SWAMPSCOTT— The Historical Commission has received a $2,000 Essex National Heritage Partnership Grant for the General John Glover Farmhouse.
The grant will fund a project led by the Historic American Buildings Survey, which will document the house’s heritage permanently in the Library of Congress through photos, drawings, and documents.
HABS, founded in 1933, is the country’s first federal preservation program. According to its website, its purpose is to “mitigate the negative effects of rapidly vanishing architectural resources upon the country’s built environment, history, and culture.”
Commission Chair Nancy Schultz expressed her excitement for receiving the funds.
“It will document the building forever in the Library of Congress,” Schultz said. “This is another way of securing the history of the site permanently.”
Schultz said that the “Save the Glover” preservation effort has raised more than $50,000 in total funds. She credited American Heritage Publishing for providing her the opportunity to write about the house, and believes that has expanded awareness for her cause to a national level.
“The donations are coming in from all over the country,” Schultz said.
A demolition request was sent and approved by both Marblehead and Swampscott in 2023 to replace the house once owned by the Revolutionary War figure with a new 140-unit housing complex called “Glover Residences.” Schultz was then notified due to the property’s historical background. The Commission was able to impose a nine-month demolition delay in April 2023. The delay was scheduled to expire in January. However, a recent agreement between the town and property developer Leggat McCall was reached in which Leggat McCall guaranteed they would not do any work on the property until June 30, allowing Schultz and her peers to seek the community’s financial assistance to help maximize the chance of the home being preserved properly.
While direct confirmation has not been given from Leggat McCall, Schultz believes that the deal between the town and the real estate developer may no longer be in place.
“There’s been no activity, no communication, and all of our questions and conversations are now being directed to the Athanas family,” Schultz said.
Schultz expressed interest in working with the Athanas family to have their nearly 70-year history of owning the property documented and remembered along with Glover’s lineage.
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said that he would not describe any halt in the partnership with Leggat McCall as an issue.
“These projects may pivot,” Fitzgerald said. “They tend to die 1,000 deaths before they actually get going.”
