News

Members’ Night Features First Phase of Lynn House Restoration

March 16, 2010

With the exterior restoration work about to begin on the Mary Baker Eddy Historic House in Lynn, members of the Longyear Museum Historic House team recently shared what they have learned thus far from their three-year examination of the house where Mrs. Eddy lived from 1875 to 1882.

Attendees of Longyear Museum's Members' Night on February 27 listened to Preservation Architect Gary Wolf's findings that resulted from looking under floorboards and examining paint chips from the home Mrs. Eddy purchased in 1875. It was here at 12 Broad Street that she finished the first edition of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures; founded the Church of Christ, Scientist; and laid the foundations of the Christian Science movement. The restoration is intended to give a more accurate picture of Mrs. Eddy's life during the time she resided in Lynn.

martha The original floor plan of the house, finishes, and surrounding neighborhoods that this research work has revealed, tell a vastly different story than the one suggested by the current structure, with its adjacent parking lot. Gary explained that over the past three years, no clue was considered insignificant as specialists uncovered the original floors, paint colors, wallpaper fragments, and landscape elements with which Mrs. Eddy would have lived. As part of the restoration effort to take the house back to the way Mrs. Eddy knew it, for example, the back door will be relocated to its original place.

In conjunction with this restoration project, accessibility improvements will include a modern entrance with a lift to the first floor and the basement, where new accessible bathrooms will be installed. The new vestibule is designed to blend harmoniously with the historic house, without appearing to be part the original structure.

john At the Members' Night program, Assistant Manager of Historic Houses Martha Cummings described the Museum's community outreach activities in Lynn, including a hands-on program for local middle school students from the Gregg Neighborhood House that focused on the preservation work at 12 Broad Street.

Director of Development John Mitchell announced that the $1.4 million exterior restoration is fully paid for. This is thanks to a $395,000 matching grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund in May 2009, as well as the generous support of Longyear donors. In the coming year, Longyear's Historic House team will embark on plans for the second phase of the Lynn project - the interior restoration.

leah Attendees also heard remarks by Manager of External Affairs Leah Eggers, who highlighted the resources available to members at Longyear's website, www.longyear.org. These resources include updates on Museum activities and - soon - progress on the Lynn restoration work. The program was followed by a dessert buffet.