GOODBYE OLD HOUSE? NOT YET!

PART ONE

SAVING THE WORST OF THE WORST

As a new Realtor I decided to specialize in selling antique or historically significant houses and that is what I did for more than 25 years.  From the beginning I felt compelled to come to the rescue of the worst, endangered houses that came on the market causing one broker to announce that "Pru doesn't work for the buyer or the seller.  She works for the old house."  Selling old wrecks did not make me rich.  In fact, I probably earned the lowest commissions in the business because I sold the cheapest houses, all of them worthy of restoration.

One of the first was an old center chimney house, the Conant house, dating to 1775 in Ipswich, the town where I worked.  The salvage rights to the old center chimney house had been sold.  After the house was removed the land would be sold as a house lot. 

What could look worse than this?  There was moss on the
floors! Notice on the left the roof of an ancient
 rusted out school bus in the bushes!

The salvage man removed paneling and was seen carrying the panels out to his truck.  The historical commission stepped in and persuaded the salvage man to stop while I listed the property.  The house would be sold by the salvage man as personal property and the land sold by the owner as real estate.  A buyer was found and the house was saved.

Here is the house today.  Many years have passed since the owner toiled there in all kinds of weather saving the house which has housed his family ever since.  The primitive fence and the vegetation protect the house from the road.  The yard is not manicured but more in tune with its 18th century roots.  The solar panels are a nod toward the 21st century on the south facing roof.

*******************************************************************************

Shortly thereafter, I became a part owner of another central chimney house, the Moses Jewett house, dating to 1759.  

Tired old house with date on the chimney and Greek Revival door surround.

As naive buyers we thought we could just fix it up, sell it and make a nice profit.  We soon realized we were dealing with a serious antique house and knew that we had to do a good job and respect it as the landmark that it was.  And that is what we did, learning a tremendous amount along the way as we did our homework and proceeded carefully.

We didn't make any money on this restoration.  Antique houses do not make good projects for speculation.  However, we researched and learned more than we ever could have without this hands on experience.  Restoration is doubly hard when the house will be sold and you have no idea who the buyer will be so you try to get it right but also try to incorporate features that will appeal to a broad range of buyers.  Our understanding and appreciation of old houses was greatly advanced by this experience.

Here is the house.  Restorers did not paint the trim, only the sash.

All of the houses illustrated here have been brought back from ruins.  We tend to think of them as a permanent restoration but without care they can start to slide down hill again.  These houses are definitely a success story...hopefully for the ages.

******************************************

Another house that I sold was an 18th century half house needing everything.  It was dismal.  There was a dead rat in the toilet.

This was a pretty dismal house before experienced
restorers turned the situation around.

It was purchased by a young couple trying to find a good antique in Ipswich.  They had the energy and the smarts to know what to do with it.

At the closing the representative of the estate said they had a few things still to take out of the house.

Shortly after the closing I had a call from a very irate buyer.  Not one thing had been removed from this stuffed, miserable house.  After a day the buyers started hauling it out and leaving it at the curb.  The piles extended way beyond their own frontage and was quite a sight to behold.

Finally the sellers came to grips with the problem and sent teenagers with a truck to remove the stuff to a barn somewhere.  It was just tossed into the truck as it had been tossed to the curb.  I have often wondered if anyone ever went through it or found anything to save.

Maybe the contents weren't worth saving but the house was.  It was beautifully saved and attractively painted.  It is very much a credit to the neighborhood but most importantly, it was saved.

What could be more charming that this sweet old house.  It has come a very long way.

********************************************************************************

Today, as I write this, it is April first which many people around here remember for the April Fools Day Blizzard.  At the height of this late in the season blizzard an enormous, ancient tree fell on a shabby old house.  The oak summer beam under which the owner was sitting on the second floor saved her as the tree crashed through the house.  She was carried out without even shoes never to return as the inhabitant of the old house.

Part of the house was early first period, perhaps just before 1700.  As the old house broker in town I got the job of selling the wrecked house which was in bad shape before the tree fell.  It was purchased by a contractor and became a lovely home.

The front of the house with the Greek Revival doorway dating from the
Ephraim Harris period of ownership.  The house was originally on
Market St. and moved to this location before Central Street was
laid out.

