Stone Bridge Estates Wins Salem Board Approval

SALEM, N.H. – Planning Board granted unanimous conditional approval to Timothy L. Oriole, Pres. Jakon Development, LLC, and Developer of Stone Bridge Estates on May 14, 2014. Stone Bridge Estates is located on Pond Street in Salem, NH at the MA/NH border.

One third of all U.S. homes are owned by people who are 62 years of age or older. Tina Habeeb, Pres., Royal Country Homes, Inc., Andover, Ma., exclusive agent for Stone Bridge Estates, describes the community for those over 55 years of age. There will be 46 thoughtfully designed single family, detached homes on 27+- commonly owned acres. Each home will offer approximately 2,400+- sf, with a first floor master bedroom, two car attached garage and full basement. There will be municipal water, sewerage and natural gas heat, not always found in newly built N.H. communities. Owners can stroll along walking paths, through lovely wooded areas and beside the new Poetry Pond.

A fascinating and magical location, this site lies alongside Methuen’s Merrimack Golf Course and also has picturesque frontage on World’s End Pond. Owned by millionaire Edward F. Searles (1841-1920) it was originally built to be a self-sufficient farm and his caretaker’s home remains on the site. Adding to its historical significance are the stone walls, bridges and tower that remain throughout this natural wooded area.

Project Engineer, Karl Dubay, of the Dubay Group, Inc., Windham, NH, ideally preserved the caretaker’s home in his planning of the site. The home will be restored as a community club house for the exclusive use of Stone Bridge Estates residents.

This parcel of land is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A & C, as a well-preserved example of a designed historic landscape with the period of significance from 1896 to 1905. It was originally part of the turn-of-the-20th century Searles estate, and was once part of the massive Salem NH land holdings which he acquired as part of his vision to create an estate reminiscent of a medieval inspired feudal kingdom. Searles was married to the widow of Mark Hopkins, one of the four founders of the Central Pacific Railroad.

It has been determined that this site was the first to be constructed by Searles.  It was developed initially to grow the vegetables, store the ice and sustain the craftsmen who came from Europe to build the famous properties and stone walls that can be seen from Methuen, MA to Derry, NH. The hunting lodge, a part of the original farm, is located across the street.