I lived in Nicolo's amazing Charlestown townhouse for a month this past June and July. I had such a wonderful time and felt completely at home -- I felt like I was truly living in Boston. I traveled to Boston with my mother and my children (ages 4 and 9). Charlestown was the perfect location for us, and I'm so glad we didn't stay in the city proper. There was a very neighborhood feel -- we could walk to two parks within five minutes. Also within 5-10 minutes were Whole Foods, CVS, the Warren Tavern (which was more like 3 minutes away -- we ate there often and I do believe they have the best clam chowder), Starbucks, a local wine/liquor store, Legal Oysteria, Bunker Hill, the USS Constitution, and more.
Boston proper is an easy walk over the Charlestown bridge. Both of my children handled the walk easily and we enjoyed the proximity to the Freedom Trail. Boston truly is a walking city and we walked almost everywhere! When we got tired we would Uber ($8-15 dollars for everywhere we wanted to go) or take the T ($2.90 a person, kids are free, easy 5-10 minute walk from Community College station on the orange line).
We ate many dinners in the North End because it was so close and easily accessible. For us, anything under a mile was very doable, and we walked to the North End often.
The house itself exceeded my expectations, and I had pretty high expectations after seeing the pictures. The living room and generously sized kitchen are on the first floor. There is a laundry room in the basement with Samsung devices that were easy to use and efficient. The second floor holds the master and the queen bedroom. Nice mattresses, plenty of pillows, and more pillows/covers are stored in the armoire in the queen bedroom. My mother and I enjoyed having our own bathrooms. The water pressure was AMAZING and you don't always get that with older homes. My children stayed on the third floor in the two twin beds. I initially worried about them navigating the stairs, but neither of them had any trouble. They had their own bathroom as well, which was great. Ronney, who helps out with the property, was very responsive to our questions and addressed any concerns we had.
Having our own parking spot was wonderful in a big city like Boston. We used the car to take many day trips, including Gloucester, MA, Newport, RI, Salem, MA, Ogunquit, ME, Portsmouth, NH, and Plymouth, MA (all under two hours away). However, we didn't use the car a single time we were doing anything in the greater Boston area, and it was nice to have a guaranteed spot. Yes, it's a tight spot, but I was surprised at how quickly I learned to squeeze our Toyota Camry in!
If I were to live in Boston, I would want to live in this neighborhood. It's very family oriented, lots of young professionals and children, and very quiet. I'm back home in my much smaller town and miss Nicolo's place already!