Belmont

Situated in the heart of Belmont, the sought-after Belmont Center neighborhood offers both suburban and historic characteristics. Residents are often out walking or biking with their children, checking out the storefronts and restaurants along the historically significant Leonard Street and catching the commuter train. With historic landmarks such as the Thomas Clark House and the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, Belmont Center channels and preserves its rich history while building onto the present with contemporary appeal. With top-performing public schools, annual events and an inclusive community, living in Belmont Center is both accessible and welcoming. “It’s the center of the town and it is the place that connects the whole community,” says Adriana Poole, a Belmont resident and a Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Commonwealth with 8 years of experience. Poole has also been a Belmont town hall member for 14 years. “I absolutely love living in Belmont because it’s a tight and engaged community; people are involved in civic matters and in the well-being of the town. I very much appreciate and take pride in our town.” Single-family homes under 2,000 square feet start at $1 million, and stately Georgian Revivals, Colonial Revivals, split-levels and Shingle Styles often fetch over $3 million. One might also spot several newly constructed contemporary homes around a similar price point. Properties were built throughout the 20th century, and yard sizes are usually between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet. Condos and units in multi-family properties run from $500,000 to under $1 million, and duplexes may go slightly over $1 million. Prospective primary schools include Mary Lee Burbank School, Winn Brook Elementary School and Wellington Elementary School. Students may then attend Chenery Upper Elementary School for fifth and sixth-grade years and continue to Belmont Middle School, which opened in 2023 and has yet to be rated by Niche. Belmont High School shares the same campus as Belmont Middle and offers award-winning arts programs. All area schools, except for the new Belmont Middle School, score an A-plus Niche rating. Residents may restock their pantry at nearby Star Market or Trader Joe’s, and people can shop for fresh produce at the town’s farmers market, which takes place at the Belmont Center municipal parking lot on Thursdays from June to October. Along Leonard Street, locals are often spotted getting a scoop of ice cream at Rancatore's Ice Cream & Yogurt, grabbing a latte at Belmont Caffe or dining Italian-style at the locally known il Casale Belmont. My Other Kitchen is a popular Greek restaurant offering dishes with a Mediterranean-American twist, and Spice Delight serves authentic Indian classics such as chicken masala. Alewife Brook Reservation provides ample outdoor opportunities with walks along the Alewife Brook Pathway. People may also fish at Little Pond or play golf at the nearby Fresh Pond Golf Course. A popular spot for children, Joey’s Park offers a variety of play equipment, from swings and slides to zip line and climbing structures. Kids can play basketball, tennis or soccer at the onsite sports fields. Located slightly west of the community, Beaver Brook Reservation features a bike path, waterfall and hiking trails, and people can enjoy the splash area at the adjacent Beaver Brook Spray Deck & Playground. The Underwood Pool is open in the summer months for residents through a summer membership. Residents can stay updated on local events and news, such as art talks and upcoming exhibits, through the Belmont Media Center. For fun weekend outings, families can visit Belmont Books and find a new read, see exhibits at the Belmont Gallery of Art and attend a history program at the Belmont Historical Society. The town’s music events include the Belmont Porchfest and the Payson Park Music Festival. Belmont Town Day is an annual fall celebration that is filled with family-friendly events, inflatable rides and food and crafts by area vendors. “Town Day is one of the community events that ties the community together; they close down Leonard Street for the festival and there are many family-oriented activities,” Poole says. Belmont Center is approximately 9 or 10 miles from downtown Boston and 4 miles from Cambridge. Being a reputable commuter town, Belmont Station has the “T line,” and the commuter rail, which is serviced by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, is only one stop from Cambridge and two stops to the North Station in Boston. Mount Auburn Hospital is 3 miles southeast of the neighborhood, and Boston Logan International Airport is 12 miles to the east via Interstate 93. In addition, the area has bike lanes throughout for commuter access. Clay Pit Pond Park sits on the site of a former brickyard that operated from the late 1800s to the 1920s. It was also used as a dump site before the town diverted the Wellington Brook and, in turn, created the Clay Pit Pond. The area became a public park in 1963, and today, there is a walking path along the water for public recreation.

