[MassHistPres] Historic house demo in swampscott

[Richard Smith]

We are looking at a developing situation here in Swampscott.  133 Puritan
Road, a waterfront house from 1913, faces a development proposal that would
entirely remove the buildings and vegetation to construct 3 condo buildings
with 16 units on a 1.06 acre site.  The property, which is inventoried under
SWA 494 and 1620, is a Classical Revival summer home on the water.  Our
researcher, Lisa Mausolf, identifies this as National Register eligible and
potentially an element of a small historic district with several nearby
houses.  The house and its grounds are the backdrop to Swampscott harbor as
seen from Fisherman's Beach and an important survivor of the summer estates
era in Swampscott.  The town does not have a local historic district in
place here at this point.  The town will be looking at the usual zoning,
public safety, traffic and FEMA flood zone issues, but the Historical
Commission is charged with protecting Town historic resources.
 
The developer has applied to MassHousing for a 40B approval, allowing them
to override the zoning requirements for this area.  They propose to make 4
units affordable, and they anticipate a total sale revenue for the 16 units
of $17 million.  Have other communities faced similar situations in which
significant historic properties were threatened by 40B development?  Has any
community successfully argued with MassHousing that significant historic
sites should not be considered suitable for this type of development?  The
town does have areas that have been identified in our new master plan as
appropriate for affordable housing.  But not here.
 
 
Richard Smith
Swampscott Historic Commission
 
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