PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
George and Sara Wattendorf look over their home at 57 Rockland St.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
SWAMPSCOTT — A Swampscott couple was looking to downsize with their purchase of the Henry Hall House last fall, but their plans to demolish and rebuild on the property has triggered unexpected resistance.
George and Sarah Wattendorf, owners of the 1840’s Gothic Revival home and carriage house at 57 Rockland St., applied for a demolition permit in September. The couple, managers of Oceanview Real Estate LLC, bought the property for $895,000 because they were drawn to the home’s oceanfront location.
But the age of the building triggered a bylaw to protect historic dwellings. If a property is 75 years or older and is historically significant, the Historical Commission can delay demolition. In January, the commission imposed a nine-month delay.
The couple, who live nearby on Millet Lane, said they were told the delay was procedural and were assured that once it was over, they would be able to go ahead with demolition and build a new two-family house, where they planned to retire. They say that the property is already zoned for a two-family residence and they would not need to apply for a special permit to build another one.
“We called the town hall, spoke to the building inspector, people on the planning board and town manager, who said we would have the right to remove the house after nine months without question,” George Wattendorf said. “Now they’re trying to change the rules after we bought the house. I don’t want an old, dilapidated house.”
George said just three weeks ago, upon returning from Florida, they were informed that demolition would become even more difficult because of a proposed local historic district that would encompass 39 houses, including most of the properties on Rockland Street, two properties on Redington Street, one on Rose Street and a house on Highland Street.
If the district is approved, demolition or any large addition to those designated homes would have to be approved by the Historic District Commission.
But George said they are not interested in just making renovations, saying the home is not salvageable, during a tour of the Rockland Street property given to the Item on Wednesday. During a walk through of the home, he pointed out boarded up windows, a large hole in the middle of the home covered by wooden boards and a hole on the outside of the house that he said rats go inside through. He said there is no basement under two thirds of the home, something he said is not conducive to modern living.
“Nobody in their right mind would buy that house unless they were able to tear it down,” he said. “It’s been let go for so long and it’s so bad that the house does not have good bones.”
He said the house has been abandoned for a year, but its previous owners did not take care of their property, adding that the building has been condemned by a structural engineer and three architects. He said that there hasn’t been a building permit pulled on the house in the past 50 years, except for one regarding a hot water heater. Some work that the couple has done included removing all of the asbestos from the home, with the abatement completed about 30 days ago.
The historic district proposal followed a push by some neighbors who attended a public hearing on the demolition permit by the Historical Commission last fall. The neighbors questioned how the home and character of the neighborhood could be preserved. Some are bothered that the proposal is a direct reaction to one property.
Outgoing selectman Matthew Strauss tried to get his fellow members of the Board of Selectmen to recommend that Town Meeting members indefinitely postpone the article for the proposed historic district, which is set to be voted on May 16. He and Peter Spellios, a member, voted for the recommendation, but were defeated by the three other board members. Strauss also took a walk-through of the home, expecting to be met with a “turn of the century home.”
“I was quite shocked,” he said. “At first, I was afraid to continue into the home. It’s a wreck.”
Spellios said the district is “100 percent responsive to 57 Rockland.”
“This, to me, is a process that is totally reactionary and designed to defeat a single property,” he said.
Geoffrey Boland, of 69 Rockland St., said he has no objection to the house coming down, saying that it is a detriment to his property value.
“I do have an objection to being blindsided by turning this into a historic district,” he said. “They want to stop him and punish everyone else on the street.”
But Mary Bester, of 56 Rockland St., would like to see the home preserved. She called it dated, but liveable.
“It just may not have been the style of house that everyone would appreciate,” she said. “It’s something that should be preserved for the cultural and historical value for the community of Swampscott.”
If the historic district passes Town Meeting, it would be submitted to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, if any changes are made from the preliminary study report on the Rockland Street Historic District that was sent to them in February. The report would also be submitted to the attorney general and if approved, would be filed at the Essex Registry of Deeds.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.