Seven to Save: Judge Ripley House, Colebrook

This 1870s Greek Revival house and carriage barn on Bridge Street lies within the downtown historic district, adjacent to a church of the same era, and across the street from the Colebrook Area Historical Society. But the Judge Ripley House has seen better days. The lack of regular maintenance and widespread moisture infiltration has led to structural and cosmetic damage, and both the home and connected barn are at risk.

Three years ago, a community planning process suggested the vacant structure be torn down to create a parking lot. But local business leaders, educators, and concerned citizens opposed that idea, and advocated instead for saving and reusing it to prevent yet another loss in the historic district.

Thanks to the Tillotson North Country Foundation, last year the house was acquired by the Building Construction & Restoration Carpentry program at the Career Center that serves students in Northern Coos County New Hampshire and Northern Essex County Vermont. The plan was to have students rehabilitate the house as part of their school curriculum. There is no better way to introduce students to the trades and preservation than to restore an old home. A wonderful opportunity to expand the program’s impact and benefit the town.

The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, with funding from the Northern Border Regional Commission, awarded the project a bricks and mortar grant of $100,000 earlier this year, one of only 3 in the state.

Unfortunately, the students haven’t yet begun their work because of COVID-19, and raising the necessary additional funding has been delayed too. Meanwhile, the vacant building has further deteriorated.

This summer brought another setback. Project managers determined that the carriage barn was beyond repair and would have to be completely rebuilt, an unbudgeted extra expense. And since the pandemic began, the cost of building materials has risen dramatically.

Success would be sweet—maintaining the mixed use character of a highly visible downtown street corner, giving students real-world career experience, and returning a significant historic property to the tax rolls. We hope Seven to Save will help us get there!

Prer-covid group shot of students, their instructor and NH Preservation Alliance and Preservation Trust of Vermont colleagues.