At one point, the road heading into Provincetown splits and separates into Bradford Street and Commercial Street. Just before the split is a property with a 1.2-acre lot, one of the biggest residential parcels in town.
Called Grand View, the house also has an important place in American art history.
Grand View, at 676 Commercial St., is an elegant Queen Anne cottage with a porch that wraps around three sides. The house was built in 1880 by Charles E. Perry and Matilda M. Perry, who once owned large tracts of property in Provincetown’s East End. In 1916, American artist Max Bohm bought the house to serve as a summer residence; He became one of the founders of the artist colony in Provincetown. He died only seven years later, but the house has remained in his family ever since. His wife, Zella Bohm, also an artist, summered here until 1956, a year before her death. The Bohms’ artistic legacy continues through their granddaughter, Anne Packard, and her daughters Cynthia and Leslie.
The price was recently reduced from $4.9 million to $3.99 million.
Its site atop a bluff makes for beautiful views of Provincetown Harbor, Long Point, and Cape Cod Bay, and adjoining municipal conservation land provides added space and privacy. The 2,166-square-foot house has four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
“It is built like a ship,” said Gregg Russo, a realtor for William Raveis who has the listing. “It has been well-maintained through the years, and though it is old, the house is structurally sound. And, like many Victorian houses, it has big rooms on the first floor.”
One of the features of the large downstairs rooms is a five-sided living room window bay with a deep window seat — a welcoming place to read or look at the ocean view. While bays are typical in Queen Anne houses, its five window sides make this one unusual. One of the bedrooms also has a bay window with water views.
The spacious kitchen has white appliances (the stove is gas) and cabinets, and room for a dining table. The two full bathrooms are also roomy; each has a shower/tub combo, one being a clawfoot tub.
“While the kitchen and baths need updating,” said Russo, “You can move right in; everything works.”
Although Max Bohm did not live here in the winter, his descendants did, and the house has central heating, insulated windows, and a fireplace converted to a wood-burning stove inset. A former coal-burning fireplace in the dining room has been covered over, but the graciously proportioned fireplace mantel, fireplace surround, sconces, and mirrored overmantel remain.
A laundry room is located on the first floor; there is also a full pantry, a linen closet, and — suitable for a house overlooking the beach — an outdoor shower. Stairs lead from the house down the bluff to a gate on Commercial Street (Route 6A).