Historical Society organizes historical house tour

Marlborough - There was once a time when it was aff ordable to add tiger oak floors, wide cornices, purple glass door handles and coffered ceilings to a traditional house. The Marlborough Historical Society, in a three-part eff ort to preserve these vintage architectural features, is hosting a historical home tour of a few of the city's hidden gems Sunday May 4. The proceeds from the tour will go directly to benefit historical preservation eff orts.

The tour, which is hoped to become an annual event, is the second phase of an eff ort to historically preserve the city's properties. The first step of the project began in 1994 and 1995 with a comprehensive study of local properties, compiled into five volumes. The report was then later scanned and made available to the community.

The study covers basic information about 1,000 properties and a specific detailed account of 284 known historical properties. What was discovered in the process of collecting the data was the number of historical homes that had already been lost through neglect, demolition or development.

"Williams House," which once stood on the corner of Route 20 and William Street, is one of the lost landmarks that would have put Marlborough on the map as having the oldest tavern in America. The building, which was built in 1662, served travelers, including George Washington. It met its demise when the city auctioned it off in 1942.

The tour of the historical homes is intended to provide residents with an opportunity to visit homes that they might have always wondered about, but also to highlight certain buildings.

Lee Wright has been organizing the tour and continues to look for additional homes to include.

"Architecture is a great historical tool to see how a town has changed over the years," Wright said.

He is hoping residents will nominate either their own house or other properties in the community to be part of the tour.

"This is our way of reaching out to learn more about the homes in the city," he said. "Maybe you have an old historic house you have refurbished, or maybe there's a house you have always wanted to peak inside."

If there is a house that piques your interest, nominate it through the website at www.historicmarlborough. org and Wright will contact the property owner and see if the owner wants to participate in the tour. If the property owner is interested, volunteers from the Historical Society will then tour the property to decide if it will be selected.

There is often a misconception that a house shouldn't be included because it is not "fancy enough" or isn't completely rehabbed yet.

"Well, let's find out," Wright said. "… Often in house tours you close off sections of the house that are not ready to be viewed."

The society is currently selling tickets for the tours and looking for volunteers to serve as docents at each property, as well as help making and serving tea. The tours will be self-guided and conclude at the Peter Rice Homestead for an afternoon tour and tea.

For more information, to participate or volunteer, visit the website at www. historicmarlborough.org.