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INSIDE HISTORIC BOSTON INC.
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HBI Partners with North Bennet Street School
Handmade Houses Provides Training and Restoration
Historic Boston Incorporated and North Bennet Street School have formed a partnership to restore early historic buildings in Boston and provide hands on training to preservation carpentry students.
The Anna Clapp Harris Smith House, located at 65 Pleasant Street in Dorchester, was built in
1804
on a foundation that purportedly dates to 1636.
Handmade Houses, initiated with a grant from the 1772 Foundation, leverages the unique strengths of the two organizations in the interest of preserving pre-20th century structures in the city of Boston. Historic Boston will serve as project manager, overseeing the acquisition and restoration of properties while North Bennet Street will provide specialized carpentry and construction skills through its Preservation Carpentry department.
“This partnership enables Historic Boston to take on new projects in Boston’s neighborhoods and provide real world experience to students who are learning the specialized skills of early carpentry and restoration,” said Historic Boston Executive Director Kathy Kottaridis.
Through Handmade Houses, Historic Boston will acquire properties and manage the work on them. These will later be leased or sold to support a sustainable revolving fund for the partnership. This fund has been started with seed grants totaling $300,000 from the 1772 Foundation.
Projects will be chosen based on a number of criteria including the potential educational value, the historic or architectural significance, and the potential for payback. Buildings must be at risk of demolition or irreversible deterioration due to neglect.
The first project, already underway, is the rehabilitation of 65 Pleasant Street in the Jones Hill section of Dorchester, once the home of the Animal Rescue League Founder Anna Clapp Harris Smith. Built in 1804 by Samuel Clapp, it is understood to have been constructed upon the foundation of the 1636 house of Thomas Jones, which burned in 1803.
Historic Boston has executed a two-year purchase option with the current owner and is working with the North Bennet Street School to rehabilitate the building with the goal of turning the four-unit residential building into a two-family house.
The project at 65 Pleasant Street has a variety of educational opportunities: removal of shingled siding to reveal original clapboards, sill repair, rebuilding of window sashes, interior plaster repairs and the recreation and restoration of architectural elements.
“We are glad to be able to offer our students the opportunity to use what they have learned in the classroom,” said Steve O’Shaughnessy, head of the school’s Preservation Carpentry Department. “It is a chance for them to make a difference in the field while they get practical experience.”
