On the corner of Chestnut St and Winter St in Upper Falls there’s a historic old building that was a shoe shop for most of the 1800’s and more recently it was the Moon and Sixpence Gift Shop until roughly ten years ago. Since then it’s been apartments. A few months ago, construction started and the entire outside of the building was methodically removed, leaving a very interesting wooden shell from the 1800’s. Next, nearly the entire inside and basement was removed leaving only the inside supporting structures. In recent weeks, much of the remaining frame and roof of the second floor has been removed leaving just the front facade. If they keep this up, there won’t be much left standing before long.
I suspected that the odd approach to construction has something to do with meeting Historic Commission regulations to avoid knocking down a historic building, by keeping just enough of the original to qualify as renovation rather than demolition. When it’s all done, the only trace of the original building will be buried deep inside the walls.
Last week, a Stop Work Order from the Building Department was posted on the site. Apparently, the contractor got a bit carried away with demolition and went beyond what he had permits for. As it stands now, with most of the second floor removed except for the propped-up facade, it gives the corner a Potemkin village look.
It will be curious to see where it goes from here. The whole project looks like some kind of gamesmanship between the developer and the Historic Commission.
In the meantime though, it’s a great little showcase of 18th century construction techniques. With the exterior and interior completely removed, you can get a good look at how they put buildings together back then. Most striking is the size of some of the lumber.
Here’s an excerpt about the building from Ken Newcomb’s Makers of the Mold – A History of Newton Upper Falls:
“The business of Loring Wheeler, Boot & Shoe Dealer, at the southeast corner of Winter and Chestnut Streets was established in the 1830s. In 1832, after one or two changes in management, it came under the ownership of J.T. Thomason who continued its operation for a number of years as the Echo Bridge Shoe Store.”
No, it’s our Blazing Saddles approach. We’re building a replica village. All that’s left is we need replicas of ourselves.
(Further connections to the movie, including a black guy from the big city ruling us, are just coincidental)
@Jerry: Thanks for the allusion to Potemkin Village. I had never read that phrase before and feel much better educated after reading the interesting Wikipedia definition and etymology. I had pegged the building as a “Hollywood set” or facade and also suspected Historical Commission intervention. I just hope that the second story front peaks, held aloft by “flying buttresses” of lumber, don’t blow over in a high wind onto someone’s head! It certainly looks dangerous to me!
This project is actually subject to a special permit from the Board of Aldermen back in 2011. The Board Order required the preservation of the original facade, with some additions mostly to the rear of the building. I was able to find a link to the planning department report describing the project on Google. I wish I could provide you with a link to the detailed plans, but the search engine for the city’s “new” website really stinks.
2010
I knew the term Potemkin village, but never knew it was the name of a person; I thought it was the name of the fake village.
As I read Jerry’s description, I was thinking of the Cheshire Cat disappearing until nothing was left but the grin!
Julia
I like it!
As suspected, the project’s mysterious progress is indeed tied up with the Historic Commission. The developer had permission from the commission to rebuild the building. As more and more pieces of the frame began coming down, the commission blew the whistle to find out what was happening. It turns out, the more they pulled apart the building, the more rotted wood they found. The project has started up again with the commission’s blessing and this week a substantial new chunk of the first floor frame just disappeared. By the time all the rotted wood’s removed, there won’t be much of the original building left. As Julia said – “just the grin of the Cheshire Cat”.
Jerry, My structural engineering firm does a lot of historic restoration work and with ancient timber buildings, poorly weather sealed, we too often end where this building is going after starting out with the objective of saving all that can be saved. We chase the rot, the extent of which can be difficult to track before work begins. I still believe that a stick-by-stick replacement of framing can honor the historic nature of a building but it is a costly exercise.
We are the company that did the demolition and shoring of the building.
The building core components are so rotted and falling apart that trying to abide with keeping the structures according to the permit and plan ( a requirement for compliance with the historic commission) was an impossible task.
The requirement is that if a part to be saved can not they must be notified. The front gable was so rotted it fell from the building causing the shut down. Now a representative from the historic commission will be involved more. Putting this building back together while keeping the historic aspect of it will be a challenge to say the least. As a life long resident of Newton Upper Falls I agree with keeping as much of our history as we can.
Thanks for the info Robert. I don’t envy the property owner at this point. There’s nothing worse than surprises in the middle of a construction project.
It will be a long drawn out process to say the least.
My mother Grew up across the street at 999 Chestnut Street
She said that that building always had issues. The current owners are
Committed to making the end result appealing to all.
Robert
Okay, this has been driving me crazy for weeks, and as I was driving by both buildings today I got the evidence I needed to prove that the building in the modern photo is not the same as the one in the historic photo. The photo that purports to be of Loring Wheeler, Boot & Shoe Dealer, is definitely not the Moon & Sixpence building. The building in the historic photo is actually located at 993-997 Chestnut Street. The Moon & Sixpence building in the modern photo that is being partially demolished and restored is located at 1012-1018 Chestnut Street. Go the assessor’s database, enter the respective addresses and click on the “Property Record Card” link to look at recent photos of both buildings.
Good catch Ted. The description with the historic photo (southeast corner of Winter & Chestnut) does clearly seem wrong. I’m embarrassed I missed that one since both building are just a few houses away from me.
By the way, did you notice this curious detail . There’s a digger down there in the foundation hole. There’s no obvious way that that they can get that digger out of there. I’m sure the builder knows exactly how they’ll get it out, but to a layman like me it’s a mystery.
Nah – they’ll just keep it there like in Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel.
Happily, when I passed by this morning, there were signs of activity. It looked as though the builders have completed the framing for the first floor. I hope this means continued progress at saving this historic little gem for future generations.
Anyone got an update on this one? Construction started this time last year and there doesn’t seem to be much going on recently.
@Hoss. The place is buzzing today, as it was most of last week. Looks very quiet from Chestnut St., but from our office window on Spring, you can see the entrance to the ant hill. Saw-horses loaded with siding. Carpenters coming and going. A guy with grey hair and a clipboard. The crew from Alewife air with miles of ducting. Trucks and vans galore. It’s all bizz.