Friday, March 15, 2013
The building on Belmont Street dating back to the early 19th century will be given historic landmark status.
The farm house on Belmont Street that dates back to the 1830s will be saved and refurbished after the owners - Beacon High School - and the town came to an agreement to make it a historic landmark. The Orchard House sits on the school's property and had been threatened with demolition will be preserved after months of negotiations and efforts to save the house. Thursday night the Historical Commission agreed in principle to the creation of the landmark. In April the Commission will hold a public hearing and vote on creation of the historic landmark. History The Orchard House is one of the last Greek Revival homes left in Watertown and has ties to notable people associated with the Revolution, Abolition and Temperance movements, art, …
42.380623
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Beacon High School
917 Belmont St, Watertown, MA
/articles/agreement-reached-to-save-watertown-s-historic-orchard-house
768365
/locations/9022077
Friday, February 1, 2013
The vote is one of the steps toward creating a historic district for the Orchard House.
The Massachusetts Historical Commission voted this week to accept the application from the Watertown Historic District Commission to create a district to protect the Orchard House. The district started a move to protect the house by creating a one-property historic district at 917 Belmont Street in August 2012, when the owners of the property, Beacon High School, filed a request to demolish the house that dates back to the 1830s. The Historic District Commission (MHC) sent a draft of the application to create the district to the Mass. Historical Commission in December, and this week the Christopher Skelly, director of Local Government Programs for the MHC, sent a letter to Harvey Steiner, chairman of the Historic District Commission. The…
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
The Historical Commission extended the delay to prevent the historic farm house from being torn down.
The Historical Commission extended the demolition delay on the Orchard House for another six months, extending the term to the full one-year allowed under Watertown's bylaws. The commission met on Dec. 13 to discuss whether to lengthen the term of the demolition delay. The board put the initial delay on the Orchard House – a farm house from built in the 1830s – when officials from Beacon High School applied to tear down the building in July. As with the first hearing, several Town Councilors and other residents spoke out in favor of saving the building, according to Marilynne Roach, a member of the Historical Society of Watertown who attended the Historical Commission meeting. The Historical Commission voted unanimously to extend the …
42.380623
-71.191344
Beacon High School
917 Belmont St, Watertown, MA
/articles/demolition-delay-for-watertown-s-orchard-house-extended-by-six-months
768365
/locations/8455985
Thursday, November 29, 2012
School officials say the restrictions of a historic district on the Orchard House would harm their students education and threaten their safety.
The Watertown Historic District Commission moved a step closer to creating a historic district for the Orchard House Wednesday night, but the owner of the property – Beacon High School – say creating a district would threaten their students' education and safety. The Orchard House dates back to 1832 and the Historic District Commission (HDC) started the process to protect it by making the property into a historic district after school officials applied to take down the Greek Revival farmhouse. The Walker School runs a program for teens with mental illness and severe emotional challenges at Beacon High School, and Steve Tannenbaum, vice president of the schools Board of Directors, said the program would be threatened by the requirements …
42.380623
-71.191344
Beacon High School
917 Belmont St, Watertown, MA
/articles/beacon-school-officials-may-take-legal-action-to-block-creation-of-historic-district
768365
/locations/8250924
Monday, November 26, 2012
The 1830s farm house that is owned by the Beacon School was also recently added to the Massachusetts Most Endangered Resource List.
