While it’s sad to see the Boston Celtics lose clutch shooting guard Ray Allen to the Miami Heat (though I’m a big fan of Jason Terry, the Celts’ latest acquisition), the most interesting Swellesley angle on all this is what will become of the humble Ray and Shannon Allen homestead on Woodlawn Avenue in Wellesley. Realtors will no doubt be boxing each others’ out ferociously for a piece of this action.
Depending on which real estate site you believe, the 11K square foot home on its 1.4 acre lot is valued at around $4M (chump change for Allen, who will reportedly make $9M over 3 years with the Heat).
The 6-year-old home has 8 bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms according to one real estate site, plus high ceilings to accommodate the 6-foot-5-inch Allen and his tall pals, not to mention a 12-foot-high Christmas tree. The kitchen and garden also appear to be top-notch, as TV cook Shannon Allen discussed in a WellesleyWeston magazine interview in 2011. No mention of there being a basketball court in the house, as Ray Allen had in his Seattle mansion, which apparently took a while to sell.
The Allens showed off their home on numerous occasions, including for a holiday decorating article in the Boston Globe in December of 2011 and for fundraising events for Allen’s work with juvenile diabetes and other charities.
The Allen home also became a Halloween trick-or-treat favorite among locals, who one year were treated by Ray and teammate Paul Pierce handing out goodies.
Ray Allen was traded to the Celtics in 2007 and helped the team win an NBA championship in 2008 (his daughter Tierra also helped Wellesley High’s basketball and volleyball teams to successful seasons during her time there). The photo at the top of this write-up was taken by a Wellesley family who thanked Allen for his fine 2010-2011 season, marked by his becoming the all-time NBA 3-point shooter.
Meanwhile, we still have Celtics exec Danny Ainge living in town.
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