Famed Chef Cambridge Home Sells For More Than $6.5 Million

CAMBRIDGE, MA — The longtime home of one of the most famous chefs in American history has sold for more than its asking price.

The former home of Julia Child at 103 Irving St. sold for $6.525 million on Thursday, Oct. 29, according to updated MLS listing information. The property was listed for $6.475 million in September, putting the sale price $50,000 above the asking price. The 6,321-square-foot home includes six bedrooms, four full bathrooms, two half bathrooms, and was originally built in 1889.

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Child and her husband, Paul, moved into the Cambridge home in 1961. The famed chef, cookbook author, and television personality remained at the property until 2001, when she moved to a retirement community in California and donated the house to Smith College. The college later sold the property. Child became one of the country's most recognizable culinary figures after the 1961 publication of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," which she co-authored with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. She later gained national recognition as the host of "The French Chef," which debuted on Boston-based WGBH in 1963 and helped introduce French cooking techniques to American home cooks.

Her Cambridge home also became closely connected to her television career. Child filmed several of her later cooking programs inside the Irving Street kitchen, including "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs," "Baking with Julia," and "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home." When Child left Cambridge in 2001, the kitchen was donated to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The museum reconstructed the kitchen with its appliances, counters, cabinets, tools, and utensils arranged as they were in November 2001.

The Irving Street home has since undergone extensive renovations. According to the listing, the property includes Poggenpohl cabinetry, a butler's pantry that doubles as a catering kitchen, a wine room, gas fireplaces, and solar panels. Outside, the property has landscaped grounds, a brick patio bordered by a stone wall, and sheltered parking underneath a porte cochère.

The property sits on approximately one-quarter of an acre just blocks from Harvard Yard. It previously sold for $3.7 million in February 2009.

The home was listed for sale in late September. Gail Roberts, Ed Feijo & Team of Coldwell Banker Realty in Cambridge handled the listing.

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