The house is looking great but no one has replaced the Victorian  door!

This house has had a happy ending and is once again a nice antique first period house.  It may date to the 1690's making it one of the rare surviving houses from the 17th century.

*****************************************************************

As a new Realtor I decided to specialize in selling antique or historically significant houses and that is what I did for more than 25 years.  From the beginning I felt compelled to come to the rescue of the worst, most endangered houses that came on the market.  Selling old wrecks did not make me rich.  In fact, I probably earned the lowest commissions in the business because I sold the cheapest houses, all of them worthy of restoration.  Some of the houses I sold were beautiful and in top condition but I didn't discriminate.  If it was a wreck I tried to find a buyer who would save it disregarding the fact that the sale might be harder to put together and the commission much smaller than the norm.

On one of my first days as a new realtor I drove around with my manager trying to become acquainted with a town with which I was not very familiar.  Eventually my manager went back to the office and I struck out by myself to explore my new trade area.

Driving down a country road as I was approaching a dead end I suddenly saw the most impressive old house.  With its lean-to roof almost touching the ground it was a dramatic sight made more dramatic by a run down neighborhood, remains of an old slaughter house across the street and other unsavory buildings.  Returning to the office my manager offered to go back down there to see this great house in this bizarre neighborhood.

This dramatic lean-to caught my eye.

After being surrounded by several large dogs and finding no one at home we beat a hasty retrest.  Eventually I did get into the house and realized it was first period house.  Estimating that it was built at the end of the 17th century would not be an exaggeration.

There was a strange twist in the story of this house.  In the early to mid part of the 20th century it was owned by two brothers who did not get along.  The center entrance house was cut in half and one brother moved his half into the nearby forest where he took up residence and lived there until the house burned down.

This is what the Day farmhouse looked like after being severed into two pieces.

The owner was interested in selling the acreage that went with the house and it was sold to a builder.  I had envisioned new houses that would compliment the antique house with the old house being the centerpiece of the small subdivision.  The prospective buyer had other ideas.  He intended to bulldoze the old house.

A preservationist friend got the salvage rights to the old house and began to carefully dismantle it for reconstruction elsewhere.

Dramatic lean-to 

The buyer of the salvage rights to the house already owned a Royal Barry Wills cape style house and envisioned the old Day farmhouse becoming the main block of a new re-erected  Day house with the 20th century cape as an ell.  The project came together very nicely creating  a blend of old and new and assuring a long life for the old Day family homestead.

The Day house reassembled.

PART TWO

SORRY TO SAY, THEY DON'T ALL MAKE IT

THE RUSSELL FARM

One of my earliest exposures to restoration, preservation and saving an old house was in the 1940's when my parents took rides into the country to watch the progress of a house being restored.  I don't remember any particular details other than my parents being very interested in the progress.

Probably fifteen years later I found myself as a teenager spending time in that rural neighborhood as baby sitter for a neighbor.  At this time the restored house was occupied by a well to do doctor and his family.  I still remembered its restoration.

Time moved on and I had no occasion to see the old house for many years.  I lived at least a two hour drive from there.

By the 1980's I was selling real estate and meeting people and making new friends who had an interest in old houses.   From time to time with these new friends we would head out for the back roads of New England, exploring the countryside looking for interesting antique houses.  On one such trip we were in the vicinity of the "restored" house.  I wanted my friends to see this lovely house.

In 1987 the house was beginning its downhill spiral but still attractive.

When we pulled up in front of the house my heart sank.  The house looked terrible.  There were blankets nailed up over the windows in lieu of curtains.  The barn had burned and there were derelict vehicles littering the yard.  I was dismayed to say the least.

Several times since then I have returned and the scene only worsened.  By the 1990's the house was unoccupied and uninhabitable.  By 2010 or so the house was wide open.  We walked inside but felt it was not safe.  Animals had been living in there.  Even I, the die hard preservationist, deemed that it was beyond repair.

This photo is from the town assessors' records taken in the last
few years.  Is it still standing?  I'm not sure but I wouldn't be
surprised to find it gone.  The chimney still looks good!

I haven't been back for several years and not sure if the house is still standing.  What a shocker.  It had been "saved" once.  How could this have happened?  Obviously, nicely restored houses, once saved from the wrecking ball, are not always saved forever.

