic tub in the pink bathroom.
The home, which also boasts a “farmer’s porch” and detached two-car garage, sits on a .21-acre lot and is surrounded by the Cape’s famed beaches, including Menauhant Beach.
But the water is far enough away that the buyers won’t have to worry about the beach erosion that has seen the value of some homes on the Cape plummet.
The very reasonable price in an area with a $1.6 million median tag also reflects that the split-level home not only needs “a tremendous amount of work” including a new septic system, but is next to a highway (Rt. 28) with Cape Cod Winery—which the agent says “can get noisy”—across the street.
“That is why the price was the price,” she says. “There’s also only one bathroom and it’s on the second floor, which is kind of funny as well.”
Built before en-suite bathrooms for each bedroom was the luxury norm, the new owner will likely want to add another, given there are three bedrooms.
While town records indicate that the house was erected in 1936—and Marzot says that legally this date must be used in the sale—the reality is the house is older since it was built by the 93-year-old seller’s family.
“She literally grew up in this house,” the agent says of the seller, who has seen enormous changes to her Teaticket neighborhood over a near-century, not only of value—there has been a +114.5% increase in Falmouth properties from just January 2020—but topography.
“I don’t think Oxbow Road even existed in the 1930s, quite frankly,” she says.
Marzot won’t say the final price as the sale is pending, but does reveal that the house went to the highest bidder, and that the elderly seller was represented by an attorney.
The buyers, whom the agent can’t name, will not tear the home down but plan to renovate it—turning it into a modern farmhouse, she says.
“It’s very unusual to find a house that has been in the family for generations, but a house like this, owned for over 90 years? It’s very special.”
