A house o| Newton MA News and Politics Blogn Chestnut St (#959?), just up the hill from Route 9, fell down earlier this afternoon … but no one was hurt

I live about a block away from there and was outside talking to my neighbor. I spotted a helicopter circling overhead and said “there must be something going on”.   A few minutes later I went inside but then heard a second helicopter.  At that point my curiosity got the better of me.

The house that fell was under construction.  The house is in the Upper Falls Historic District.  The project was to preserve and rehab the original house and then add a new addition in the rear.

The house was gutted maybe a year ago and then the project seem to come to a stand still since well before the pandemic began.  The open shell of the building has sparked much talk and speculation in the neighborhood over many months.

I hadn’t noticed but apparently work started up on the site recently.  The foundation and framing of the new addition has already been done.  

I talked to my neighbor who’s a contractor.  He got a good look at the aftermath.  He said it appeared that they were replacing the sill of the original house.  They had removed quite a large piece of it.  He said it looks like what ever temporary support they use to prop up the house must have given way.