I found a listing for the land surrounding this poor house.  It offered an update and on this property.  Did the brokers even know that this had been a stately Federal period house, now reduced to being a dilapidated farmhouse?  In just a matter of time until these acres will probably be dotted with new houses.  Here is an undated real estate advertisement for the property. 

Property Overview - Drastically reduced, Vacant land with Dilapidated Farmhouse. Ample frontage on both sides of street may allow for multiple home sites. Buyer to verify all dimensions and perform due diligence

Post Script

On a beautiful sunny morning this week with two friends I took a road trip to see for myself what was happening to the house before reporting the final chapter.  Was I prepared for what I would find?  The answer is no!  Not surprised or prepared.  This photo says it all.  There are no words.

It is hard to believe that this is a house that this house was restored during my lifetime and now this.

There was no sign of the chimneys or bricks anywhere.  We wondered if the chimney or chimneys were removed to salvage the bricks leading to this total collapse.  That this could happen is a very sobering sight to witness.

That's all that's left.

*********************************************************************************

ELM FARM

Sorry this old Polaroid photo is blurred but the best I could do.

In my home town from which I had been separated for maybe forty years was a wonderful old house known as Elm Farm or the Fisher Farm.  It was never in good condition even when I was very young. On return visits, maybe once a year I lamented the condition of this house.

Relatives in my home town knew of my interest in what had been a great old house dating to 1790.  Each time I visited I inquired about the house.  I'm sure they thought I was a little strange if not downright crazy to be interested in this two hundred year old derelict house.

Here is what happened on one of my visits.

It was about a week before the 4th of July and the town fathers insisted that the old, unoccupied house be removed before the 4th of July, about a week away, fearing that if someone set fire to the house a transformer outside the house could plunge a large area into darkness.  The only reason the house was still standing was because the town had been unable to find a landfill that was willing take the house.   What an ignominious end for a grand old house!

I quickly grabbed a phone and called an old house salvage company with which I was familiar and told them the story.  It had to be removed on the double or would be bulldozed. The salvage shop owner got right on it and called another company in Connecticut for extra help.  This all took place on a Sunday afternoon.

I also called one of the selectmen for the town to plead for an extension but they wouldn't hear of it.  There had already been extensions and there would be no more.

I then called the chair of the Historical Commission who was most sympathetic but whose hands were tied and could not do any more than had already been done in an attempt to save the house.  The end was in sight.

True to their word the salvage people were there the next morning taking the house apart just as fast as they could.  There was no time to photograph and label the parts for complete reconstruction on a new site.  By Friday it was all down except for a very few pieces.  The wreckers wouldn't or couldn't wait any longer.  The engines were revving and moving forward.  The salvage men had done all they could and almost all of the pieces and parts were saved and available to others for incorporation into restorations jobs elsewhere.  The wreckers were impatient.

My son, Bob, and I made the two hour trip to see for ourselves what was going on.

It was a sad ending but better to have only the left over debris go to the landfill and not the major elements of the house especially the frame and the beautiful front door and surround.

Son, Bob, looking at the devastated house.

For those interested I wrote a more detailed history of this house four years ago.  It can be found on this blog. It was called "Could This House Have Been Saved".

https://prudencefish.blogspot.com/2014/01/could-this-house-have-been-saved.html

The house had a very fine fanlight doorway.  I don't know where it went but it must be gracing someone's restoration somewhere.  Maybe in my travel some day I will recognize it on another lovely old house that someone did save.

The bottom line is that it is best to rescue these houses but sometimes it is just too late.

EZRA PHILLIPS; AN ARCHITECT FOR GLOUCESTER 1870-1937

CHANGING THE FACE OF GLOUCESTER, ONE BUILDING AT A TIME

One man, Ezra Lunt Phillips, changed the face of Gloucester,  There is no doubt about it.

My acquaintance with the legacy of Ezra Phillips began about 1987.  At a yard sale I discovered a photograph printed from a glass plate negative.  It was labeled, "Ezra Phillips in his new car".

