Beacon · Active
31 Larkin Mill Lane
$649,000
3 bd · 2 ba · 1,620 sq ft · 0.2 ac · Built 1925
Porch, kitchen, Main Street
Here's the short version, because I know a lot of you are reading this on the train: a 1925 bungalow on a narrow, tree-lined lane, a six-minute walk to Main Street, a kitchen that was done properly four years ago, and a front porch deep enough to hold a table for six. Three bedrooms, two full baths, a fenced back yard, and a detached garage that currently holds bikes and a kayak instead of a car.
The longer version. Larkin Mill Lane was laid out in the 1920s for the people who worked in Beacon's factories, and 31 is one of the better-built houses on it: true two-by-fours, a full basement with a poured floor, and the low gable, tapered porch columns and exposed rafter tails that tell you exactly what decade you're in. The original fir floors survive in the living and dining rooms, and the built-in bookcases on either side of the brick fireplace still have their leaded-glass doors. The fireplace is decorative now; the sellers had it inspected and capped in 2019 rather than reline it.
The kitchen was renovated in 2021 with a permit: new wiring and plumbing behind the walls, butcher-block counters, a gas range with a vented hood, a dishwasher that's actually quiet, and open shelving where the old upper cabinets blocked the side window. The primary bedroom is upstairs under the roof, opened up with a shed dormer in 2018, with its own bath and a skylight over the shower. The two other bedrooms and the second full bath are on the main floor.
A couple of things to know. Upstairs ceilings slope, as they do in every bungalow, so measure your tall bookcase. The back yard is about 40 by 60 feet: room for a garden and a grill, not a soccer game. And the basement is dry but low, 6 feet 8 inches under the beams.
If you're coming from the city
I moved up from a Brooklyn rental myself, so let me answer the questions I get every week. The Beacon station is about 1.4 miles from the front door: 7 minutes by car, 10 or so on a bike, a 25-minute walk if you like walking. Metro-North's Hudson Line gets you to Grand Central in roughly 80 to 95 minutes depending on the train. The station lot fills on weekdays, so plenty of commuters bike or get dropped off. On weekends, you won't need a car at all. I run the loop from this street down to the river and back on Saturday mornings; it's about four miles and mostly downhill on the way out, which you'll regret on the way back.
Room by room
- Front porch
- 8 × 30, painted floor, beadboard ceiling, porch swing conveys.
- Living room
- 14 × 16, brick fireplace (decorative), built-in bookcases with leaded-glass doors.
- Dining room
- 12 × 13, wide opening to the living room, original fir floor.
- Kitchen
- 2021: butcher block, gas range, dishwasher, open shelving, door to the back deck.
- Bedrooms 2 and 3
- Main floor, 10 × 12 and 10 × 11, each with a closet.
- Hall bath
- Main floor, tub and shower, hex tile floor (2016).
- Primary suite
- Upstairs, 13 × 18 with shed dormer, two closets in the eaves, bath with walk-in shower and skylight.
- Basement
- Full, poured floor, laundry, storage, 6 ft 8 in clearance.
- Garage
- Detached one-car, 1950s, electricity, no heat.
Facts
- MLS #
- 251903
- Status
- Active
- Type
- Single-family, bungalow
- Year built
- 1925
- Interior
- 1,620 sq ft
- Lot
- 0.2 acres (approx. 50 × 175 ft)
- Taxes
- $11,940 (2025)
- School district
- The city's K–12 district
- Heating
- Natural gas boiler (2019), hot-water radiators
- Cooling
- Ductless heat pump upstairs; window units on the main floor
- Electric
- 200-amp service (2021)
- Water / sewer
- City water and sewer
- Roof
- Architectural shingle, 2018 (with the dormer)
- Parking
- Driveway for one car plus detached garage; on-street parking
- HOA
- None
Estimated monthly cost: about $4,330 with 20% down at 6.1% (principal, interest, taxes and insurance). With 10% down, closer to $4,720 before mortgage insurance.
The neighborhood
Beacon's Main Street runs a little over a mile from the river up to the foot of the mountain, and most of what people love about the city sits on or near it: galleries, cafés, a hardware store that still cuts keys, bookshops and vintage stores, and the creek falls at the east end. The houses on the side streets are mostly 1900–1930 frame houses with porches, built for the people who worked in the hat and brick factories. Metro-North at the river end gets you to Grand Central in about 80 to 95 minutes, and the trailhead for Mount Beacon is at the other end of town. Weekends are busy year-round; weekday mornings are quiet.
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