Hartford Village
“We desperately need it and we desperately want it,” said Judy Barwood, a Historical Society board member. “We’re just kind of sitting on pins and needles.”
The $592,000 purchase agreement, for the 1884 Horace Pease House at 41 Elk St., expired at the beginning of November, opening the possibility that the owner, former Elks Lodge 1541 member Richard Daniels, could find a new buyer.
Daniels, who is president of RSD Trucking, is willing to sell to the historical society but said the property otherwise is not on the market.
The structure, also known as Summeracre, is part of the Hartford Village Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The Elks Club bought it in 1981, but was hit hard by a sexual discrimination lawsuit after it refused to admit seven woman applicants as members.
Daniels has owned the building since 2014, when he bought it for $500,000. After a recent townwide appraisal, the assessed value declined, from $612,000 to $573,000.
The Historical Society said the building needs significant renovations, and it has set a fundraising goal of $900,000 to purchase it and bring it up to code.
But the fundraising effort has fallen far short of that goal. Barwood said the group was still about $200,000 from the $400,000 needed to trigger a $100,000 match from a charitable foundation, which is about equal to what it had raised as of September 2017.
“We’re full steam ahead but certainly things have slowed down,” Barwood said. “We’ve approached a lot of businesses in town and we did get a really good response rate, but most of the donations have been modest.”
The Hartford Historical Society is interested in the 14,000-square-foot structure in part because its current home, the nearby Garipay House, has run out of room to store the items of historical interest that it continues to receive as donations.
“We continue to be strapped for space,” Barwood said. “We’re kind of on top of each other trying to work.”
Currently, the building hosts weekly bingo games and rents to organizations like the Emblem Club, but the Elks group has disbanded. Barwood said the rental income will also help the historical society’s long-term prospects.
The group, which is aided in its efforts by fundraising consultant Bob Barr, is trying to reinvigorate its campaign in various ways, said Barwood.
Members are offering naming opportunities for various rooms, or the house as a whole; they have applied for two sizable grants from a charitable foundation and a large business, and they are planning a series of fundraising events in the summer.
One will feature a presentation by the voice actor who supplies the voice of Siri, the popular personal assistant for Apple devices. The woman, Susan Bennett, has family in the area and used to visit White River Junction as a child, according to Barwood.
Barwood said she has seen no indication that Daniels is actively working to sell the property.
“He wants us to have it, but he has to make a fairly good deal,” she said. “He doesn’t want to lose money.”
Horace Pease, who owned a nearby hotel in Hartford Village, bought the property in 1883 and built the home as a wedding gift for his bride, Seraph Pease.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.
Correction
Richard Daniels, the owner of the former Elks Lodge in Hartford Village, is willing to sell the building to the Hartford Historical Society if it can raise the $592,000 for the purchase. But the property is not on the market. An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the building’s status.