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Site Preparation

Before anything went up, the corner had to be read carefully. The lot at Concord Avenue and Griswold Street is 9,002 square feet, and the plan committed nearly half of it to open space — so the first decisions were about what stays, not what goes. Two mature canopy trees were identified for preservation and protected in place for the duration of construction. The existing structure came down, the site was cleared and surveyed, and erosion control and tree protection fencing went in before a single machine started digging.

• Parcel9,002 SF corner lot
• ApprovalsBuilt as-of-right — no zoning relief required
• PreservedTwo mature canopy trees protected in place

Excavation & Foundation

Four separate holes, four separate foundations. Because these are detached houses rather than a single building carved into units, each residence sits on its own footprint with its own footings and foundation walls — and the gaps between them, 13 feet 6 inches and 10 feet 6 inches, had to be held precisely from the ground up. Excavation went deep enough to give every home a full finished garden level rather than a utility basement, which is where the fourth bedroom, full bath, family room and laundry eventually land.

• FoundationsFour independent structures
• Separation13′-6″ and 10′-6″ between buildings
• Below grade730–768 SF of finished space per home

Framing & Structure

Three stories above grade went up on each of the four foundations, and the shape of the neighborhood-scaled decision became visible for the first time: at 34 feet 6 inches, these homes sit a full ten and a half feet below the 45 feet zoning allows. The floor plates went in at roughly 740 to 780 square feet each on the first and second levels, with a smaller third floor given over entirely to the primary suite — and the roof framing shaped to carry a private terrace off each one.

Inside, the stair is the piece that tells you what kind of house this is. It runs all four levels — garden floor to roof terrace — framed open so that from the bottom tread you can see daylight at the top. Fitting that into a footprint this size is most of the reason the plans went through as many revisions as they did.

• Height34′-6″ against 45′ allowed
• StoriesThree above grade plus garden level
• Third floorFull-floor primary suite, each home
• Above grade1,949–2,042 SF per residence

Roof & Weather Envelope

Dried in. Pella windows set, the high-reflectance cool roof and terrace membranes installed, and the full weather barrier closed up so the interiors could begin. The roof specification here is doing double duty — it is a performance decision as much as a material one, carrying a solar reflectance index of 98 and contributing to a Cambridge Cool Factor score of 3.24 against a passing threshold of 1.0.

• WindowsPella throughout
• RoofHigh-SRI cool roof — SRI 98 initial, 87 aged
• Cool Factor3.24 score · 1.0 required

Rough-In, Insulation & Drywall

The systems that make these homes all-electric went in behind the walls: air-source heat pumps for both heating and cooling, energy recovery ventilation bringing filtered fresh air into every room, and electrical serving a building with no gas line to it at all. Cambridge’s fossil-fuel-free declaration applies here, and the homes are built to the Massachusetts Specialized Stretch Code. Once inspections cleared, insulation and drywall closed the walls for good — followed by door casings and trim.

It is worth saying plainly what is now invisible. There is no gas line to this property. Heating, cooling, hot water and cooking all run on electricity, and the ventilation system brings filtered outside air into every room rather than relying on an open window. Those decisions are permanent, they were made before the walls closed, and they are the difference between a house that meets code and one built to the Commonwealth’s Specialized Stretch Code.

• HeatingAir-source heat pump · 10 HSPF2
• CoolingAir-source heat pump · 20 SEER2
• VentilationERV fresh-air system
• CodeMA Specialized Stretch Code, HERS-rated

Interior Finishes

This is where the homes stop being construction and start being houses. Flooring is going down — wide-plank Woodland Reserve white oak in a natural finish, already laid through the upper floors — and cabinetry is being set — the kitchens built around Calacatta Claudia stone and panel-ready Thermador appliances, the wet bar that appears in every residence, and the bath program that shifts deliberately as you move through the house: brushed gold in the third-floor primary suite, bronze on the second floor, matte black at the garden level. Large-format matte porcelain, 60-inch alcove soaking tubs, and millwork being fitted room by room.

Cabinetry arrives crated and labelled by room, and every run is checked against an Elleganza shop drawing held up in the space before anything is fixed in place. It is an unglamorous step almost no buyer ever sees, and it is the one that decides whether a kitchen reads as built for the room or dropped into it.

• KitchenThermador induction · Calacatta Claudia stone
• MetalsBrushed gold → bronze → matte black by floor
• Every homeWet bar, laundry room with undermount sink
• CurrentlyFlooring installed above; cabinetry and appliances staged

Grading, Utilities & Landscape

Outside, final grading and the last utility work are running in parallel with the interiors. This is the phase that delivers the thing the site plan has been promising since the beginning: 4,449 square feet of open space on a lot where zoning asked for less than two-thirds of that, and roughly a third of the parcel left permeable at grade. Sixteen trees new and transplanted, joining the two that were protected on day one. Techo-bloc patio pavers, reclaimed boulders and river stone, and six-foot horizontal board fencing defining each home’s own garden.

• Open space4,449 SF — 49.4% against 30% required
• Permeable32.3% of the lot at grade
• Planting16 new and transplanted trees
• ParkingFour off-street spaces, EV-ready · bike parking

Fixtures, Appliances & Final Trim

The last layer. Appliances set and connected — the 36-inch Thermador Professional Induction ProRange, the Masterpiece insert hood, panel-ready refrigeration and dishwashing, the microwave drawer. Plumbing fixtures hung against their floors: the wall-mount pot filler and 32-inch workstation sink in the kitchen, the ceiling-mounted solid brass faucet in the powder room. Paint, final trim, hardware, and the roof terraces finished out.

• RangeThermador 36″ Professional Induction ProRange
• Refrigeration36″ Freedom French door, panel-ready
• SinkRuvati 32″ workstation ledge undermount
• TerracesPrivate roof terrace finished per home

Commissioning & Delivery

Every system tested and balanced, the HERS rating issued, final inspections cleared and the certificate of occupancy in hand. Then the part that matters: keys. Four homes, four sets, four households on one corner in West Cambridge.

• VerificationIndependent HERS rating & blower door testing
• CommissioningHeat pump and ERV systems balanced
• FinalCertificate of occupancy & walkthrough