When we heard that a house in Somerville had just sold for $1.69 million — the highest listed price ever paid for a single-family home in the city — we knew it was finally time to retire the small-minded sobriquet “Slummerville.’’
But when we read in The Somerville Times that the new owner is a “well-known movie producer/director’’ from the UK, our imagination went wild. How cool would it be to see “Dark Knight’’ director Christopher Nolan eating ribs at Redbones? Or Oscar winner Sam Mendes sipping a cocktail at Spoke. Or better yet, Madonna’s ex, Guy Ritchie, putting quarters in the jukebox at Highland Kitchen?
The Queen Anne-style abode, located on College Avenue not far from Davis Square, was built in 1901 and recently remodeled. The house — one of 36 single-family homes in Somerville that have sold for more than $1 million in the past five years — has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two fireplaces, two master suites, a jacuzzi, and “elegant Brazilian cherry floors’’ throughout. As everyone knows, parking can be a problem in the densely settled neighborhoods around Davis Square, but this place has off-street spots for two cars. (While it’s true that a house on nearby Foskett Street sold recently for $1.72 million, it was listed for $1.5 million, which means the price paid for the College Avenue house is the largest listed amount ever paid.)
We rang up broker Don Norton, whose Norton Group Real Estate handled the sale, but he declined to ID the owner, saying he wanted to respect the buyer’s privacy. Undeterred, we did a little online sleuthing at the Middlesex Registry of Deeds and discovered that, alas, the buyer is not English director Danny Boyle or Michael Winterbottom or Steve McQueen.
The owner of the house on College Ave. is not, it turns out, terribly well known at all, at least not to us. His name is John Bonham-Carter and, according to IMDB.com, his directing credits include “The Oman World Fireworks Championship 2010,’’ a short film about a competition among the world’s best pyrotechnic production companies, and a 2008 TV series called “Luxury Life.’’ A talented guy, no doubt, but appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II he hasn’t been.
We couldn’t reach Bonham-Carter on Friday, so we can’t say for sure if he descends from John Bonham Carter, the 18th-century member of Parliament whose distant relatives include British actress Helena Bonham Carter, ex-wife of well-known movie producer/director Tim Burton. We are, however, sure he’s not related to John Bonham, the late drummer for Led Zeppelin.
Norton did finally confirm Bonham-Carter’s identity for us and said the new owner is very excited to be moving here. And he may not need those parking spots.
“He and his wife love Somerville,’’ Norton said. “They’ve walked around Davis Square many times. They don’t have a car.’’