Ezra Phillips in his new car

At that exact same time a Gloucester couple, Susan and Rick Richter, were restoring a large house on Edgemore Rd.  My friend was curious and said, "Who do  you suppose that is?".  To which I replied that I knew who he was...the architect of the very house on Edgemore Road that was built at the turn of the 20th century and in 1987 being restored.  I had seen the original plans with his name on them.  Only then did I realize the image of Ezra Phillips depicted him sitting in his new car and looking a Balmaha, still under construction.  The same beautiful house that was then, in 1987, being restored by the Richters.

Balmaha, Edgemoor, Road

This was the beginning of my interest in the life and work of Ezra Phillips.  I purchased the photo.  It was copied and shared with the Richters, their brokers, the new owners and others.  It was a wonderful coincidence and incredibly timely.

Ezra Lunt Phillips was born Fed. 9, 1870.  The family then lived at 17 Washington Square.  His parents were Nathan and Maria.

Ezra's father was a successful flour dealer.  His business was on the right hand corner of what is now Main St. and Duncan Street.

By the early 1890s Ezra had opened an architecture office at 4 Pleasant St. and was still boarding at home but by 1896 he owned the property on Gloucester Avenue that was to be his home for the rest of his life.  The address changed several times but it was always the same house.

Phillips House, 30 Gloucester Ave.

He was now married, his wife was named Grace and they had two children, Elizabeth and Nathan.

By 1902, after living for many years on Washington Square, his father, Nathan and mother, Maria, moved to the large house at 159 Washington St. on the corner of Derby Street.  This is a lovely house but it is not known if Ezra had a hand in its building or renovation.  The family also had a summer home at Agamenticus Heights, (Wolf Hill area) overlooking the Russia Cement Company, (LePages) with which they family was involved.

House at 159 Washington Street

Ezra Phillips throughout his life contributed more than his architecture to the community. He was very active at Trinity Congregational Church and the YMCA.

In addition to volunteer organizations he was vice president of the  Gloucester Safe Deposit and Trust  Co., the Cape Ann Savings Bank, treasurer of the Cape Ann Anchor works, Russia Cement Co. (LePages) the Gloucester Coal and Lumber Co, the Rockport  Granite Co. and a charter member of the Rotary.  Where did he find time to design all the beautiful buildings?

Nathan Phillips passed away in 1905 but his widow, Maria, continued on living in the large house on the corner of Derby Street.

By 1926 Timothy Holloran had joined the architectural firm which then became known as Phillips & Holloran.  They continued as partners at least through 1935.  Ezra Phillips died in 1937 and Holloran continued on alone.

Eventually Timothy Holloran's son, Robert Holloran, joined his father after graduating from Wentworth Institute.  Eventually Robert went to work in Boston at Shepley Bullfinch.

But during all these years there was a miracle in the making.  Ezra Phillips never threw away a single plan and neither did his partner, Timothy Holloran.  They were carefully kept and after the death of Timothy this treasure trove, like a pot of gold, descended to Robert Holloran who  thoughtfully preserved them.

Robert Holloran died at a very old age in  2008 and in 2011 the plans were given to the Cape Ann Museum.  Here is what is so astonishing.  There were more than 300 plans mostly for local buildings!  Is it hard for you to get your head around this?  There are existing plans for 300 of some of the best and most beautiful buildings on  Cape Ann.  These plans span the period from about 1890 until the middle of the 20th century.

Municipal buildings include renovations to the former town house, now known as the American Legion building in preparation for the returning veterans of WWI.

First Town House, Now American Legion

There were renovations to Central Grammar, originally built by another native son, Tristram Griffin of Malden.   He designed several substantial bank buildings on Main St.

Central Grammar, Dale Avenue

He built at least one hotel, the Tavern, on the Boulevard that replaced the Surfside.

In short any building of any consequence renovated or built during more than half a century can usually be credited to Phillips or to Phillips & Holloran after they became partners.

And how about the countless private residences for which they were responsible?



Gloucester houses.  Examples of his work.

When all is said and done we now have concrete evidence of the magnitude of the work of Ezra Phillips and continuing with the firm of Phillips & Holloran.  Three hundred plus set of drawings documenting the development of this city for more than half a century.  What a wealth of information is stored in those tightly rolled up sets of plans.  Plans that thankfully have found a permanent home at the Museum.  What a legacy for Gloucester!

