The N.H. Preservation Alliance, partnering for a second year with The 1772 Foundation, awarded historic preservation one-for-one matching grants totaling $100,000 to thirteen private nonprofit organizations in New Hampshire. The grants ranged in amount from $2,000 to the grant maximum of $10,000, with four organizations receiving the latter amount. Grants were provided for exterior work: painting; surface restoration; fire/security systems; repairs to/restoration of chimneys, porches, roofs, and windows; repairs to foundations and sills; and masonry repointing. Projects were vetted by a selection committee of experts and the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance staff. Each grantee was required to have matching funds for its project.
SELT was awarded $5,000 for the John Prescott Chase Farmhouse project, which will be renovated into two units of energy-efficient workforce housing. One will be rented to a farmer for the surrounding agricultural lands that SELT has also protected. This grant will support the full restoration, lead paint abatement, and reinstallation of the house’s 24 historic windows. Matching funds come from a 2020 LCHIP grant.
“The John Prescott Chase Farmhouse is symbolic of the agricultural history and future of Epping,” said SELT Executive Director Brian Hart. “Through its rehabilitation into two units of affordable housing, it will connect us to Epping’s farming history while also providing housing for a new farmer at Burley Farms.”
“We are so pleased to be able to make these grants to worthy projects in many regions of the state,” Jennifer Goodman, Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance. “This year, The 1772 Foundation’s investment in New Hampshire is protecting and revitalizing thirteen historic community landmarks, inspiring new donors and bringing new activity to under-utilized buildings, villages and downtowns.”
Goodman noted that grant criteria included the uniqueness or significance of the resource, visibility within the community, availability of additional funding, strength of local support, imminence or severity of threat to the resource, understanding of buildings’ needs, potential for creating beneficial economic and community activity, and the proposed plan’s adherence to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.