News from HISTORIC BOSTON INCORPORATED BRICKS&MOR TAR Fall 2016 North Bennet Street School’s preservation carpentry students conduct exploratory work on the farmhhouse. OVER THE LAST YEAR Historic Boston (HBI) and its partners, the Urban Farm- Fowler Clark ing Institute (UFI), The Trust for Public Land (TPL), and North Bennet Street School (NBSS), have held to an aggressive predevelopment schedule for the 1786 Fowler Clark Epstein Farm Epstein Farm in Mattapan. Construction is expected to begin this fall. The $3.2 million project is designed to serve UFI’s mission while thoughtfully preserv- Construction ing the historic features of the site. Plans include the restoration of the 1786 house for classrooms, offices and farmer housing. The 1860s carriage barn will be trans- Begins formed into UFI’s headquarters, a demonstration kitchen, classroom, and a washing continues on page 2 IN THIS ISSUE: 2 Mattapan Farm Begins Construction 4 Roslindale Substation Nears Completion 5 Spring Start for Upham’s Corner Station 6 Roxbury’s Owen Nawn Factory 8 Hyde Park’s Vertullo Building Fully Leased 9 Looking Around Upham’s Corner 10 2016 Donor Thanks 12 HBI Advisors Explore Urban Farming Roslindale Substation Nears A New Look at Roxbury’s Owen 14 HBI Comings and Goings Completion p4 Nawn Factory p6 15 From the Executive Director Historic Boston Incorporated Fowler Clark Epstein Farm Board of Directors Begins Construction from page 1 Kathleen MacNeil, President and storage facility for produce grown on site. architectural elements on both house and Felicia Jacques, Treasurer A new greenhouse is planned for the rear of barn. Jorge Epstein was a dealer in antiques David Hacin, Clerk the property. Baraka Community Wellness, a and architectural salvage and his business, non-profit organization that manages com- Olde Mansions, located three blocks from Emily Axelrod prehensive wellness solutions for employers the farm on Blue Hill Avenue, was a popular Brian Awe and their workforces, recently agreed to lease source of historical architectural elements Richard Beal office space in the house. for area homeowners and contractors. Mr. Barbara Boylan The Boston office of Perkins + Will is design- Epstein’s business interests spilled over Marla Curtis ing the new urban farming education and to his home where he installed distinctive Michael Durand training center at the farm, donating a sub- architectural embellishments into garden Thomas Goemaat stantial portion of its fees through the firm’s walls, walkways, and the house itself. James Labeck Social Responsibility Initiative, an effort to “The greatest challenge of this project is Paul McDonough bring excellence in design to projects with choosing what to preserve” said HBI’s Senior Henry Moss strong social goals. The Massachusetts-based Project Manager Lisa Lewis, “Our goal is to Susan Silberberg landscape architecture firm of Regenerative honor the property’s three primary owners: Marc Truant Design Group will design the farming and The Fowlers, the Clarks and the Epsteins.” landscape components of the project. Among the Epstein installations to be kept is HBI Council of Since its construction in 1786, the farm has a 19th century water fountain salvaged from Advisors passed through the hands of three fami- the Christian Science Center, bluestone steps lies. The Clark family built the 18th century from South Station, and a series of interior Matthew Kiefer, Co-chair house, the Fowlers constructed the barn, and wall murals that depict the history of the site’s Carolyn Osteen, Co-chair the Epstein family substantially altered the evolution from farmland to streetcar suburb. landscape and installed many salvaged Robert Beal Theodore Landsmark Barbara Berke Edward Lawrence Anthony Consigli Drew Leff Nancy Coolidge Thomas O’Brien Lawrence Curtis Robert Rivers Eric Dray David Rockwell Ronald Druker Peter Smith Andrea Gilmore Lynne Spencer Charles Grigsby Brian Swett Barbara Hostetter Peter Vanderwarker Lee Michael Kennedy Robert Verrier Chrystal Kornegay Ranne Warner Alex Krieger Jay Wickersham Historic Boston Incorporated 20 Eustis Street • Roxbury, MA 02119 617-442-1859 • 617-442-2243 (fax) email: [email protected] “Our goal is to honor the property’s www.historicboston.org three primary owners: The Fowlers, the Clarks and the Epsteins.” Text: Madeline Grant Lisa Lewis, Newsletter Design: Joanne Kaliontzis HBI Senior Project Manager 2 Mattapan neighbors gathered for a community barbecue in Summer 2015. Preservation carpentry students from North Work begins this fall with structural stabili- Bennet Street School are restoring the façade zation and repairs to the frame of the barn. of the farmhouse, removing 20th century The permitting process is expected to be shingles and restoring existing clapboards. completed later this fall and construction will They will also create new period-appropriate transition from barn repairs into full buildout windows for the original farmhouse and of the barn and house in early 2017. UFI will restore the front entry vestibule. North Ben- move into the