A historic home in Concord, Massachusetts is hitting the market for the first time in more than three centuries of ownership by the same family.
The Wheeler family is poised to put the Scotchford-Wheeler House at 99 Sudbury Road on the market, the Wall Street Journal reported. The family is expected to list the home in the fall for about $1.6 million.
The parents of the five siblings selling the Georgian-style saltbox put the property under the protection of Historic New England before their deaths. That could diminish the home’s value on the opening market, as many modifications would be subject to review.
The parents also stated in their estate documents that the home should be sold, rather than stay in the family. While the siblings don’t feel too sentimental about the sale, because none of them were raised there, they’re realizing how difficult it can be to sift through the items that a home that old collects.
The 3,200-square-foot home includes three bedrooms, a renovated basement and a big side yard. It sits on roughly three-quarters of an acre.
The home was built around 1653. Towards the end of the century, the Scotchfords sold the house, along with six acres, to Deacon Edward Wheeler, according to research by Historic New England. The home remained in the family until 1955, when it was technically passed to the Wakelins, who were descended from a Wheeler daughter.
After the owner died, the late Richard Wheeler purchased it in 1975 for $83,000. He proceeded to rent the place out until 1993, when he and his wife moved into the house full-time after $200,000 of renovations.
The home’s place in history isn’t restricted to one family’s longtime ownership. It was reportedly used to store supplies for the Continental Army during the American Revolution – and was one of the only area homes in the 1890s to be passed along to a woman.
Read more
— Holden Walter-Warner