The approximate date the home was built is circa 1840.
By Alan Crawford
The past month or so, we’ve lamented the loss of buildings which have graced our community for well over a century and beyond. We continue to notice older homes left to neglect, abandoned, and looking as if a strong wind will be the end of them. When I first began writing these articles, one of the ones involved the old Bushfield House, or as I remembered it from my youth, the Benedict House. It was marked with the red sign with the dreaded white “X” denoting it as dangerous and ready for demolition.
And, then something miraculous took place. A gentleman purchased it and began the painstaking job of giving it new life. This meant working with an architect, the building department, and arriving at a plan to save the structure. I had been in the home a number of times as I was growing up as had some of my cousins who lived next door. Heck! I even knew someone who lived there as a child.
Being contacted by the new owner, I reached out to friends, relatives and people who remembered the magnificent home in its glory days. The approximate date the home was built is circa 1840. Photos and memories were gathered, as the intent was to restore the structure as close to the original concept as possible. Obviously, there was extensive water damage for years from a leaking roof and little, if no, upkeep and maintenance. The once beautiful gardens had not been tended to for years and lost in the overgrowth. The trees in the front were never trimmed. The floors were buckled, and the list just goes on and on.
But, when you have a dream, you follow it. So, beginning in 2019, sections were gutted. The roof was replaced and the interior dried out. Old, hand hewn wood timbers were replaced to ensure the building was structurally sound, with many of these original beams which were salvageable being repurposed. Sections of deteriorated stone foundation were removed and replaced. The entire kitchen section was removed. Trees were dropped. Stone walls began being built. And then…COVID!
Work ceased for a period, and then was ready to resume only to find the availability of building materials was limited and an issue, and the costs skyrocketing. Most people would have walked away. The owner didn’t! He and his family buckled down and continued. I envy their tenacity!
By this year, the kitchen has been rebuilt, the exterior almost complete, the new front porch on, and the yard landscaping moving forward. New windows have been installed, being matched as closely as possible to the original design. Even some new “gingerbread” trim is in place!
So for all those Gloomy Gus’s and Debbie Downer’s, we can save, rescue, and preserve many things dear to us in our community if we step up and make it happen. It’s not a spectator sport. It’s never easy, it’s never convenient. Things don’t go according to plan. But, with a positive attitude things turn around.