Local Schools & Restaurants — Featured Listings
Weston has a decidedly peaceful and rural community atmosphere. It has beautiful areas of open space and conservation land and a quaint village of small shops along Boston Post Road. When you are searching for a home in Weston, define your search criteria more specifically than you might in more urban towns. For example, not all areas are served by town water. There are homeowners who not only depend upon well water for irrigating their yards but also rely upon it for all household uses. Weston does not provide sewer or trash pick up service either. All properties in Weston are on septic. You have two options for trash and recycling: a) get a permit from town hall to drop off your own refuse/recycling at the transfer station or b) contract for private pickup. Some areas in Weston have natural gas for heating; but, a good portion of Weston still relies upon oil, propane, or electric. Weston has many conservation areas for its residents to enjoy. It also has restrictions in place to help maintain its scenic rural ambience. Are you thinking about buying on any of Weston’s designated scenic roads? These roads are lined with stone walls, natural vegetation, and mature trees that provide a buffer between streets and houses and are all protected by town regulations.
Brief Synopsis
Early on, substantial country estates, many of them architect designed, were built in Weston by wealthy Bostonians wanting to escape city life. This established a prosperous residential character for the town which has endured to current times – a quiet bedroom community in a semi-rural setting with little industrial or commercial base. Weston’s official web site provides links to important information, including the current year tax rate and a PDF file which you can access to see what value the city Assessor gives the property you are interested in buying. Alternatively, you can glean a lot of wonderful information from this interactive map of Weston. To keep up with daily goings on, you can check in online with the Weston Town Crier, The Patch, or, of course, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.
Where is Weston?
This attractive, suburban town is located on the perimeter of metropolitan Boston bordering I-95 / Hwy 128 on its eastern line. Depending upon your exact location in Weston, you are about 12 miles west of Boston via the Mass Turnpike. The town, stretching overt 17 square miles of real estate, is nestled on a rugged, upland plateau consisting of ledge (rock) in many places – which poses a challenge for builders and the installation of septic systems. Weston boasts excellent mobility whether by car, rail, or bus. SR-128/I-95 and I-495 divide the region into inner and outer zones, which are connected by numerous “spokes” – SR-30, Sr-117, US-20, and I-90 – providing direct access to the airport, downtown Boston, and surrounding areas. If you are more interested in commuting via public transit, there is commuter rail service to Boston’s North Station from Hastings (travel time 30-31 minutes; sorry, no MBTA parking) and Kendal Green (travel time 28-29 minutes with 100 parking spaces). In far northwest Weston you can also park and ride the rail from Lincoln.
Housing in Weston
Residents are very proud of the town’s handsome homes in quiet, well-kept neighborhoods, but tend to brush off the town’s reputation as one of the most affluent communities – if not the most affluent – in the Commonwealth. Today, it has become a charming bedroom community of Boston with most of its housing inventory being single family homes and a handful of condos. Values range from around $400,000 and well up into the millions. The odd multi-family runs around $800,000. Properties are serviced by private sewerage systems. Because of the affluent nature of its populace, not many can afford to pay rent to live here except in the lower-priced areas.
School System
Naturally, Weston has excellent schools. The district consists of two primary grade schools for grades 1-3 which are located only a few hundred yards from each other. This photo is of Country Elementary. The roads into and away from the schools were designed one-way so the flow all goes in one direction for easy pickup and dropoff. By accessing the Weston public school district website, you can see what the current bus routes are and all other transportation policies. There are also private schools in town.
Woodward Elementary
Children are not assigned to these schools based upon where they live but rather so to keep everything balanced – the number of boys and girls in each class and the total number of students in each classroom to a certain ratio. Since 1999, Weston Windows, an integrated pre-school, with classrooms at Woodland and Country Schools, has fulfilled the Town’s mandate to educate children with special needs from the age of three.
Field Elementary
The upper elementary school, Field, houses grades 4 and 5. It is also located on the same street (School Street) and directly across from Country Elementary. It is also adjacent to the Weston public library and community center. There is one middle school and one high school which are both located on the south side of Weston. Since 1969 Weston has participated in the Metco program, a voluntary busing program that brings minority students from Boston to suburban schools. Weston is also a part of the Minuteman High School district, a four-year vocational high school located in Lexington.
Churches and Synagogues
The imposing, stone First Parish Church is located at the intersection of Boston Post Road and Church Street in Weston Center. A sampling of other churches located in Weston includes:
- First Church of Christ, Scientist
- Saint Julia’s Catholic Church
- Westgate Evangelical Church
- Saint Peters Episcopal Church
- Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church
- Congregational Church
- First Baptist Church
- Weston United Methodist
There are no synagogues located within the limits of Weston; however, there are four nearby:
Weston Recreation
Although some folks like to have their own inground swimming pool, you are welcome to take advantage of the wonderful community pool without having to worry about maintaining it. It is located directly between the two primary schools on School St. Come, check it out!
Community Center
All kinds of recreation and community programs are offered at the community center located at 20 Alphabet Lane. The Council on Aging also shares this space. Conservation land with 60 miles of trails, tennis courts, ball fields, and other parks are available as well.
Weston Public Library
The Weston Public Library is located conveniently within walking distance of all three elementary schools and across from the community center.
Land’s Sake Farm
Land’s Sake Farm has many hands-on, fun programs; stop by the farm stand to pick up the season’s freshest produce; or meet your friends at the farm or in the woods for social gatherings. There are individual and family memberships available. However you like to participate, you’ll be a part of a dynamic nonprofit organization that engages people to preserve and maintain open space. Land’s Sake supports environmental education programs, food donation programs, and land management.
Area Schools
Great Schools provides ratings for most schools in the United States. Below, you can see what schools are near the address you are thinking of buying and then compare it to other neighboring schools.
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Except for a dozen or sales of condominiums, the rest of the sales are primarily single-family homes. Single family have seen prices running from $575,000 for a small, bungalow to $11,000,000 for a 4+ acre estate, while the condominium and townhouse sales have been running from $500,000 for a small, older 1 bedroom to $4,200,000 for a large, townhouse. There has only been one multi-family sale recently for just over $1,000,000.
As you can see, pricing varies depending upon size, location, and amenities. Real estate sales and pricing are very fluid and can fluctuate in a matter of hours because homes come on and off the market daily… even hourly. What is currently offered for sale is listed below. The following chart is a visual representation of the cyclical nature of real estate activity and compares the ups and downs of Weston to those of Boston proper. The taller the column the better it is for buyers. The shorter the column the better it is for sellers. Hence 2006 was the best time for a buyer to buy in Weston, while 2021-2022 were great years for sellers. However, the graphic below indicates a weakening seller’s market for both Weston and Boston.
This next chart shows the number of sales occurring in Weston month-to-month, year-to-year since 2018 and provides you a historical overview of the best times to sell – months with the greatest number of sales (spring and fall) – and the best times to buy – months with the fewest number of sales (summer and winter). CAVEAT: there are usually more houses to choose from in the first half of the year.
Search Weston Real Estate
This is Weston’s best real estate site to search for: homes, condos, multi-families, land and foreclosure properties. It is seriously the only site you will ever need to find your next home or investment property! Bookmark this page and check back anytime to see what is currently available in Weston. Unlike other search sites which includes properties already under contract, this site only shows properties that are truly available.
*** If you should see some properties listed twice it is because brokers like to list a condo/townhome as a condo plus as a single-family house, or list a dilapidated house as land, as well as a residence.