Interview with Joe & Jane Carpineto, owners of 67 Church Street

The warmer season is here and I am happy to meet just outside Union Square with Joe and Jane Carpineto,
residents of Somerville since 2003. LThey previously lived in downtown Boston and London, and now they feel blessed to live near their two daughters and grandchildren, all of whom reside in Somerville. Their new community allows them to walk to local cafes and eateries, grocery shop at Market Basket, and just enjoy the youthful energy and vitality of Union Square. As you turn onto their street, Church off of Summer Street, their house is immediately eye-catching for its carefully redone outdoor metal sculptures. I must be in the right place as the owner has already told me that he has been a metal sculptor for over 25 years. I am buzzed into their upper level apartment, and on my way catch a glimpses of beautifully restored and enlarged old family photos.

Joe and Jane Carpineto greet me, excited to talk about the work they’ve done on the exterior of this turn of the century structure. In 2003, they bought this Mansard style house from someone who appeared to have little interest in staying for very long and who had made changes not to the Carpinetos’ liking. Although asphalt siding had been removed from the front and left side, the Carpinetos were eager to complete the job even if the other sides of the house are not visible from the front of the street. They removed the old siding from the right and back sides, installed new clapboard, and obtained permission from their three neighbors who were only inches away, to put up ladders on their properties, so that the painters could do their work properly. The Carpinetos decided to paint the house a red brick color, with gray and beige for the trim. They added custom-made black storms to the windows, and replaced the iron balustrades on the front and back porches with wood balustrades, in keeping with the original material. They took down the chain link fence in the front yard and Joe Carpineto planted a lovely perennial garden that he hopes will enhance the streetscape for years to come.

They now plan to continue with other interior projects, further solidifying this house as their own home!