by Frank Schroth
A local rectory likely made with local granite and of unique architectural design is being torn down as I write this.
The removal of the rectory has been a contentious point within the community. The archdiocese argued that the property would be more marketable without the building. The parish council lobbied hard along with a developer to put housing on the property. The Planning Board responded by recommending a historic overlay be considered that would preserve the building and allow for 8 residential units. Mr Ruscito, the developer, had been asking for 12. and did not respond to the option of a historic overlay. The zoning currently allows 5 units without a street and 6 with a street. Mr. Ruscito submitted two concepts plans. You can find the first plan here and the second one here.
The Historic Commission had issued a demolition delay. That delay expired and Ruscito was contracted to take the building down. The building is being taken down today.
It is a cold, raw, miserable day, which, for those who sought to save the house, may be viewed as weather suitable for this loss of a piece of Milton history.
Whenever I passed the Joseph Howe House & noticed that unique stonework and those large bold windows, I couldn’t help but reflect on the labor and principles that built it and this Country. The original owner, after all, was the father of Samuel Gridley Howe and father-in-law of Julia Ward Howe. The now forgotten stonemason(s) who shaped and placed those granite blocks were undoubtedly proud that future passersby would marvel at their work long after they were gone – and its authenticity added a bit of poetry to an otherwise drab intersection. Yesterday, that poem was erased.
History is a pact between the dead, the living, and the yet unborn.” – Edmund Burke
A piece of that pact in Milton was destroyed with the removal of the Joseph Howe House.
Ann Colligan-Grant, a former resident of Milton for 41 years. Now residing in Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard.
What a lovely mess.
“I dare to bet that none of the new houses will come close to the architectural value of the old rectory! RIP”
I just have to repost this- it’s a shame that this unique historical treasure could not be saved, or at least salvaged. Very disappointing.
Breaking faith with history.
Key West, Florida
I repost this in response to many who have commented recently:-
“INDIVIDUALS or groups had over a year to purchase the property and preserve it or negotiate with the owners to acquire the building, dismantle and move it to another location. If that was done the Howe House would stand again one day. It didn’t and unfortunately it won’t.”
Mr.Hannigan, those are the very INDIVIDUALS who want you to do as they say, with your property and money,not as they do with their property and money.
My name is Zachary and I am 10 years old and I live in Milton. I used to love seeing the cool stones in the Howe House and I wanted to drive my kids by it someday. I am very sad that it was demolished and now that will never happen.
When I was just a little older than you there was a historic home in my neighborhood in Quincy. In fact, it was built by a close friend of President John Adams whose own home is still there and open to the public on Adams Street.
I was fortunate enough to visit the house many times because at the time it was owned by the former mayor of Quincy named Perley Barbour whose grandchildren who were my age came down from Maine to live with him. If in time you watch the classic movie, “Gone With The Wind”, you will see a house that looked very much like the historic Barbour house. In the movie the house was called Tara and it was built to remind one of a Greek temple with a series of white pillars holding up the roof.
When Mr. Barbour passed away his family wanted to donate the house to become the Governor’s Mansion but the state turned the offer down and the house was sold to a local merchant.
Sadly, that new owner abandoned the house and on a late October afternoon much like today I heard fire engines roar up Adams Street and stop at this now abandoned home.
1 hour before I had walked by the home on the way back from school and in fact cut through its beautiful backyard which had now become a field of tall weeds. So, when the fire broke out at the house I could actually see the smoke from the fire from our kitchen window. Don’t remember if I asked my parents but I raced out to see the fire. It was one of the saddest thing I have ever seen. The interior which had been so dark for so long was alive with light. Unfortunately, the bright light in the windows came from the flames inside. Finally, I heard a loud croaking noise and suddenly the roof collapsed into the center of the house taking many of the beautiful supporting pillars with it and the house was gone forever. The burnt shell of the house seemed to sit on the bluff of land on which it was located for months. I would walk by it every day to and from school and I couldn’t understand how adults could let this happen. Today, a very modern house sits on the property which really doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood but it really doesn’t matter the damage was done years before.
I guess we both learn a lesson about live and how adults interact with each other or fail to interact with each other at an early age. But at 10 years old you have a whole wonderful life ahead of you with a knowledge that perhaps many kids your age do not have.
Maybe the destruction of the Howe House will encourage you to be active in the town as you already done. And if you do remain active you could be the very person who saves the next piece of property from being destroyed because adults could not come to an agreement to preserve history.
Your parents should be very proud of you.
“Mr.Hannigan, those are the very INDIVIDUALS who want you to do as they say, with your property and money,not as they do with their property and money.”
Mr. Connelly, the sad part of it is they will NEVER recognize that fact.
Mr. Hannigan, Mr. Connelly, you both seem to be confusing the right to do something with doing what’s right. I don’t hear anyone suggesting that the archdiocese acted illegally in demolishing a historic property, but I hear plenty of regret that the archdiocese chose not to pursue a solution that could have preserved the property while satisfying the archdiocese’s desire to sell it.
What’s that? The property owner’s plan for the property is all that matters, the interests of the community be damned? What a mean, small, narrow view, especially by the owner of a historic property, especially by a community-oriented entity like the archdiocese.