[MassHistPres] Northbridge - anyone interested in a 18th-century house??

[jade]

i concur with dmountain...years ago we completely RESTORED the oldest standing house in provincetown...when hiring a house mover to lift the house proved to be very expensive, my crew and i did the work ourselves--all by hand...a couple of I-beams in each corner with cribbing and spade shovels, we replaced the sills, then the  mason poured a foundation and put back the original bricks...

for one acre of land folks are willing to knock down a 200-plus year old piece of history...that's really sad.....

...jade
heartwood window restoration
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: d-mountain at comcast.net 
  To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu 
  Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 10:52 PM
  Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Northbridge - anyone interested in a 18th-century house??


  This house looks like it could be a really good deal for someone who would like an antique house and who could be hooked up with a seasoned restoration contractor.  Sill repair is a minor deal and yet many houses get torn down because of this ailment.  One of my favorite projects was a small ca. 1826 Federal cape that involved removing significant portions of the sills with a shovel because they had turned into rich, black compost.  The sills were replaced a section at a time without any special equipment and the home has  been occupied by a family for many years with no further problems with the structure.

  I think there is a real need to educate real estate agents on how to market antique homes.  The only interior photos of this house on the realtor's website are of an unimpressive kitchen and a toilet in the bathroom.  I can't believe that there are not other rooms of interest or at least some remaining antique detail.  The original chimney appears to be present so it seems likely that there are fireplaces as well. Also, as we all know, there may be very interesting antique details hiding behind more modern finish work.


  Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:43:09 -0400
  From: "Michele P. Barker" 
  Subject: [MassHistPres] Northbridge - anyone interested in a
      18th-century    house??
  To: 
  Message-ID: <006701cae7d4$35198b70$9f4ca250$@org>
  Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

  Hello, all,



  I'd like to alert you to a potential teardown of an 18th-century house in
  Northbridge. It's currently advertised for sale, with photos here: 

  http://www.massrealty.com/worcester/northbridge/home/1700-Hill-Street,-North
  bridge,-MA-01534/71070316  The realtor is advertising it as a teardown, and
  a woman whose family owned the house until around 2003 informed me that
  there is some major structural work needed - new sills, for a start. She
  says that it was owned by relatives of John Adams until the early 20th
  century, when her family purchased it. There are no local bylaws protecting
  the building-it isn't even on the inventory yet. 



  So far it sounds as though the only bidders want the land (about an acre)
  but not the house. I have not seen this house in person-only the realtor's
  photos, so I don't have any info about the interior or other details about
  the condition. The realtor's ad says it's not finance-able, so it's probably
  in rough shape.



  I'm hoping there's someone out there who might be interested in saving this
  house from the dumpster-preferably on site, but relocation is always an
  option. So please pass the word along to anyone who might be interested in
  an antique house that needs lots of TLC. 



  Thanks!!



  Michele



  Michele P. Barker



  Circuit Rider

  617-999-3256

  mpbarker at preservationmass.org

  Preservation Massachusetts

  www.preservationmass.org

  The Massachusetts Circuit Rider Program is a partnership of Preservation
  Massachusetts and the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Northeast
  Office.

  National Trust for Historic Preservation

  www.preservationnation.org







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