completed barn in summer of net Street School’s exploratory work deter- 2017 and the full project is expected to be mined that the house’s original windows were completed in spring 2018. larger than they presently appear; Students will restore the windows to their historic dimensions. A 20th century mural of the property’s history was commissioned for the house by the Epstein family. Cold water fountain salvaged from the Christian Science Center and bluestone steps from South Station. Generous Donors Close the Gap at the Fowler Clark Epstein Farm OF THE $1.5 MILLION in fundraising necessary to transform the Matta- pan’s Fowler Clark Epstein Farm, HBI and its project partners have secured commitments for nearly $1 million, thanks to the very generous support of the following charitable foundations, public agencies, and individuals. Thank you! Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund Cabot Family Charitable Trust Barbara and Amos Hostetter Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust The Trust for Public Land Clipper Ship Foundation City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund Paul and Edith Babson George B. Henderson Foundation Foundation The 1772 Foundation 3 Roslindale Substation Nears Completion VISITORS TO ROSLINDALE the 1970s but has been vacant and unused Village will notice big changes at the historic since then. Roslindale Substation which is being redevel- Over the summer, the substation’s massive oped for chef Chris Douglass’ new concept ceiling crane, once used to move transform- restaurant, The Third Rail. ers and other equipment around the build- The project, the result of five years of plan- ing, was moved into a locked position at the ning and collaboration between HBI, Roslin- center of the substation in accordance with dale Village Main Street and Peregrine Group plans prepared by project architect David LLC, is the second of a two-phased project Chilinski of Prellwitz Chilinski Associates. The Alia Hamada Forrest, Roslindale Village Main Streets that includes the Substation’s restoration crane will feature prominently in the new and Jordan Stone, Peregrine Group, inspect the site. for a restaurant and retail, and 43 new apart- restaurant’s decor along with the buildings ments constructed on the former site of megalithic bronze front doors and massive Higgins Funeral Home. arched windows on the eastern and western elevations of the building. The faded mural that stretched across the east side elevation has been removed Peregrine Group’s Senior Project Manager and the massive arched windows that had Jennifer L. Matthew reports that 75% of the been bricked in since the 1970s, have been major work items have been completed. “We re-opened, shedding light into the soaring expect exterior restoration work, including the interior. A glimpse into the Substation reveals new windows, pointing and cleaning, to be bright white-glazed brick walls, cleared of completed by November,” she said. “Then we decades of layered soot. can begin the restaurant’s interior build out.” The Roslindale Substation, built in 1911, func- Craft Beer Cellar, a retail business, is expected tioned as part of the Boston Elevated Railway to open in the lower level of the substation at Company’s then-revolutionary alternating year-end 2016. electric current power system. Designed by architect Robert Peabody of Peabody and The Third Rail, the restaurant by Dorchester Stearns with Stone and Webster Engineer- chef Chris Douglass on the Substation’s main ing Corporation, the Substation is one of six level is expected to open in Fall of 2017. The nearly identical converter substations built in name references Douglas’ third food estab- In-fill brick has been removed for window restoration. and around Boston at that time. The Roslin- lishment and the electrified rail that powers Construction workers prepare for new window dale Substation continued operating until some MBTA transit lines. installations. 4 Spring Start for Upham’s Corner Comfort Station Project he $1 million transformation of the The former Comfort Station sits on what T1912 Upham’s Corner Comfort Statio was once part of the 1630 Dorchester North into the Sip & Spoke Bike Kitchen is slated Burying Ground, and together they are to begin in the spring of 2017. Historic listed on the State and National Registers of Boston, the American City Coalition, and Historic Places and as a Boston Landmark. Sip-n-Spoke entrepreneur Noah Hicks are The historic building helps tell the story working with the architectural firm Utile of 19th century municipal expansion and to complete project permitting this fall. population growth in Dorchester, and the Meet Sip & Spoke’s Construction is expected to be completed public transportation infrastructure built Kristina Jackson by December of 2017. in the 20th century to support them. Noah Hicks recently brought on experienced Once completed, the Comfort Station will barista Kristina Jackson as café manager for Restoring a deteriorated become Sip & Spoke Bike Kitchen, a bike Sip & Spoke Bike Kitchen.