adaptive reuse

First Universalist Church, Marion – Marion Arts Center // 1833

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I do love a good adaptive reuse story! This historic church building on Main and Pleasant streets in the Wharf Village of Marion, Massachusetts, was constructed in 1833 for the town’s growing and new Universalist congregation. Architect Seth Eaton was hired and furnished plans, likely relying on neighbor, Warren Blankinship, a carpenter and congregant, to construct the building. It blends together the Greek and Gothic Revival styles well, but in a less sophisticated form than some larger churches. By World War II, the church’s membership had dwindled to only a few old Marion families and eventually closed. With the building’s future uncertain, at a time where demolition for surface parking lots was the go-to solution, Marion residents Andrew and Dorothy Patterson, purchased the building and soon after worked with local artists in town to restore the building for use as an art space. The Marion Art Center was founded in 1957, and to this day, serves as a non-profit community cultural organization dedicated to promoting the visual and performing arts.

Ryder Windmill House // c.1899

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Preservation and New England ingenuity at its finest can be found at this quirky residence on Spring Street in the charming community of Marion, Massachusetts. The unique home seen here was originally built around 1899 as a water tower and windmill on the estate of William H. H. Ryder (1841-1921), which generated power from the wind to pump water from a well below ground, providing a continuous supply of water to his residence. The structure was in use until 1907 when municipally supplied water became available in town. When William Ryder, who never married or fathered children died in 1921, the property was inherited by his niece, Harriet C. Ryder (1869-1943), who lived with her uncle and kept house for him. Financial struggles forced Harriet to sell the main house and convert the windmill into a small cottage in 1926. The structure was originally used as a summer cottage but was later expanded and made a year-round residence, with later owners maintaining the unique charm and form of this iconic local landmark.

Old Marion Meeting House – Marion General Store // 1799

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Tucked into the heart of Wharf Village, the main village in the charming coastal community of Marion, Massachusetts, this building which is known today as the Marion General Store, wears its history quietly beneath a deceptively simple Greek Revival facade. The structure was constructed in 1799 as Marion’s first Congregational Meeting House, where religious services of the congregational church were conducted before the separation of church and state. The construction of this wood-frame building did more than give the faithful a place to worship, it anchored Wharf Village as the commercial and civic center of town, setting in motion the currents that would eventually set Marion off from its mother-town, Rochester in 1852. By the 1830s, the old meeting house was in poor condition, and along with the push for a separation of church and state and tax dollars no longer going to the Congregational Church, a grander Greek Revival church was built across the street. The Old Meeting House was also renovated in the Greek Revival style and operated as Delano Hall, a store with dance hall and meeting space on the upper floor. The building lives on today as the Marion General Store, with its old clapboards and pilastes holding the layered history and architecture of the seaside community that grew up around it from working port town to wealthy coastal village.

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. 

Old Chocorua Village Schoolhouse // c.1880

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This historic one-room schoolhouse can be found in Chocorua Village in the town of Tamworth, New Hampshire, and is a rare Stick style example of its type. The one-room schoolhouse was built around 1880 for the village and was one about 19 district schoolhouses in the town of Tamworth, all servicing remote villages for area children. The school eventually closed when consolidated schools took over in the 20th century, and this charming Victorian schoolhouse has since been converted to a private residence with rear wings added.

Former Ashland Junior High School // 1877

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The former Ashland Junior High School stands on a rise overlooking Ashland’s village center, on School Street just east of the entrance to the modern Ashland Elementary School. It is a three-story brick building designed in the Second Empire style and is topped by a mansard roof. The exterior is little changed from its original construction, although the interior has been subjected to period modernization after decades of vacancy and conversion to offices. The school was built in 1877 in response to the poor conditions of Ashland District Schools at the time. The school was closed in 1990, and the town voted to demolish it in 2000. The building was listed in the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance’s Seven to Save in 2007. A community effort rescued the building from that fate, thanks to the Ashland Historical Society which advocated for the sale of the building and subsequent restoration by the Tri-County Community Action Program, which occupies the building to this day. Preservation wins!

Scribner Mill // 1880

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The Scribner Mill building in Ashland stands as an architecturally and historically significant industrial building that tells the story of the community as a manufacturing center of the lakes region of New Hampshire. Built in 1880 by owner Ambrose Scribner, the brick structure served as a hosiery factory and is a late example of a mill building in the Second Empire architecture style. Owners today have spruced up the building which had previously been left vacant, to rent as office and light manufacturing space by Minus33, a merino wool apparel brand, and the purchased helps to reclaiming the important textile heritage of New England. The building retains its iconic mansard roof, brick corbeled cornice and entry tower, though many window remain boarded up.

Ashland Freight Station // c.1850

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The railroad arrived to Ashland, New Hampshire (then a part of Holderness) in 1849, which connected the industrial village to Concord for both freight and passenger service. The first Ashland Station, this building, opened as a combined passenger and freight station of the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad, which was chartered by the State of New Hampshire in 1844. Construction of its initial 93-mile track through largely agricultural, rural, and mountainous territory began in 1846 and concluded in 1853, when the railroad reached its terminus in Wells River, Vermont. Over time, the railroad expanded and acquired branch railroads, connecting it to routes all over the northeast. As manufacturing flourished in Ashland, the town grew, which necessitated the demand for a larger passenger station for the railroad. Additionally, in 1869, this structure was remodeled to handle increased freight. As trucking overtook rail service for freight, this station closed after WWII, and sat vacant until it was purchased and converted to an artist studio and shop.