Suburban living near major Massachusetts cities In the northwest section of Belmont, Belmont Hill offers its residents a regal, suburban atmosphere on the outer fringes of both Cambridge and Boston. With both cities nearby, the neighborhood laced with mature deciduous trees is mostly residential and lined with classic Colonial homes. “I’ve lived here for 20 years and I love the privacy,” says Lynn MacDonald, a premier agent with Coldwell Banker Realty. “There are highly-educated people around here, like doctors to lawyers with advanced degrees. It's a wonderful place to live. I love it." Harvard is located less than half an hour to the southeast, so accessibility is a prime feature of life in the area. "Belmont Hill is kind of like its own private, quiet, exclusive area,” says Peter Bouchie, an agent with Coldwell Banker Realty. “There's super easy access to major highways and it’s more private and exclusive compared to the commercial side of town. It's like a little oasis in Belmont.” Many million-dollar homes Some of the largest homes and lots in the Belmont area are located in the Belmont Hill neighborhood, with many classic styles from the first half of the 20th century lining its streets. Pricing mostly ranges between just over $1 million to just over $2 million, though some properties have listed for well over the $3 million mark. “There’s a lot of classic houses built in the early 1900s,” Bouchie says. “People have done a beautiful job of keeping that old-school feel and updating the interiors and exteriors as well.” Most have Colonial styling, though ranch homes from the 1950s and Tudor architecture can also be found here. A-plus schooling for Belmont Hill students Winn Brook Elementary School kicks off students’ education in Belmont Hill, scoring an A-plus with Niche. After kindergarten through fourth grade there, enrollment graduates to Winthrop L. Chenery Middle School, which is rated the same and ranks in Niche’s top 20 middle schools in Massachusetts. Belmont High School also receives an A-plus for its education of grades nine through 12, ranks seventh in high schools statewide and offers its students math and science teams, student government and more organizations. Multiple parks and recreational areas Much of the southern and western regions of Belmont Hill are made up of green space, be it for general recreation, observing nature or hitting the links. In the northwestern corner, Belmont Country Club has been in operation for more than a century and offers an 18-hole course, club amenities and event bookings. Visitors to the Mass Audubon Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, near the center of Belmont Hill, can go bird watching, hiking or walking, or even attend its classes and programs. “The recreation is a big draw,” Bouchie says. “People walk at Lone Tree Hill and there’s a garden where people can plant in plots.” Also nearby sits Beaver Brook Reservation, which encompasses more than 50 acres of open space, several ponds and a waterfall, and portions of the Western Greenway trail dip into Belmont Hill as well. An eclectic mix of shops and restaurants The Belmont Hill area has close proximity to Belmont’s town center. “Our downtown center has become very vibrant,” MacDonald says. “We have several restaurants that are wonderful, like il Casale and a few pizza places. There’s nice dress shops, a bookstore, a toy store, a wonderful ice cream shop and a wine store. It's very nice and homey, and some people can walk there – it’s just five minutes from Belmont Hill." From il Casale’s Italian fare to Gregory’s House of Pizza, and from Patou Thai to Rancatore’s Ice Cream & Yogurt, those looking for a bite to eat or a sweet treat can find a number of options in the town center that abuts Belmont Hill. Leonard Street, where all three establishments are located, serves as the main thoroughfare of the area. A longstanding hospital in the south Located near Lone Tree Hill and making up a large portion of Belmont Hill’s southern area, McLean Hospital was founded more than 200 years ago and is affiliated with both Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. “McLean Hospital is such a big part of Belmont,” Bouchie says. “It’s almost two-thirds of the town. There’s easy access since it’s 13 minutes from Back Bay, borders Cambridge just outside Boston and it’s located perfectly to be accessible anywhere in the region.” Just east, on Claflin Street, the Belmont Farmers Market operates on a seasonal basis. Easy accessibility to Route 2 Access to Route 2, which makes up the northeastern-facing line of Belmont Hill, couldn’t be much easier. Spanning the entirety of northern Massachusetts, the road runs from the New York state line to Boston and access interchanges are just beyond both northern corners of the neighborhood. Cambridge is just under half an hour away and Boston is at most a 45-minute drive, and Route 2 serves as the main connection between each city and Belmont Hill. “The big draw is the close proximity to Cambridge and Boston,” MacDonald says. “It’s close to Routes 2 and 95, bus lines run to Cambridge and there’s a train to Boston in Belmont Center.”

