127 Old Harbor Rd.: Demo Or Reno?

CHATHAM – Housing is in the future for the town-owned property at 127 Old Harbor Rd. That was settled by a 2023 town meeting vote.

 Exactly what configuration the housing will take is still undecided and could depend on what happens to the two buildings that sit on the property, whether they are renovated and repurposed or demolished to make way for new construction.

 The single-family house on the 41,817-square-foot lot dates from around 1860 and contains 1,654 square feet, according to assessor's records. A barn was built around 1950. The property was bequeathed to the town by Marion Nickerson Ellis in 1971 and was used as offices for the town’s water department for about 30 years, but has been vacant for at least 15 years. 

Town staff did walk-throughs of the buildings in July 2023 and again on Dec. 10.

 “The dwelling in its current state is uninhabitable and would need extensive work on the interior, exterior, mechanical systems and safety components to repurpose the structure as a single-family dwelling once again,” Building Commissioner Jay Briggs wrote in a memo to Town Manager Jill Goldsmith. If repurposed and renovated, both structures would have to meet current building codes, he added.

 “The house is very old,” Briggs told the select board and affordable housing trust members Dec. 17. While renovation “would be quite an undertaking,” he said the house has some “good parts” to it as well.

 Briggs ran down his observations on the condition of the house for the two boards. The basement has minimal floor space and inadequate headroom to create finished space. The first floor has two means of egress, with three rooms on the left side of the center stairway and one on the right side. Horsehair plaster walls are covered in paneling, and the windows are of low quality. The plastered ceiling is covered with tiles which may contain asbestos. The first level has no bathrooms.

 On the second floor are one large room with two bathrooms and two other rooms that were bedrooms at one time. One of the bathrooms has a cast-iron tub. Carpeting covers the floors except in the bathrooms, which are tiled. There is also an unfinished attic.

 In a separate memo, Health Inspector Lucas Amato noted that the property has two cesspools, which would have to be filled in. Under the town’s current nitrogen loading regulations, the property could support three bedrooms with a traditional Title 5 septic system, or four bedrooms with a nitrogen-reducing system or sewer connection.

 Amato also noted that because of the date of the house, there could be lead paint present. No lead paint tests were done.

 The barn is currently used as storage by town departments. It has a shallow brick foundation and dirt floor.

 Select board member Dean Nicastro requested the walk-throughs. “I thought it was important for us to get a kind of a baseline as to what the current status of this property is,” he said. The property is under the control of the select board, which will ultimately decide what happens there. Key to making that decision will be cost estimates of renovation and demolition.

 Renovating the house would require “a substantial gut inside and out,” Briggs said. He added that he could not get into more detail without a more detailed examination of the structure. “When you open up a can of worms, you usually find worms,” noted trust board member Bruce Beane.

 Select Board chair Michael Schell asked directly whether it would be practical to attempt to save the buildings. A structural engineer would have to make that determination, Briggs responded. While anything can be renovated if enough money is thrown at it, the structure as it exists would be somewhat limiting; the basement, for instance, would not be useful as it currently exists. 

 Officials are currently awaiting the results of a “test fit” of the property that will look at various housing scenarios, with or without the existing buildings.