The three bedrooms are spacious and private, and the master bedroom also has a fireplace. Both chimneys have been capped. Journal photo / Sandor Bodo

Nichols House is a sunny 1805 federal-style Colonial at 95 West Main St. in historic Wickford village in North Kingstown. The house is named for its first owner, George Nichols.

The house, like many in the village, is set close to the street, with a small front yard, but unlike many Wickford properties, this one includes a long, narrow backyard, bordered by an old stone wall. Wilson Park is behind the rear border of the property. The house is a short walk from the town library, the Wickford shops and Wickford Harbor.

Owner Karen Thorkildsen said she bought the house 14 years ago as part of a package deal with a nearby commercial property, a topiary and garden business in Wickford village. Thorkildsen said she was intrigued with the idea of running her own business in Wickford and living just a few steps down the street; she called her new garden and gift shop Bittersweet.

But the demands of the business became too much, and Thorkildsen eventually decided to sell her Wickford properties and return to a home she owns in Stonington, Conn. She began by offering the house and business for sale together, but the business property attracted a buyer who did not want the package deal. [The current owner of the commercial property now uses it as a combination bridal shop and garden business.]

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Thorkildsen said the white-clapboard house has a “twin” house right next door, but windows on the facing sides of both houses were arranged so that occupants of one house cannot peer into the other. The house has so much light that Thorkildsen said she never wanted to obscure it with window treatments, and she said the house’s setting and surrounding greenery provide enough privacy.

The kitchen, which is at the rear of the house, has had some changes since 1805, including a large, butcher-block-topped center island with a sink, electrical outlets and an electric range, but it still has a rustic character. The fireplace is original, and newer pumpkin pine flooring installed by a previous owner was distressed with chains to make it appear weathered, according to Thorkildsen. There aren’t many cabinets — but there is a pantry with built-in shelving off the kitchen. The kitchen also has room for free-standing storage pieces.

The downstairs area has two rooms that could be used as a dining room; one is near the kitchen and has French doors leading to a stone patio topped with wisteria in the backyard.

Downstairs rooms have wide-pine floors and exposed beam ceilings. There is a closet with shelving tucked into a wall space under the front stairs.

Windows in several of the downstairs rooms have built-in shelf extensions that are ideal for holding plants.

The house’s recent history of having plant-loving owners is also evident in one of the three upstairs bedrooms, which has a water spigot in a wall and a grouping of lights built into the ceiling. Thorkildsen said these were added by the previous owner, who wanted a place at her home where she could water her plants and give them light during the winter.

It appears the entire layout of the second floor was altered at some point, Thorkildsen said. The second floor has a spacious landing at the top of the stairs with built-bookshelves that was used as a sitting area. In comparing the house with the “twin” house next door, Thorkildsen said it was possible that at least one bedroom was sacrificed to create the sitting area. The three existing bedrooms are spacious and private, and there are two full modern, bathrooms on the second floor, equipped with pedestal sinks, and there is a half bathroom on the first floor.

Both chimneys at the house have been capped, and would probably need to be relined before fireplaces could be used safely.

There is storage space in the attic, which is accessed by a pull-down ladder in the ceiling of the second-floor landing, but some of the walls in the attic have older wallpaper on them, indicating that the attic was used as living space at some point. The house has gas heat, public water and a private septic system.

The Nichols House, at 95 West Main St., Wickford, is priced at $549,500. Annual taxes are $6,985. For further information, contact listing agent Marsha Welch of Marsha Welch Real Estate in North Kingstown, (401) 667-7170, ext. 1.How to submit a House of the Week

A different House of the Week appears each Saturday in the projoHomes section of The Providence Journal. The feature tells the story of the house and the people who have lived in it. If you would like us to consider a house for sale as a subject of this news feature, send a photo, information about the house and why it is of interest, to Christine Dunn or Andy Smith,

75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902; fax (401) 277-8250; or e-mail pjhomes@projo.com.

For more information,

call Dunn: (401) 277-7913 or Smith: (401) 277-7262.

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