With distinguished New England architecture, Waverly Square is a Belmont community with a collegiate feel near Cambridge and Harvard Square. Progressing from a rural commune to a railroad center and a streetcar suburb, the neighborhood today attracts many residents with academic and educational backgrounds and is sought after for its proximity to nearby universities. Locals enjoy convenient commuter access, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly streets, highly rated public schools and recreational opportunities, making Waverley Square a popular destination for those seeking a peaceful lifestyle that is right by the metropolis. “Waverley Square is a vibrant commercial center in Belmont and it’s mostly an urban community,” says Adriana Poole, a Belmont resident who has been a Belmont town hall member for 14 years and is a Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Commonwealth with 8 years of experience. “Trapelo Road makes it easy to connect to other places, and you have the commuter train right in the neighborhood.” With mature trees and landscaped yards complementing the New England homes, residential roads meander through the Belmont community. Home prices start at approximately $1 million for cottages, bungalows and Colonial Revivals under 2,000 square feet. Larger traditional farmhouses, Georgian Revivals, Tudor Revivals, Shingle styles and Colonial-inspired properties go from $1.5 million to over $2.5 million. “Waverley Square has a lot more condos and multi-family buildings than in other parts of Belmont,” says Poole. Duplexes may range from $700,000 to $1.4 million; condos start at $400,000, while units in multi-family homes fetch over $1.3 million. Homes were mostly built from the early 20th century to the present day, and yard spaces are typically between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet. Occasionally, there are several homes with larger lot sizes of 10,000 square feet or up to a quarter acre. While many residences come with garages, street parking is also fairly common. Prospective primary schools include Wellington Elementary School and Daniel Butler School. Students may then attend Chenery Upper Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and continue to Belmont Middle School for their seventh and eighth-grade years. Belmont High School shares the same campus with Belmont Middle, and is known for its award-winning visual and performing arts programs, as well as distinctions such as “America’s Best High Schools” by Newsweek. Apart from the recently opened Belmont Middle School, all area schools have an A-plus Niche rating. Residents can have recreational sports games such as basketball, tennis and baseball at Grove Street Park, and children can enjoy the onsite play equipment. Town Field Playground offers additional pickleball courts and play areas for children in different age groups. Pequossette Park and Danehy Park are nearby with athletic fields and off-leash areas for dogs. Golfing enthusiasts may book tee times at Oakley Country Club or at Fresh Pond Golf Course. Locals can also take their children to Beaver Brook Reservation to see a waterfall, take walks or have fun at the splash pad in the summer months. Popular for its proximity to city centers, Waverley Square is approximately 4 miles from Cambridge and 8 miles from Boston. The Boston Logan International Airport is about 12 miles away via Interstate 90, and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center and Mount Auburn Hospital are about 4 miles southeast of the neighborhood. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority also provides bus and rail services for commuters, including a train station in Waverley Square. In addition, the neighborhood has bike lanes and sidewalks throughout, and many people opt for biking as their main transportation method. “The city has reconfigured Concord Avenue to be more bike-friendly; they moved the bike lanes and now there’s parking between the cyclists and traffic,” Poole says. Various restaurants and retailers are located along the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare, Trapelo Road, including a Star Market for grocery shopping and a CVS Pharmacy. Residents may grab a cup of coffee at Ovenbird Café or some sweets at Moozy's Ice Cream. Area pizzerias and Italian restaurants include Belmont Pizza and Fiorella’s Trattoria. Cafe Vanak serves Persian cuisine, while Spice Delight makes authentic Indian food. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s are across from Fresh Pond in Cambridge, and Watertown Mall is 3 miles away with big-box retailers such as Target. Belmont has several community events throughout the year, including the Belmont Porchfest, which is a music event that takes place on porches and front yards in the neighborhood. The Payson Park Music Festival is a donation-based concert series that runs from June to August. The Belmont Media Center also keeps residents updated on local news, events, art talks and exhibits, providing ample opportunities for people to get involved in the community. Additional events nearby include the Cambridge Arts River Festival, which takes place in the summer, and the Cambridge Carnival.