Home of the Week
Composer Charles Martin Loeffler, who worked with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, moved to this house to be a “gentleman farmer.”
The home rests on a 1.29-acre lot. Matthew David Photography
274 South St., Medfield
$1.5 million
Style Farmhouse
Year built circa 1840
Square feet 3,976
Bedrooms 4
Baths 4 full
Sewer/Water Public
Taxes $18,373 (2026)
The living room was created as a music room by Charles Martin Loeffler in the early 1900s. – Matthew David Photography
Violinist Charles Martin Loeffler soloed for the Boston Symphony Orchestra dozens of times, was a confidante of Isabella Stewart Gardner (who gifted him a 17th-century Stradivarius violin, and Loeffler gave her a cast of his hand), and of artist John Singer Sargent, who immortalized Loeffler in paint.
Loeffler (1861-1935), remembered as the “dean of American composers” whose works were often premiered at the BSO, moved to Medfield intent on becoming a “gentleman farmer” — or in more modern terms, to age in place.
The house on South Street he chose is not the result of a singular architectural vision. It’s a structure that became one seemingly by absorption: The original home, believed to have been built during pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts, was connected to the “new” house when it was built in 1840, while a major expansion in 2014 added a second floor but also knitted all three eras on the first floor into one whole.
In proof that the past is often a prologue, the 2014 construction added an in-law suite so that relatives of the current owners could, like Loeffler, age in place. In current parlance, this home now has an ADU (accessory dwelling unit).
The property will soon be listed for $1.5 million.
The side of the home with the driveway and garage serves as the main entrance. – Matthew David Photography
One of the outdoor areas that will green up for spring. – Matthew David Photography
The driveway on the left side of the home is now the primary entry point and ends at a two-car garage/barn.
A patio leads to the front entry signaled by a mahogany-floored farmer’s porch. Beyond, the entry hall has a slate floor, a reclaimed maple slab as a shelf, three closets, and a reclaimed 17th-century door leading to the unfinished basement.
The entry hallway winds past a pantry with a sink and the first full bath, with a shower and a single vanity, before ending in the main kitchen that is believed to be from the 1700s.
The kitchen has white cabinets and a peaked ceiling with wood beams. – Matthew David Photography
The view into the kitchen from the family room. – Matthew David Photography
Fully updated in 2004, the 190-square-foot kitchen coexists with the past. Rough-hewn beams snake across the ceiling, embracing two large skylights. Those beams and skylights overlook a maple island with a granite countertop and a double-basin stainless steel sink. There are layers of white cabinets on two walls, and perhaps the single most visual proof we are in the 21st century: stainless steel appliances. The stove is electric, and the flooring is hardwood.
The view of the family room from the kitchen. – Matthew David Photography
Wood beams continue across the ceiling in the family room. – Matthew David Photography
The adjacent dining area has kept the lower 18th-century ceiling height, and nearby French doors open to the bluestone patio. Also off the kitchen is the living room, believed to have once been an open porch converted in 1979 to interior space. A key feature is the fireplace.
A stairwell sandwiched between the old and the 2014 expansion leads to the upper level, with the primary suite and three other bedrooms.
The bedroom in the ADU. – Matthew David Photography
The kitchen of the ADU. – Matthew David Photography
The 2014 in-law suite — the ADU — is extensive. It contains a 236-square-foot bedroom, a walk-in closet, and an 87-square-foot private bathroom with a double vanity. It also includes an open floor plan that includes a kitchen and living/dining area totaling 563 square feet that ends with a deck overlooking the backyard. There is also an office/guest room with a working wood-burning fireplace believed to date to the 18th century. The kitchen has an electric stove, stainless steel appliances, and a counter built just a wee bit lower than the standard height.
The living room was created as a music room by Charles Martin Loeffler. – Matthew David Photography
The historic journey is not yet over. In the early 1900s, Loeffler created a still-stunning music studio designed to elevate the acoustics of what was then an 1840s structure. Now a living room with 18-foot-high ceilings crossed by hand-hewn beams, the 539-square-foot room features a floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace with an original wrought-iron bumper that can accommodate 6-foot logs. Loeffler practiced and taught here — a practice mirror and a framed photograph of the maestro are present. French doors open into what was once a screened-in porch but is now fully converted into an office.
The primary bedroom in the main house. – Matthew David Photography
Let’s do the time warp again and head to the second floor, starting with the primary suite. The bedroom is 266 square feet with multiple windows, hardwood flooring, and a 53-square-foot walk-in closet. The 93-square-foot private bath has 10-foot ceilings, a walk-in shower behind glass, radiant-heated ceramic tile floors, a quartz countertop on the double vanity, and custom cabinetry.
A secondary bedroom in the main house. – Matthew David Photography
The two secondary bedrooms (198 and 156 square feet) have hardwood floors, 10-foot ceilings, and large closets with doors salvaged from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The full secondary bathroom has a porcelain tub with a ceramic shower/tub surround, a quartz countertop on the single vanity, and ceramic tile flooring.
There is a walk-up attic. The 686-square-foot basement has an original granite stone foundation as well as a larger modern poured concrete one. Flooring in both is poured concrete.
The property at 274 South St. in Medfield comes with a cottage. – Matthew David Photography
There is also a free-standing heated “cottage” on the 1.29-acre lot.
The home has multiple heating and cooling zones.
Dianne Collins-Lambert of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Page Realty in Medfield has the listing, which will be live March 31.
A footnote: The Gardner Museum was robbed in 1990, and the Globe is publishing a five-part newsletter on the theft and the ongoing investigation.
John R. Ellement can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @JREbosglobe. Send listings to: [email protected]. Please note: We may not respond to submissions we won’t pursue. Subscribe to our newsletter at Boston.com/address-newsletter.
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