adaptive reuse Newton MA

Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company Factory // 1889

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The Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company traces its roots to the pioneering work of William Francis Channing and Moses Farmer of Boston, whose 1850s telegraph-based fire alarm system was the first practical fire alarm box system that consisted of telegraph-based boxes placed on street corners, which, when activated, sent a coded signal to a central fire station notifying them of a fire or emergency. The duo applied for a patent for their “Electromagnetic Fire Alarm Telegraph for Cities” which was later acquired by John Gamewell of South Carolina. Following the Civil War, Gamewell partnered with Kennard and Company and built a factory in Newton Highlands in 1873. The company would adopt the trademark of a fist gripping lightningbolts, and by 1886, the Gamewell system was operating in over 250 cities in the United States and Canada. As the company grew operations, the business moved to this site in the Upper Falls village in 1889, which was desirable for its close proximity to the railroad and markets all over the region. The first factory was the two-story wooden factory building completed in 1889, with later wings to its east (1904) and west (1912) as the company continued to expand into the 20th century. The Gamewell company remained here until the 1970’s when Gamewell became a division of Gulf and Western. Luckily, the former factory was restored by owners Alexandria Properties and architects, Kraus Associates, as Telegraph, which now offer retail and office space for small local businesses

Ralph Waldo Emerson School // 1904

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The Ralph Waldo Emerson School in Newton’s Upper Falls village was built in 1904 and dedicated a year later serving as the main school building in the industrial village. The brick school building was constructed adjacent to the Levi C. Wade School, a large Second Empire style wood-frame school constructed in 1869. The Wade School was razed for a 1950s addition to the Ralph Waldo Emerson School. The substantial school building was designed by the prominent architectural firm of Hartwell Richardson & Driver, at a time when the Upper Falls Village continued to expand due to the well-established cotton manufacturing mills and the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company. The large structure is hard to classify architecturally, as it blends elements of the Renaissance Revival, Arts & Crafts and Classical Revival styles, but with its massive chimneys, hipped roof with projecting eaves, and large arched windows, the building is an architectural statement for the relatively vernacular industrial village it is located in. By the end of the 20th century, school enrollments and consolidation of village schools saw the closing of the Emerson School, but luckily, the building lives on after it was converted to condominiums, with the 1955 addition now serving as a day care center, a senior citizen room and gymnasium-hall for the community. 

Pettee Stone Barn // 1839

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This historic stone barn in Newton’s Upper Falls village is representative of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of this once thriving nineteenth century mill village. Known as the Pettee Stone Barn, the structure dates to 1839 when Otis Pettee (1795-1853), who managed an iron foundry and machine-works for cotton machinery, built this structure as a warehouse. The barn was said to have been used additionally as a location for raising silkworms by Pettee’s company. After the business closed, the handsome barn was used later in the 19th and early 20th century as a carriage and horse barn for a shipping company and today, is rented to local businesses. Architecturally, the barn is significant for its use of fieldstone walls with door and window surrounds of cut stone and brick. A monitor roof runs the length of the gable ridge and illuminates the interior spaces. The Stone Barn remains remarkably preserved today and is a landmark in the community. 

Former Weeks Junior High School – Weeks House // 1931

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Adaptive reuse projects will ALWAYS get love on here!

Originally constructed in 1931 as the Weeks Junior High School in Newton Centre, Newton, this architecturally significant school building is the finest local example of the Tudor Revival style in that use. The Weeks School was designed by Ralph Coolidge Henry and Henry Parsons Richmond, architects who were draftsmen for Guy Lowell, one of the greats, and the successors to his practice upon his death in 1927. The design for the Weeks School is of traditional brick and cast stone, with its main entrance through a large Gothic arch at the center of the building. Two wings extend parallel to the tower and then bend back at 45-degree angles, creating the distinctive U-shaped form, which provided ample natural light in all classrooms. After a consolidation of local schools in the mid-20th century, the Weeks School closed, but was beautifully rehabbed in 1984 into housing as the Weeks House. Today, the building is comprised of mixed income housing of about 75, one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

Former Newton Centre Methodist Episcopal Church // 1899

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This building, the former Newton Centre Methodist Episcopal Church, is Romanesque in style, and is one of the more notable adaptive reuse projects in Newton. The church was designed by the esteemed architectural firm of Andrews, Jacques & Rantoul and completed in 1899 for the local Methodist Episcopal congregation. The edifice is built of locally quarried rubblestone, often called Roxbury Puddingstone, and trimmed with rough cut Milford granite. The granite is used at the windows, forming the arches and heads, and most strikingly in the large arched entrance. The church eventually closed and was renovated with modern windows, additions, and more, and currently houses a restaurant, bank, book store, and professional offices.

Parker-Hoogs-Baury House // c.1755

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Thought to be the oldest extant house in Newton Lower Falls, this historic mansion has seen a lot of change over its nearly 300 years in the village. The house believed to have been built around 1755 by John Parker (1687-1761) for his son Ezra (b. 1731) after his marriage. William Hoogs, a ship carpenter from Boston, took ownership of the house in 1781 from his father-in-law (and boss), Aster Stoddard, who had bought it from the Parker family. William Hoogs was a sole-owner of a paper mill in the village and made a good name for himself. The house was likely modified during this period in the Federal style, with a third floor added. The home was possibly passed to his son, also William, who was written about in papers as fleeing town to Canada with the family maid, who was late in her pregnancy and their two-year-old child together. Hoogs had debtors looking for him. Hoogs had a change of heart and sent for his eight children to live with him in Quebec that same year. Sadly, the ship bringing them up sunk on Lake Champlain and all perished. By 1813, the property was purchased by Samuel Brown of Boston, a wealthy merchant who was a strong financial supporter of Saint Mary’s Church. By 1825, he officially bequeathed the property to Dr. Alfred Louis Baury (1764-1865) rector of Saint Mary’s Church. By 1917, the Lucy Jackson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution operated it as a chapter house and a museum for antiques. In 1971, the Newton Redevelopment Authority bought the property and sold it to a developer for conversion into office space, it was rotated 90 degrees to face Concord Street at this time.