'House filled with love': Pink Boston home on Zillow Gone Wild gives Barbie dream home vibe

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — “Magical wonder” is how Realtor Shannah Hall Franckum described a home she recently sold that was featured on Zillow Gone Wild, a newsletter that features unique home listings.

Chef Deborah Hughes, co-owner of UpStairs on the Square, listed the whimsical three-bedroom, 1.5-bath home in May with an asking price of $1.47 million. It sold on June 8 for $1.93 million, Zillow records show.

The home is a mecca of brightly colored art at every turn, similar to Hughes’ work as a celebrated chef who has occupied the home for 21 years.

All surfaces, including the floors and ceilings, are painted in high-gloss colors curated by Hughes, including bright shades of pink, corals, greens, purple and gold leaf. The home's exterior is also painted pink with deep purple trim. After using a door knocker shaped like a fairy’s leg flanked by wings, visitors of the home are greeted by a grand staircase painted with a cheetah pattern and teal minty green railing.

“Each wall is actually an original work of art, all conceptual, original art,” Hughes shared.

Exterior front view of 42 Spring St., Somerville, listed for $1,475,000.

Staircase with a painted cheetah pattern at 42 Spring St., Somerville.

Front porch of 42 Spring St., Somerville.

Primary bedroom of 42 Spring St., Somerville.

Dining room of 42 Spring St., Somerville.

The kitchen has lime-green cabinetry, trimmed with purple accents, and a black-and-white checkered floor. It overlooks a backyard garden and three-season sun porch.

Each bedroom on the second floor has a unique color scheme. The primary bedroom, which is painted pink, has its own dressing room with mirrored closets and offers views of the Boston skyline and Cambridge Sanders theater. The floor of the primary bedroom is painted in the same cheetah pattern as the stairs.

“It’s a house filled with love, and you feel that the minute you walk in the door,” said Franckum, a member of the Carol Kelly Team for Compass Real Estate in Cambridge.

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A gardener's delight

The property has what is considered a large backyard for Somerville. Franckum said Hughes, an avid gardener, planted herbs, perennials, fruit trees, rose bushes and flowering plants that rabbits do not like to eat, such as allium, lamb's ear, pansies, angel wings, and mandevilla.

Exterior backyard view of 42 Spring St., Somerville.

Kitchen of 42 Spring St., Somerville.

Three season porch of 42 Spring St., Somerville.

History of the home

According to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, 42 Spring St. is a survivor of the original George O. Brastow residential development in Somerville's Spring Hill section. Brastow was among the city's original settlers. The nine-room home is a Greek revival antique historic cottage built in 1860, the last year of Greek revival design, according to Franckum.

The house was built by Charles Pond, a local painter/builder. What a wonder.

Contributing: Camille Fine, USA Today

This article originally appeared on wickedlocal.com: Boston listing on Zillow Gone Wild giving Barbie dream home vibe