Explore Wilmington Real Estate
Active · $1,350,000 · MLS #73579413
A restored Colonial at 20 Harnden Street, Wilmington, MA 01887, offering 7 bedrooms, 6 full bathrooms, 8 fireplaces and 4,220 square feet of above-grade living space. Built in 1795, the home sits on approximately 0.8 acres with eight parking spaces, public water and public sewer.
Attached apartment: The Elms includes an attached one-bedroom apartment — an accessory unit with its own kitchen, full bathroom, and private entrance and exit. It currently rents for $1,800 a month including utilities — $21,600 a year in income — and the tenants, two non-smokers with no pets who keep the place very clean, can stay or go at the buyer’s choice. In plain terms, the apartment’s rent covers the home’s property taxes and utilities. The math: $1,800 times 12 is $21,600 a year, and the property taxes run about $13,000 — the rent covers the taxes and the utilities with money left over. The apartment opens to a large rear patio, and the main house has its own large covered porch. A wraparound driveway serves both the house and the apartment.
Above-grade space, counted honestly: The seven bedrooms and six full bathrooms include the attached apartment, and all 4,220 square feet are above-grade living area — no basement or attic square footage is counted in the GLA.
Eight working fireplaces: All eight fireplaces work — every chimney is functional. The custom kitchen is finished with quartz counters, and with seven bedrooms the house sleeps 7 to 14 people, with extensive closet space and storage throughout.
Hardwood floors, distinctive fireplaces and a covered porch complement a renovated kitchen, updated systems, a rear patio and mature landscaping. The kitchen features Bertazzoni appliances, a six-burner double-oven range, dual sinks and extensive cabinetry.
The unfinished basement is excluded from the stated living area. A walk-up attic offers additional space.
Now active. Contact Jeffrey to confirm availability and scheduling.
The listing description, exactly as it appears in MLS:
Welcome to The Elms, the Henry Harnden House, a remarkable historic Colonial near Silver Lake in Wilmington. This distinctive 7-bedroom, 6-full-bath residence offers 4,220 sq. ft. of above-grade living space and an extraordinary blend of architectural character, modern comfort and flexibility. The owner reports investing approximately $1 million in a comprehensive, multi-year rehabilitation, including extensive electrical and plumbing improvements, updated heating and hot water, multi-zone Carrier heating and cooling, insulation, roofing, approximately 58 replacement windows, exterior restoration, renewed walkways and driveway, and beautifully finished interiors. All 8 fireplaces are operational, and all chimneys have been repointed. The chef-inspired kitchen is a centerpiece, featuring Bertazzoni appliances, a six-burner double-oven range, quartz countertops, dual sinks and generous custom cabinetry. Refinished hardwood floors and period architectural details preserve the home’s historic appeal. The expansive layout provides exceptional room for entertaining, home offices, creative pursuits, guests and everyday living. An attached one-bedroom apartment with a separate entrance is currently rented for $1,800 per month, including utilities, adding another dimension of flexibility. Outside, approximately 0.8 acres provide space to enjoy a covered porch, rear patio, landscaping and parking for up to 8 vehicles. Public water and sewer offer added convenience. A walk-up attic and unfinished basement provide additional storage beyond the stated living area. Associated with Civil War cavalry officer Henry Harnden, the property also has a connection to Silver Lake’s historic summer resort era. Enjoy Wilmington’s commuter rail service, shopping, restaurants and regional access to I-93 and I-95. Imagine gathering around a working fireplace, preparing meals in the beautifully appointed kitchen, welcoming guests onto the porch or simply appreciating the craftsmanship of a home with generations of history. Few properties bring together this scale, restoration, architectural personality and versatility. The Elms is not simply another large house; it is a distinctive piece of Wilmington’s past, thoughtfully renewed for its next chapter. Schedule a private tour and experience the setting, space and extraordinary restoration firsthand.
The Restoration — A House Saved, Not Replaced
Some houses get renovated. This one was rescued. When the current owner acquired The Elms — the Henry Harnden House, a Federal-era Colonial of 1795 and one of the larger early houses still standing in Wilmington — the house was in decline after a long life that began on Henry Harnden’s farm and mill land and included decades as The Elms, the summer boarding house the Neilson family opened here in 1904. Rather than tear it down, the owner invested approximately $1 million in a multi-year rehabilitation extensive enough to touch nearly every system in the building, bringing a 230-year-old house back to full modern service while keeping its 1795 soul intact.
