[MassHistPres] Daniel Chester French pavilion is demolished; National Trust fails to take action to save it

[Kathy Schofield]

This is a sobering warning for all of us who are invested in preservation. We have a few structures that are small in size but so significant  in their contribution to our local history. It might be time to review our bylaws to make sure there is some kind of language that ensures a review prior to demolition.

Thank you for sharing this.
Kathy Schofield
Mendon Historical Commission

From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> on behalf of cvwtc--- via MassHistPres <MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu>
Reply-To: "cvwtc at aol.com" <cvwtc at aol.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 7:52 AM
To: "MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu" <MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu>
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Daniel Chester French pavilion is demolished; National Trust fails to take action to save it

I remember reading an article about the demolition of historic sites that were on the National Register and in the comments section, a reader named Steven W Lindsey shared similar concerns about the National Trust and preservation in general.  He wrote:

"Actually this is far worse than the article implies. The nation’s changing, and its values too. The dynamic and volatile economy has made long term planning a thing of the past, and the instability means people value short-term things.Like the environmental movement, the historic preservation movement has flatlined. The National Trust itself is orientated towards corporate donors and has discouraged its grassroots by eliminating such programs as Preservation911.Even the once much vaunted Top Eleven Endangered Properties, where a listing was tantamount to it being saved, is a ghost of what it was. NH punched a hole in that by demolishing the Soldier and Sailors Memorial Bridge, a listee. Once a hole is punched through the side of a ship, the deluge follows. The bottomline is that history and heritage has little value today. The upcoming waves of demolition will make the losses of the Urban Renewal Era seem like child’s play."

The original article is here: https://greatlakesecho.org/2020/10/07/disappearing-history-sites-dropped-from-national-register-of-historic-places/

Aside from receiving several fundraising e-mails from the National Trust a week, I have nothing to do with them anymore because they don't seem to get involved with many smaller preservation conflicts.  Rather the historic buildings and structures only they deem worthy of preservation take center stage in those e-mails and e-newsletters.  The times I have reached out to The National Trust, they offered next to nothing in the form of help or advice.  To me it seems like many preservation organizations are walking on eggshells right now leaving grassroots preservationists to fend for themselves.

Matt Pujo
Beverly, MA


-----Original Message-----
From: edandrews--- via MassHistPres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Sent: Mon, Jan 30, 2023 9:02 am
Subject: [MassHistPres] Daniel Chester French pavilion is demolished; National Trust fails to take action to save it
Most readers are aware of the immensely important sculptor, Daniel Chester French, who worked in late 19th-early 20th America, and is best known for his Lincoln Memorial statute.  French's summer home and studio in Stockbridge, Mass. is a historic site owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  While in summer residence, French designed in 1915 a superb garden pavilion for a Stockbridge estate that was a rare example of his architectural talent.  In December a property developer needlessly demolished the garden pavilion.
Despite having an office in Stockbridge and being made fully aware of the planned demolition a full eighteen months in advance, the National Trust took no action to preserve the pavilion.  What actions could the National Trust have taken to save the pavilion? It could have published a notice in its Preservation magazine offering the pavilion to a historic-minded homeowner, or it could have circulated an email to its membership that made known the opportunity for acquiring the pavilion.  I recall a preservation crisis in which an Andrew Jackson Downing-designed gatehouse in the Hudson River Valley was saved from demolition through disassembly and re-location to another site.
As an ardent preservationist, it pains me to criticize the National Trust over this incident, but I feel that something must be said.  The dismal lack of action on the part of the Trust to save a historic structure in the Trust’s own backyard and intimately connected to one of its own properties makes me seriously question the ability of the Trust’s management to fulfill its preservation mission.
For more photos and detail about this tragic incident, see https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/daniel-chester-french-stockbridge-tea-house-demolition/article_59bb58d6-9294-11ed-acd9-1748a5dabf43.html
Ted Andrews
Shaker Farm
Richmond, Mass.


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