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Old 07-22-2010, 12:18 AM   #6
Argie's Wife
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Argie says it was Hathaway House in the 70's-80's. It was Summerfields... Here's an old thread about it:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...read.php?t=983

And a recent article in The Citizen

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...0/-1/CITNEWS08

Quote:
The Hathaway House, a historic structure in Lakeport, is up for sale or lease, a fact that throws into question the pledges made to the city by its current owner to maintain the building while new tenants or owners were sought.

A large sign advertising the availability of the Hathaway House is planted in front of the salmon-colored Victorian building on Union Avenue.

On Tuesday afternoon, Greg Nolan, who is an executive with Cafua Management, the North Andover, Mass.-based company that owns the Hathaway House and the newly built Dunkin' Donuts coffee shop immediately adjacent to it, said the house is being appraised. Nolan asked to be called back later but, when a return call was made at the pre-arranged time, he was not available and did not return a message seeking comment.

Pam Clark, who heads the city's Heritage Commission, said she was resigned to the fact that Cafua would sell the Hathaway House, adding that she had spoken recently with a former Lakes Region resident who told her she had heard about the Hathaway House being for sale and was interested in buying it and then investing up to the purchase price in rehabilitating and renovating the structure.

Meanwhile, Clark said she has not heard from Cafua for several months. She said the heritage commission in May identified the paint colors used on the original 1872 structure and then notified Cafua, which had agreed to repaint the building, but has not received a response. At the time, Assistant City Planner Seth Creighton told The Citizen that Nolan told him that Cafua, which owns the Hathaway House through its subsidiary, Laconia Real Estate LLC, told him that, once the paint match was made, the exterior would be painted.

Long-term, Creighton said, Nolan told him that the plan called for converting the Hathaway House into office space.

In approving the site plans for the new Dunkin' Donuts situated next door, the city got Nolan to agree to maintain the Hathaway House, also known as the Squire Clark House.

Samuel Clement Clark (1832-1897), according to local historian Warren Huse, "was an attorney at Lakeport for 40 years, clerk of court, member of the Legislature, director of the Laconia National Bank from the time of its organization and one of the original promoters and directors of the Laconia and Lakeport Horse Railroad."

The house changed owners several times and became first the Hathaway House, a women's clothing boutique owned by Richard St. Clair, and later a restaurant of the same name. It also has housed offices for real estate broker Florence Cummins and others. Another restaurant, named Summerfield's, occupied an attached barn which burned in 1991.

The fate of the Hathaway House aroused the interest of the Lakeport Community Association which wanted to preserve it.

Cafua, which bought the property on which the Dunkin' Donuts and Hathaway House both stand in 2003, had proposed razing the latter and replacing it with a two-story retail office building. The potential demise of the Hathaway House spurred the city to reactivate the heritage commission which, while it cannot prevent a property owner from demolishing a potentially historic building, can request an inventory, including photographs, before demolition occurs.

No demolition permits had been taken out for the Hathaway House, according to the planning department.

In February 2008, residents, including members of the LCA, crowded a planning board meeting and pleaded with the developers not to destroy the building. In response, Cafua offered the historic house to anyone who agreed to move it from its current site — a cost estimated by the city to be around $500,000.

There were, however, no takers and, subsequently, Cafua struck a "gentleman's agreement with the city," LCA President Wanda Tibbetts said Tuesday, under which, in exchange for sparing the house and agreeing to fix up the outside, the LCA and city would not oppose the development of the Dunkin' Donuts as it moved through the municipal planning process.

"I'm disappointed, " said Tibbetts. "I was in on that small group that met with him and he [Nolan] swore he would do anything if we cooperated with him."

City Manager Eileen Cabanel said Cafua agreed to paint the Hathaway House and then sell or lease it, explaining that the accommodation that the company made for the house is they would not demolish it while building the coffee store next door.

Tibbetts said she planned to keep working to save the Hathaway House and hopes that Cafua will live up to its agreement with the city. She believes utilities to the house have been shut off for quite some time, something that could hasten the deterioration of the interior which already was determined to be in need of a major overhaul.

For her part, Clark hopes someone will come forward to buy the Hathaway House and improve it. She added that Cafua "probably realized it was going to be too expensive to renovate," which is why the company put it up for sale.
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