The work underneath is comprehensive: electrical service and distribution renewed, with dual breaker panels; plumbing renewed; heating and hot water replaced; Carrier high-efficiency heating and cooling installed across multiple zones, with an attic air handler, insulated ductwork, a high-efficiency basement furnace and twin Carrier condensers; a Rheem gas water heater; insulation added, including blown-in and batt insulation around the ductwork; all chimneys have been repointed, and all 8 fireplaces are operational; approximately 58 windows replaced; roofing renewed; the exterior stripped back to bare clapboard and refinished in red with black trim; porches, driveway, walkways and landscaping redone; and structural work as documented. Permit records, invoices and dates are being compiled and will be made available to serious buyers on request.
Property Photos
Systems & Mechanicals
A house built in 1795 asks to be judged by its bones as much as its rooms. These owner-documented photos show the systems at 20 Harnden Street as they stand today: Carrier heating and cooling equipment in the attic and the basement, twin Carrier condensers at the rear of the house, two breaker panels, a Rheem water heater, and the water service at the original stone foundation.
The House, The Elms & Wilmington — A Short History
Some houses are old. The Elms is old on another scale. The house at 20 Harnden Street was built in 1795 — while George Washington was still president, and while Wilmington itself counted barely seven hundred residents. It is a restored Colonial of the Federal era: 4,220 square feet of above-grade living space on about eight-tenths of an acre. Its signature is fireplaces — eight of them, every one in working order. In 1795 a fireplace was not an amenity; it was the heating system, and a house built around eight hearths was built to be lived in, hard, through New England winters.
The Elms today is two homes under one roofline: the main house, and an attached one-bedroom apartment with its own kitchen, full bathroom, and private entrance. Underneath, the centuries are layered — modern Carrier heating and cooling equipment, documented in the Systems & Mechanicals photos above, runs alongside the original stone foundation. That is what 230 years looks like when a house stays in service instead of being frozen in time.
Wilmington was already an old town when The Elms was new. First settled in 1665, it was incorporated in 1730 from parts of Woburn, Reading, and Billerica — a Middlesex County town named for Spencer Compton, the Earl of Wilmington. Its Minutemen answered the alarm of April 19, 1775, and fought at Merriam’s Corner in Concord, twenty years before this house was raised. When The Elms went up, Wilmington was a farming town known for its hop yards, in the years when Massachusetts led North America in hop production. The Middlesex Canal, chartered in 1792 and opened in 1803, passed through town carrying freight and passengers between the Merrimack River and Boston. The Baldwin apple was discovered here. Today Wilmington is home to 23,349 people, counted in the 2020 census — and its full story is worth the read: Wilmington, Massachusetts, on Wikipedia.
A house of this age survives because someone in every generation decides it is worth the trouble — and Wilmington has made that decision as a town, not just house by house. Its best-known save is a different house altogether: the Col. Joshua Harnden Tavern, an 18th-century tavern at 430 Salem Street, which the town took by eminent domain in 1973 under the state’s Historic Eminent Domain Act to stop a threatened demolition. It is now the Wilmington Town Museum. The Elms holds no such designation. It is not on the National Register of Historic Places, and it is nobody’s museum — it is a private house that has simply been kept, owner after owner, since 1795.
For anyone who takes on a house of this era, the working library is free. The Massachusetts Historical Commission, the state’s historic preservation office, publishes guidance for owners of old houses; Preservation Massachusetts advocates for buildings exactly like this one; and the National Park Service’s Secretary of the Interior’s Standards are the rulebook professionals restore by. Before you judge The Elms on paper, though, walk it: the full video tour lives on the home’s own page, The Elms at 20 Harnden Street. And the practical questions that come with a house of this age are what the Ask Jeffrey hub is for.
Watch the property tour
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Jeffrey Bowen
Real Estate Broker Associate · ERealty Advisors Inc.
Email info@chelsearealestate.com
The Elms — the full story and video tour of 20 Harnden Street
Property information is based on listing information and owner-provided details, including the confirmed count of 8 fireplaces. Price, availability, showing dates and property details are subject to verification and change.
