Hyde Park Painters — Hyde Park, Boston

Hyde Park was incorporated in 1868 from parts of Dorchester, Milton and Dedham, and it voted in 1911 to join Boston, the last town to be annexed. The City's open space plan traces its growth to mills on the Neponset River, where a paper mill and dam went up in 1714. Later the trolley and railroad brought in commuters who wanted lawns and room. Between 1887 and 1912 the population went from 1,512 to 15,000.

In the 2000 Census, single-family homes made up 48% of the housing stock and two-unit houses another 24%, and 59% of households owned their homes, one of the highest rates in the city.

The mix changes from street to street. Census Tract 1403, which includes part of Fairmount Avenue, has 2,787 homes: 27% are detached single-family houses and 36% are in three- and four-unit buildings, with a median build year of 1945. Around Summit Street (Tract 1402.02), 37% are detached singles, the median year is 1953, and 61% are owner-occupied.

Fairmount Hill was developed starting in 1856 by the Fairmount Land Company and a group called the Twenty Associates. WalkBoston describes it as a Victorian enclave on steep streets above the Neponset, where several of the first twenty homes still stand.

Victorian trim on a hillside

Where Victorian brackets, porch railings and window casings survive on Fairmount Hill, each piece has to be scraped and primed by hand. The steep streets add work too: ladders and staging have to be leveled on a slope before anyone climbs, and the downhill side of a house can be a full story taller than the front.

Three- and four-unit buildings

In Tract 1403, 35.7% of homes are in three- and four-unit buildings and only 33.1% are owner-occupied. On a three-story building, an exterior job can mean stacked porches, three floors of windows and several households to coordinate. Owners who live in one unit and rent the others should plan access to every porch and window with their tenants.

Lead under the older coats

In Tract 1403, 81% of homes were built before 1980, and the federal ban on lead house paint dates to 1978. For any scraping on an older house, lead-safe containment is required; our lead-safe page explains the Massachusetts rules.

Newer singles around Summit Street

In the Summit Street tract the median year built is 1953, so half its homes are newer than that, and 37.4% are detached singles. A house from the 1950s or later rarely has Victorian-style trim to deal with. If yours has had vinyl or aluminum siding put over the original wood, look closely at the trim, doors and windows, since those are often the only painted surfaces left.