Historic Stetson Ford House set to be sold with demolition ban
The Select Board voted to move forward with the sale of the town-owned Stetson Ford House with only a demolition ban in place during the Feb. 4 meeting. By opting out of other possible historic restrictions, the future owners will have more flexibility.
Norwell voters authorized the sale of the Stetson Ford property at town meeting last year. The property includes the house and several acres of land. The town has been trying to offload it since 2010, when a similar authorization vote failed.
Now, the Select Board has directed town counsel Bob Galvin to, “draft the necessary language to affect the sale of the Stetson Ford House with a restriction on any future demolition of the structure.”
The Select Board worried that placing more severe restrictions on the house would affect its market value. In houses with preservation restrictions, owners must obtain approval from town government to make renovations that would be visible from the outside of the house, said former Select Board member Bruce Graham.
“Antique homes are tough to sell because a lot of people just want a new kitchen and a house that doesn't leak cold air, but there is a market for it,” Graham said.
The town acquired the house eminently about 50 years ago, according to Wicked Local, and has cycled through various plans for the property. None have come to fruition.
Graham said the town currently leases the house for a gross rental income of $21,000 a year, half of the cost of capital on the property.
“It’s not a good investment,” he said. “Towns should not be in the real estate business.”
Built in 1674, Stetson Ford House is one of two houses in Norwell on the National Register of Historical Places. Wendy Bawabe, president of the Norwell Historical Society, said that the house belonged to the son of two of the first European settlers to arrive in Plymouth.
The property is surrounded by conservation land and connected to Norwell streets by a private road. One resident said that the town should be responsible for maintaining and shoveling that road so that emergency vehicles could access Stetson Ford House, but Select Board Chair Peter Smellie said that the road could not be made public because it was not up to code. The new owners of the property would have to pay to renovate the road, he said.
The Select Board will vote again to approve the property’s easement and to execute the language written by town counsel, and the planning board will also hold a public meeting regarding the Stetson Ford House, Select Board Member Brian Greenberg said.
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