Townspeople may feel they have voted more often on the future of Bromfield House than on any other issue except possibly the town budget. But, like the budget, each vote on Bromfield House has been slightly different from the ones before.
This year, Article 7 of the warrant for the Oct. 1 Town Meeting asks voters to approve expanding the Harvard Common Historic District to include Bromfield House, which stands next to Hildreth Elementary School and was home to the school district administrative offices for many years. (See “Bromfield House: A Timeline” below.) If voters support Article 7, any future exterior changes to the building will have to be approved by the Historical Commission, whether Bromfield House remains town property or passes into private hands.
Adding Bromfield House to the historic district was part of a citizen-petition article approved by a two-thirds vote at the October 2021 Town Meeting. That article also supported selling Bromfield House as a private residence, along with the 1.9-acre lot where it stands. Two weeks later, voters approved the same proposal in a referendum at Town Election, with 782 votes in favor and 314 against. However, both the Town Meeting vote and the referendum were nonbinding.
Article 7 was placed on the warrant by the Historical Commission, which unanimously approved the article at its Sept. 15 meeting. The commission began working last January to designate the Bromfield House property as a new section of the Common Historic District. As a first step in the process, commission member Pam Marston’s study in support of the proposal received the endorsement of the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Marston and Historical Commission Chair George Triantaris have presented the proposal to several town boards and committees.
At the Zoning Board of Appeals Sept. 14, Triantaris explained the commission’s three reasons for protecting Bromfield House. First, he said the house has historical significance. It was built with funds from the Bromfield Trust as the home for Bromfield School principals, and it “stands as a monument to Harvard’s most generous resident, Margaret Bromfield Blanchard,” Triantaris said. Second, the house is “a quintessential example of Colonial Revival architecture,” which was popular in the early 20th century. And third, Triantaris said, the house has a prominent location at the southern entrance to Harvard’s town center. After the presentation, the ZBA voted unanimously to endorse Bromfield House’s inclusion in the Common Historic District as proposed in Article 7.
The Select Board, however, voted 4-1 not to support Article 7 at its Sept. 20 meeting, saying it is premature to add the property to the historic district when the building’s future is still uncertain.
The Select Board’s general position on Bromfield House has been clear since the summer of 2020, when the board voted to sell the house for removal to another location. If no buyer was found, board members favored dismantling the building and selling its furnishings and architectural details; the land where the house stands was to be kept for town use. But the Select Board was unable to get Town Meeting’s approval for that course of action in May 2021.
The School Committee also voted to oppose Article 7 earlier this week. Chair Abby Besse said the committee needed more time to study the elementary school’s future enrollment trends and space needs. Putting Bromfield House into the Historic District, she said, “would paint the school district into a corner” if the elementary school needs to expand. The committee agreed unanimously.
Bromfield House: A Timeline
1915
Construction of Bromfield House is completed, paid for with money from the Bromfield Trust under Margaret Bromfield Blanchard’s will. The house becomes a residence for Bromfield School principals.
1940
The Bromfield Trust leases the house to the town for $1 a year; the building later becomes school administration offices.
1980
The Bromfield Trust gives the house to the town as a gift, to be used for educational purposes. The building remains the school administration offices.
2013
The School Committee writes that it intends to give up the building because the cost of renovating it is too high.
2014
The Bromfield trustees write to the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, saying any proceeds from the property’s sale must be used for educational purposes, according to a probate court decision.
2020
In October at Fall Town Meeting a simple majority of voters transfers control of Bromfield House from the School Committee to the Select Board and authorizes the board to “sell, convey, transfer, or otherwise dispose of” the building and land; but the board is to bring any decision on the building back to Town Meeting. In November, the Select Board appoints the Bromfield House Committee to consider the future of the property.
2021
March
By a split vote, the Bromfield House Committee proposes selling the house for removal, but keeping the land as town property.
May
The proposal to sell the house but keep the land fails at Town Meeting.
October
By a two-thirds vote, Town Meeting approves a nonbinding citizen petition to sell Bromfield House and land as a private residence within a historic district.
November
In a nonbinding referendum, two-thirds of Harvard voters support the measure as voted by Town Meeting.
December
The Harvard Neighborhood Support Team proposes leasing the vacant Bromfield House as a residence for Afghan refugees.
2022
January
The Historical Commission begins work on a study to incorporate Bromfield House in the Common Historic District. The Select Board approves leasing the building as a temporary home for Afghan refugees, a proposal that Worcester County Probate and Family Court accepts in July.
August
Local volunteers ready Bromfield House for occupancy by the Afghan families, who move in before summer vacation ends.
September
The Select Board votes 4-1 not to support the addition of Bromfield House to the Common Historic District.
—Marty Green
