My favorite house in Amherst is threatened with destruction and I’m really upset. From the response to the possible demolition of the brick house at 575 Northeast Street, I realize I’m not alone.
According to Ruth Owen Jones, who was Chair of the Amherst Historical Commission in 1980 when the house was submitted to be on the State Historical Registry, the house at 575 Northeast Street was built before 1815. It was built by Benjamin Kimball between 1800, when Kimball bought the land from Oliver Clapp and his wife Elisabeth, and 1815, when Kimball sold the farm to Luther Warren for what was at the time a “large sum”: $5,000.
Jones describes the house as one of four in the region that almost certainly were built by the same person. The other three are: the ”Dickinson house,” a brick house at 410 Old Montague Road in North Amherst, long since divided into apartments, and now about to be obscured by a new house built in front of it on Montague Road; another house that has been divided into apartments, at the corner of Route 116 and Plumtree Road in Sunderland; and the Dickinson Homestead on Main Street.
Of these four houses, only the Kimball or Wysocki (long-time owners during the 20th century) farmhouse still is situated in a substantially original setting and contains significant amounts of its original interior woodwork. According to the description submitted by Jones to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the style of the house is “pure double house, federal.” There are four original fireplaces on the ground floor: “In each of the four main rooms there is a massive fireplace flanked by windows recessed under woodwork arches. The central stairway and front door area are handsome also.” Although the fanlight over the front door has been covered to prevent heat loss, and the fireplace in the kitchen has been covered “for modern stove use,” both are still present. Most amazingly, the woodwork in the southern half of the house was, at least as of 1980, still original and unpainted.
Although some have said the house is in bad repair, even “uninhabitable,” the fact is it has been continuously inhabited; knowledgeable people believe some restoration of fireplaces should be done, and probably propping poles in the basement should be installed – a necessity for many older houses. Tragically, the current owners of this house have agreed to sell it to people who want to tear it down to build a new house on its location.
The Amherst Historical Commission has exercised its power to delay demolition for six months. The Commission has held hearings on the proposed demolition, which have been attended by many people, neighbors and others, who are appalled at the possible destruction of this house, which makes such a major contribution to our heritage. Although some people have suggested that perhaps the house could be moved, that seems not only exceedingly difficult but also to miss thie point: the house is unique in being in predominantly its original condition, siting and landscape. I am sure I’m not the only one who has seen in that house, with large sugar maples close around it, fields around the ensemble, and woods in the background going up to the Pelham Hills, an embodiment, of the Connecticut River Valley’s agricultural past.
So, what should happen -- what can happen -- to preserve the house and its site at 575 Northeast Street? It’s certainly not clear.
On November 16, a Special Town Meeting will consider an article to appropriate $50,000 to acquire an Historic Preservation Restriction on the Kimball house and the immediately adjoining lands (the surrounding fields are already protected by the Agricultural Preservation Act). A purchase of this kind would certainly qualify for Community Preservation Act funds; although the CPA funds for this Fiscal Year have already been committed, we know that more will be available for the next Fiscal Year, so it is theoretically possible for them to be used, retroactively, to reimburse the Town if it were to purchase the Historic Preservation Restriction.
Would the owners agree to sell the Restriction to the town if the article passes? This is a significant unanswered question.
In the meantime, other supporters of historic preservation have other ideas. Ruth Owen Jones, for example, does not think the town should buy the property. She and Edith MacMullen, the current Chair of the Historical Commission, both believe that there are individuals or private groups that would buy the house to restore it – given enough time to properly advertise it and interest the right buyers.
If the current owners do not want to live in it, they do not have to sell it to someone who wants to tear it down in order to realize the value, in dollars, of the property. Some patience and awareness of the property’s true historic and cultural value would be rewarded. I am hoping that everyone will come to see it that way, and work to reach a solution that preserves those values and the house. And we citizens of Amherst should heed this wakeup call and realize that it is now essential for us to appreciate and protect our historic heritage.