Talbot Mills // 1857

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The Talbot Mills in North Billerica were built in 1857 by Charles and Thomas Talbot, who produced flannels, woolen goods, and later military and later, military drab. The brothers had connections in Lowell and eventually built a new manufacturing company in Billerica on the banks of the Concord River. Charles Talbot oversaw much of the day-to-day business, while Thomas Talbot began to pursue politics, serving first as state senator, lieutenant governor, and eventually Governor of Massachusetts in 1878. When built, the Talbot Mills were originally powered solely by water, but as the company’s manufacturing facilities doubled in 1880, a boiler-engine house was built. During the 1920s, at its peak, the mill employed 450 workers, many of whom lived in worker’s housing developed and rented by the corporation. During the 1960s, the company suspended operations and the building had been rented out to tenants ever since, now occupied by Pace Industries. The main (and earliest) building of the Talbot Mill complex was built in 1857 and rises five stories with a prominent entry tower with a balustrade, octagonal open arcaded belfry call capped by a weathervane. The wooden tower is a rare survivor and hopefully will remain another 150 years.

Faulkner Mill // 1880

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The manufacture of woolen goods was introduced in North Billerica by Francis Faulkner in 1811 on the bend of the Concord River. Francis Faulkner was the son of Colonel Francis Faulkner of Acton, one of the leading citizens of that town, who participated in the battles of Lexington and Concord and served throughout the Revolutionary War. When Francis Faulkner arrived in North Billerica, he began to manufacture woolen goods and expanded to coloring and dressing cloths. Mr. Faulkner would be joined by his sons, James and Luther, and was called the James R. Faulkner & Company. James Robbins Faulkner took over his father’s business, which expanded greatly after the Civil War. In 1880, the firm incorporated as the Faulkner Manufacturing Company, and they had the largest wing, this main block, added to the mill complex. The main building is an interpretation of the Romanesque Revival style and stands three stories tall and is notable for the four-story stair and water cistern tower with arched base. Sometime after 1914, the property was organized as the North Billerica Company and by 1935, a total of 135 employees were engaged in manufacturing wool blankets and cloth. Despite additions to the factory in the 1940s and again in the early 1960s, foreign competition forced the mill to close about 1987, leaving the buildings vacant with its future uncertain. Luckily, the Faulkner Mill is now home to a variety of small businesses and the Middlesex Canal Museum.

Bennett Library, Billerica // 1881

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In the late 19th century, Eleanor Richardson Bennett (1794-1891), the widow of Joshua Bennett (1793-1865), bequeathed funds to erect the first purpose-built public library building in her hometown of Billerica, Massachusetts. A private members library known as the Social Library, was formed in Billerica in 1772, but Ms. Bennett wished to gift the town a public facility of learning in memory of her late husband, a prominent landowner in the West End of Boston and one of the richest men in Middlesex County. Eleanor Bennett hired the Boston firm of Rotch & Tilden, to design the new library building overlooking the Town Common. Completed in 1881, the Victorian Gothic library is built of brick with limestone trim, and features a large rose stained glass window, intricate terracotta and wooden detailing, and a slate hipped roof with a pointed spire. The library was eventually outgrown and the facility relocated to a new building, and again to the former Town Hall building in 2000. The former Bennett Library is still owned and maintained by the town as an event space available for rent. The building has been restored through Community Preservation Act funding.

Abbott-Bowers House // 1796

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The Abbott-Bowers House at on Boston Road in Billerica Center was built in 1796 and stands as a significant Federal period residence in town, though suffers from deferred maintenance. The building was constructed for James Abbott, a merchant who likely operated a store from the street-side entrance. The property was owned later by Jonathan Bowers, the first Postmaster in Billerica and his home served as the Post office for over 100 years. Many other organizations and committees have also been run out of the building. The residence is five-bays wide on all elevations and has a hipped roof with tall end chimneys and what appear to be the original windows. The building recently sold and is planned for a new commercial use, hopefully with a restoration of the exterior.

Former Billerica Town Hall – Billerica Public Library // 1895

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Located on the edge of the Town Common in Billerica, Massachusetts, this handsome civic building stands as one of the community’s best examples of the Colonial Revival style. The building was constructed in 1895 to replace the mid-19th century Town Hall that was destroyed by fire in 1893. The community hosted a design competition, where prominent firms from the Boston area submitted designs, and ultimately selected the plans from the firm of Warren & Bacon, led by Herbert Langford Warren and Lewis H. Bacon, who had a short-lived business partnership lasting just one year. The symmetrical, two-story brick building is trimmed with limestone and capped with a gray slate roof. The facade is embellished with a Palladianesque arched loggia sheltering the entrances with a centrally placed Palladian window above on the second floor. Additionally, the roof is adorned by a Christopher Wren inspired cupola with a gold leaf dome capped with a weathervane. The building functioned as the Town Hall with offices and a grand hall on the second floor for city meetings until the town hall relocated in 1979 to a former school building. Since 2000, the former Town Hall of Billerica has housed the Billerica Public Library, which was formerly located in a smaller historic building nearby.