A building that sat vacant for 30 years is now home to the real estate-focused
Libby Law Office and the
SPARC community development agency.
Last week, the groups held an open house at the century-old building, which underwent a thorough rehabbing after the law firm bought the place from SPARC in June.
The community group had owned the building for five years, according to Kirsten Libby, the law firm's principal.
She says that while it would have cost less to tear down the building, she wanted to contribute to the ongoing revitalization of Rice Street.
The $500,000 rehab “brought value to the neighborhood," she says.
The law firm, which is on the first floor, has a reception area, offices, a kitchenette, and a conference room, while SPARC fills the second floor.
In the past, the 1888 building had been a Romanian rooming house and a mattress and a magnet factory.
The long, narrow building, which has two stories, was gutted and reframed, she says. “There were a lot of structural issues that were worse than what we thought at first,” Libby says.
The building's windows, roof, and mechanical systems were replaced, while the original brick façade was preserved. The building also has energy-efficient stucco siding on its exterior.
Inside, rich earth tones run throughout, complementing the red exposed bricks. Hardwood floors, 20-foot-high ceilings, granite walls, and a hand-painted sign create the feeling of an old-fashioned Main-Street-type law office.
“We tried to keep the old look,” she says. “It’s warm and inviting, all the things we had in mind when we put it together.”
Source: Kirsten Libby, Libby Law Office
Writer: Anna Pratt