A Newton dentist, Dr. Leonard Strauss, was last week’s high bidder for the Newton Highlands MBTA train depot. Strauss offered $431,000 for the property.

A Newton dentist has something to smile about. Dr. Leonard Strauss was the high bidder for a historic railroad depot on the Green Line at $6,000 above the minimum price set by the MBTA. “I’m very excited,” said Strauss, a periodontist, after the bids were opened last Monday. “It’s a gorgeous building in an absolutely great location.”

The MBTA received three bids for the 120-year-old Newton Highlands train station, a vacant depot that is on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to Strauss’ offer of $431,000, the bidders included a social service agency and a Newton resident. The T has been trying to sell the unique property on Station Street since Newton Highlands Auto Parts closed its doors at the location two years ago.

Newton-Wellesley-Weston Committee for Community Living Inc. (NWW), a nonprofit group that provides social services to people with disabilities, offered $427,500. Nancy Slamin, NWW’s executive director, said she was very disappointed that the agency was not awarded the bid despite its lower offer. The organization had hoped to turn the station into a group home for four of its clients.

“My understanding was that the T would consider factors other than the bid amount,” she said. “The bid proposal talked about financial viability and the ability to undertake such a project. Our financials are very strong, our reputation is very high in the community and we are eminently qualified.”

A third bidder, Dino Rossi, a broker at Newton-based New England Preferred Properties Real Estate, came in much lower than the minimum bid of $425,000 at $350,000.

“I went in low and I know it was against the rules, but I had nothing to lose,” Rossi said. “If I had been the only bidder maybe they would have accepted my lower offer. I would have turned it into a beauty salon or a coffee shop.”

Strauss, a Wayland resident, is a dental graduate from Tufts University who completed advanced specialty education in periodontics at Boston University in 1994. He has been looking for a property to purchase in Newton for several years and was tipped off to availability of the train station – located about 2 miles from his Washington Street office – by a friend.

“All of the space I’ve looked at was much too big,” he said. “It’s very difficult to find these little gems, but the train station is the perfect size for a dentist’s office.”

While most prospective buyers bring along an inspector to examine the roof, windows and heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems – as well as the plumbing and electrical systems, walls, floors, ceilings, foundation and basement – Strauss went solo.

“I didn’t have an expert look at it, but I figured it would cost just under $500,000 for the renovation,” he said. “It certainly needs new systems, but the structure itself is in great shape. Nothing is caving or falling in.”

Andrew Garvin, an architect and Newton resident who considered making a bid on the property, said a dentist’s office makes sense for the Station Street location.

“That’s perfect,” said Garvin. “I’m very happy; it’s a great idea.”

He added, “I didn’t bid because I had no idea what to do with the property if I was the winning bidder. That didn’t seem like a good reason to buy it.”

Designed by Henry Hobson Richardson in 1887, the 3,000-square-foot granite and limestone depot offers a glimpse into New England’s past when railroads were the principle mode of transportation. The facility still has much of its original detail including beaded oak paneling on the walls and ceiling, a hand-operated dumbwaiter and an overhanging slate roof.

Last year, the MBTA received a pair of bids for the property. But both proposals collapsed at the last minute, according to Mark Boyle, the T’s real estate director. Ironically, a Dorchester dentist was the high bidder at $810,000; he had hoped to have his office in the unique setting where 1,260 commuters board the trains daily.

Newton Highlands is a rapid-transit station located on the Green Line’s D Branch that has been operating for nearly 40 years. The Newton Highlands, Newton Center and Woodland stations are three remaining depots of the 12 designed by Richardson for the Boston and Albany Railroad. They were created as “monuments to the wealth and prestige of the railroad and the men who owned it,” according to documents at the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

‘A Very Compatible Use’
A station was first built at the location when the Charles River Railroad was extended through Newton in 1852. The single-track railroad was used to carry soil and gravel from Needham to the Back Bay during the late 1800s.

By the end of the century, the Boston and Albany Railroad provided regular passenger service using steam locomotives on a route that ran from Boston’s South Station, along the Green Line to Riverside, then around the loop in Auburndale, connecting to the Worcester-Framingham commuter line and back to South Station. The railbed was upgraded in the 1870s. Freight service along the branch ceased in 1958 in preparation for the opening of electrified trolley service in 1959.

Richardson was best known for his creation of Trinity Church in Copley Square. He entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1860, but dropped out as his family’s finances deteriorated during the Civil War. He returned to the United States in 1865. Critics said the architect developed a powerful personal style, reminiscent of the Romanesque style popular in southern France. Most of his larger buildings were constructed with strong, clear and simple masonry forms.

While neighbors had been undecided on the best use for the building, they had hoped it would include service-oriented businesses such as a restaurant or a dry cleaner – something that neighbors could walk to because parking is limited.

Strauss said he hopes to complete the renovation within a year.

“I’m not in any panic rush to complete the space because I have an office,” he noted. “I hope everything goes smoothly because I think it’s a very compatible use for the neighborhood.”