Putnam Family Members Provide Stewardship for Landmark Property
Members of the Putnam family have added a preservation easement to their property at 150 Court Street in Keene, NH to ensure its future preservation.
The home’s interior showcases the builder’s love of wood and craftsmanship and the subsequent owners’ care.
The Joslin-Faulkner-Putnam House is significant as an exceptionally well-preserved, late nineteenth-century dwelling that was considered one of Keene’s finest residences at the time it was completed in 1890. It is situated on Court Street, one of several streets radiating from downtown Central Square and on which the city’s prominent citizens erected stylish, spacious houses. The four families who have owned the property over the ensuing 125 years have each made significant contributions to local and, in some instances, statewide civic life and history.
The easement, held by the N.H. Preservation Alliance, prohibits demolition of the historic structures and offers guidance to protect major architectural and site features while allowing flexibility. The terms of the easement are in the property’s deed and continue with owners after the Putnams.
The Putnam family has been deeply committed to preservation and conservation issues in Keene and other parts of the country where they now reside. Sibling owners James Putnam of Keene, Rosamond Delori of Massachusetts and Louisa Putnam of New Mexico, grew up in the house and purchased it from their parents’ estate. Today, the house is filled with next generation members of the family who have relocated during the pandemic.
Left to Right: Carl Jacobs, Judy Putnam, François Delori, Kristy Graf, Seth Putnam, Rosamond Delori, Jim Putnam.
Other preservation easements held by the Preservation Alliance protect a c. 1700 seacoast home built by a New Hampshire founder, a 1790 tavern in Hopkinton, a church significant for its association with its African-American history in Portsmouth, and the farm associated with the statesman and orator Daniel Webster. There is also an easement on 137 Court Street in Keene, a Second Empire house converted to condominiums by Jim Putnam.
Historic preservation consultant Elizabeth Durfee Hengen has also prepared a nomination of the property to the National Register of Historic Places for the Putnams and Preservation Alliance as part of this stewardship project. National Register listing is an honorific status that affords access to some incentives.
The Preservation Alliance is a 35-year-old statewide non-profit organization with a growing portfolio of preservation easements. Nationally, preservation easements have been used since 1955 and there are now thousands in place throughout the country. They provide protection and a review process for certain alterations, and property owners value the on-going technical help and assistance that is part of the easement relationship.
For more information on preservation easements and statewide preservation activities, contact executive director Jennifer Goodman, N.H. Preservation Alliance at 603-224-2281 or jg@nhpreservation.org.
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