The Historic District Commission is expected to take the next step in the efforts to protect a Watertown farm house dating back to the 1830 this week. On Wednesday, Historic District Commission members will meet to review their application to create the historic district for the Orchard House – which would include just the property at 917 Belmont St. in Watertown – and are expected to take a vote on whether to approve the application and send it to state officials. The building currently sits on property owned by the Walker School, which uses it as part of the Beacon High School campus. The Historic District Commission started the process to protect the building in August after Walker School officials applied to tear down the buildling to …
42.380623
-71.191344
Beacon High School
917 Belmont St, Watertown, MA
/articles/watertown-commission-close-to-filing-for-historic-district-status-for-orchard-house
768365
/locations/8208031
Saturday, October 27, 2012
The Watertown Historic District Commission made changes to the historic district ordinance and design rules before sending the proposal for a district, made up of the Orchard House, to state officials
Officials from Beacon High School officially opposed making their property at 917 Belmont St. into a historic district, and asked – if the district is created - the commission to give them some leeway for the historic requirements. The district would restrict the exterior appearance of the historic Orchard House, which dates back to the 1830s and has ties to Bunker Hill, the Revolutionary War and the Abolitionist Movement. Watertown Historic District Commission Chairman Harvey Steiner said the historic requirements would only apply to features that are historic, not parts that have been modernized. “If it becomes a historic district, (the rules apply to) what is there now,” Steiner said. “If it is a plastic (framed) window now, you can …
42.380623
-71.191344
Beacon High School
917 Belmont St, Watertown, MA
/articles/beacon-school-officials-ask-for-leeway-from-historic-district-restrictions
768365
/locations/8072552
Friday, October 5, 2012
The 1830s farm house is under threat of demolition if the owners, The Walker School, cannot find a way to pay to preserve the building on Belmont Street.
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Friday, October 5, 2012
The following information was provided by Preservation Massachusetts: The property at 917 Belmont Street in Watertown has been named one of Massachusetts’ “Most Endangered Historic Resources”. Since 1993, this list is compiled annually by Preservation Massachusetts, the state’s historic preservation advocacy organization. Known as Orchard House, this large and graceful Greek Revival home was constructed in 1840. It was situated on what was originally at potato farm but developed into a cattle farm by one of Watertown’s most prominent citizens, Abijah White. The home has rich historical ties to notable people associated with the Revolution, Abolition and Temperance movements, art, literature and education. The home was converted to use as a…
42.380623
-71.191344
Beacon High School
917 Belmont St, Watertown, MA
/articles/watertown
768365
/locations/7967313
Friday, September 21, 2012
Beacon High School's offer to not touch the Orchard House for 3 years did not stop the Historic District Commission from moving forward with application process.
An offer by Beacon High School officials that would have delayed the demolition of the Orchard House by three years did not put the brakes the Historic District Commission's effort to turn protect the building by creating a historic district. On Wednesday night, Steve Tannenbaum, vice president of the board of directors of the Walker School - which runs Beacon School - presented the offer to the commission. The delay would allow the school to work with the town and others to find a way to save the house. Historic District Commission (HDC) Chairman Harvey Steiner said he plans to keep the application process going. "I personally want to see the building preserved," Steiner said. "I don't want to take a step backward and watch from the …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Officials from the school said the town's effort to create a historic district puts them in a bad position.
Officials from Beacon High School said they will ask the Historic District Commission tonight to agree to a deal that would prevent the historic Orchard House from being demolished for at least 3 years in return for stopping the effort to turn the property into a historic district. Without such an agreement, the school will be forced to make a decision in the next few months, said Steve Tannenbaum, vice president of the board of the directors of the Walker School - which runs Beacon High School, at a meeting with officials and residents Tuesday night. "We have rented trailers for two years and we thought we had two years to solve the problem," Tannenbaum said. "(The effort to make a historic district) it has taken away our ability to make …
42.380623
-71.191344
Beacon High School
917 Belmont St, Watertown, MA
/articles/beacon-school-to-request-3-year-delay-on-decision-on-orchard-house
768365
/locations/7870633
Saturday, September 15, 2012
The school that owns the historic home will meet with residents Tuesday in Town Hall.
The Beacon High School will hold a community meeting about the historic Orchard House on Tuesday, Sept. 18 in Town Hall at 7 p.m. Beacon School, which is run by the Walker School, owns the farmhouse at 917 Belmont Street which dates back to the early 1830s. The school applied to tear down the house, but in July the Historical Commission put a six-month demolition delay on the building. Since then, the Historic District Commission has started efforts to make the property a historic district, which would prevent the house from being torn down. School officials told the Historical Commission that they want to find a way to save the building while still meeting the needs of their students. At the meeting, school officials will go into more …
42.36752
-71.18773
Town of Watertown Town Hall
149 Main St, Watertown, MA
/articles/beacon-school-hosting-community-meeting-about-historic-orchard-house
1422333
/locations/7845300
Mara
11:51 am on Monday, November 26, 2012
Either give funding to the school for the thorough upkeep or tear the building down. It is an eyesore! more ›