Ezra Phillips funeral took place at Trinity Church on Middle Street.  Rev. Dwight Cart conducted the service in the place where  Phillips had long been a deacon.  He was assisted by the former pastor,  Rev. Dr. Albert A. Madsen and Rev. Dr. Edmund A. Burnham pastor of the Essex Congregational Church.

It is fitting that Rev. Cart quoted from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr, "The Chambered Nautilus" beginning with "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul".

He went on to describe Phillip's life as "well designed with nothing cheap and shoddy in its  building.  A life founded upon faith, built upon quiet service, enhanced by joy and humor, active, alert, community-minded, true to friendship, honest and sincere.  One who loved many things and served many interests tirelessly, but whose first love was still his last...his home, and those who have made these wall live by the constancy of their service and affection.

Few of us have realized that in almost any neighborhood in the City of Gloucester one could look around and probably see the fruit of the three hundred sets of plans designed by him and his partner. But thanks to the museum, they have developed a master list and the buildings can be identified.  His buildings are everywhere in Gloucester.  Ezra  Phillips did change the face of Gloucester.

Here is an example of how he can still contribute eighty years after his death.

The Sawyer Free Library is in the midst of discussions concerning the expansion of the library or complete replacement.  One of the sections of the library, the stacks section, was built in 1913.  It's future is up in the air.  The building committee turned to the Cape Ann Museum and of course, it was predictable that they would have the plans for the "fireproof" building.  In ascertaining its value this new information about its fireproof construction adds another element in the evaluation and worth of the building.  Fireproof?  Who knew?

After the plans arrived in Gloucester at the museum I had the pleasure of trying to track down his descendants.  After making calls to places in Vermont and in New York state I finally found his grandson in Northbridge, MA.  Although in his eighties, William Christopherson was still very active.

When I reached him I asked him if he had any heirlooms or trinkets that had come down to him from his grandfather.  He told me that he had one thing that belonged to Ezra.  I should have been sitting down when he said, "I have his last automobile."  One could predict after looking at that early photo of Ezra in front of Balmaha that he would have a special car.  It was a name I had never heard.  It was from the late 1920s and a rare and expensive roadster.  His grandson was perhaps seven or eight years old when Ezra died but he begged his mother to keep the car.  She did keep it and can you believe that it is in perfect condition and still on the road!  I don't think it gets driven much but the fact that he still has it makes me smile.  Now if I could only think of the name.

We must remember Ezra Phillips for his contributions to his hometown and for all he accomplished in and for the City of Gloucester.

He quietly changed the face of the City, one building at a time.

ANOTHER UPDATE ON HANNAH JUMPER'S HOUSE

COULD IT GET ANY WORSE?

Wherever you are you probably know that New England along with other parts of the country have been putting up with severe cold temperatures compounded by high winds pummeling the area.

The last time I went by the Hannah Jumper house it looked worse than ever.  It was jacked up high in the air and more sheathing boards had been removed.  I was shocked as there was a wide open view of Rockport Harbor where the house should have been snuggled down close to the ground.  Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture.

Things took a turn for the worse on Thursday when a blizzard struck.  As it approached there was a frantic move to lower the house.  The snow blew and the wind raged on flooding area that had never been flooded before and people evacuated.  I would guess that Hannah Jumper's house clinging there on the edge of the water must have been battered by the water.  It probably ran right under the house and out to the street.

Anyway, Rockport held its collective breath.  The contractor for the project was frantic.

But guess what?  It is still there.  Shaky, pathetic, a shadow of itself, it is still standing after being exposed to nearly hurricane force winds and sub zero temperatures.  The old bones of the house are still hanging on.  It has been tested.

I think it wants to remain right where it has been since circa 1738 and I hope it does.  So far it is a survivor, sort of, but much the worse for wear and what it has been through.  It is almost at the point where even the die hard preservationist might say, "Is it really worth it?".

The blue gate in front of Hannah's house is almost as famous as the house and has been painted by many, many artists.  I just noticed that it is still there behind the orange mesh fencing.  That's good!

I will keep you posted and crossing my fingers that it turns the corner soon and begins the long road back before the house is buffeted by the winds of another northeaster winter storm.