Newton Historical Commission Rejects Plans For Gershom Hyde House Site

NEWTON, MA —The Newton Historical Commission has voted unanimously 7-0 to reject the latest plan presented by the owners of the demolished historic property at 29 Greenwood Street, formerly the site of the Gershom Hyde House, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said Wednesday.

The Gershom Hyde House, which was built in 1744, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and designated as a Newton local Landmark in 2005, was torn down without warning by developer Ty Gupta, according to Department of Planning and Development meeting minutes from the May 27 session.

"As Mayor, I share our Historical Commission’s and our residents’ outrage that the owner at 29 Greenwood Street demolished one of the City’s treasured landmarked properties,” Fuller said in a statement.

Some background info:

The Gershom Hyde House went before the Newton Historical Commission in 2017, 2018, and 2019 for extensions to an approved Certificate of Appropriateness certificate for restoration and construction of a rear addition. The property changed ownership in January 2021, but the work commenced according to the previously approved plans.

When an Inspectional Services Department (ISD) building inspector visited the site in April 2021, however, they observed that the house had been replaced by new framing. A Stop Work order was issued due to violations of the NHC-approved plan and work at the site ceased.

The stop work order is still in place and the Historical Commission imposed the maximum daily penalty of $300 a day, which continues to accrue.

Why the latest no vote?

The Historical Commission’s latest vote was based on findings that the proposed plans fail to adhere to the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties for “reconstruction” of historic property, Fuller said.

In addition, the Commission found that the plans fail to demonstrate that the proposed building materials would be able to convey the same appearance as the traditional materials and do not offer sufficient documentation of the historical basis for a number of proposed exterior features.

The full decision is available here.

This is the second time the Historical Commission has rejected the the owner’s proposed plans in the last nine months. The owner can not restart any construction at the property prior to receiving approval from the Commission.