'We're still making discoveries' at Dr. Reuben Mason House

GLOCESTER - Since at least the 1750s, this two-story homestead at the foot of Chepachet's Acote's Hill has looked out upon a pathway, now commonly known as Putnam Pike, as history has passed its front door, stopping sometimes at its well-worn stoop.

Time perhaps stood still here during the tense days of the 1842 Dorr Rebellion when the house was deemed a field hospital by state troops upon their arrival in Chepachet in the event of injuries during the clash over voting rights.

While time continues to pass by the recently restored exterior of this 1111 Putnam Pike house, inside, as the decades are dusted off but not erased, the structure's interior rooms are being shored up and the restoration kicks up several notches.

Known as the Dr. Reuben Mason House, the structure has been undergoing careful restoration by the Glocester Heritage Society during the past few years. Restoration has advanced to the point where much of the work is currently being done behind the front door.

"Now that the outside is completed, people might take it for granted that we are finished," said steering committee member and architect Robert Leach.

The house is far from complete, but a lot closer to looking like the museum organizers are hoping for.

"We're very proud of what's happening here," said Edna Kent, archivist and Heritage Society President, admiring the center chimney which extends from the deep basement to above the roof. A door in a second story room leads to a smoke chamber behind the fireplace where meats were cured. A blackened stick "from the last ham cured" remains, Kent said.

"We're still making discoveries."

The society and restoration committee is so proud of the transformation, that though the historic front door of this structure is closed to the public as work progresses, officers and committee members want local residents to realize that the work is ongoing, and sources are still being sought to fund the project.

"There's so much of the original fabric here," said Leach, happy that their own volunteer labor in removing plywood and modern kitchens allowed them the security of knowing that nothing of historic value would be damaged or destroyed. While doing what he calls "architectural archeology," the group did find some old coins, he said, in addition to layers of wallpaper, some of it very old. Molding, wainscoting, fireplaces, horsehair plaster even traces of a former stairwell remain at this centerpiece of Chepachet history.

"Poverty preserves," Leach said, happy that former occupants didn't have the funds to update the house, thus leaving many period elements intact. "We are blessed to have it."

According to Leach, restoration of the house has been made possible by many donations, most significantly from The Champlin Foundations. Financial recognition from that group, he said, made it possible for the society to get much of the mechanics of the building in working order in order to even approach the interior.

Interior work began inside at the early part of the winter, Leach said, but it happened only after entire walls were rebuilt, steel beams installed to repair damaged wood beams, and the entire house was jacked up to install new wood sill plates. It was a long list of repairs up until now, and the committee, he said, is often asked what the timetable is for the house being ready for the planned Dorr Rebellion Museum displays.

"We have an absolute deadline, we just don't know what it is," Leach says, explaining that the society fully intends to complete the project, but completion depends upon bringing in money to support it.

"People might not realize the amount of time and money it takes," said Edna Kent. The Glocester Heritage Society has a 99 year lease to restore the building which they say was within days of being demolished. It is owned by the Chepachet Cemetery Association, and linked to several levels of local history, perhaps most notably, the Dorr Rebellion in 1842.

Obtaining grants and planning fundraisers is a major part of the ongoing project. The Society has a gala and silent auction planned for April 28 at the Crystal Lake Golf Club.

But in the meantime, interior restoration, and study, continues. Leach says all restoration decisions are made in conjunction with the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission architect Roberta Randall, and that group is a major donor to the project. The town of Glocester has also been a major contributor, he said. Steve Tyson Jr. of Architectural Preservation Group is the contractor; Valley Heating and Cooling has brought warmth to the cold house and All About H20 did the well work and Danti Electrical handled that end of it, Leach said.

But it was actually a letter to the editor sent by his late mother, Dorothy, in March of 2003, which set the project in motion. Why doesn't somebody do something about this old house she wrote in that initial letter. The next month, Robert came up with a breakdown of what it might cost to restore the house, which was in various stages of disrepair. He said $350,000 at the time. Now he thinks the final cost will be closer to $450,000 by the time the structure is ready to welcome back artifacts typical of the tailor, the surgeon and the stagecoach driver who once lived there at different time periods.

"We're so close to it," Leach said of the day when the house is finished and ready for public consumption.

As winter gets closer to spring, talk at the house touches upon an herb garden planned for the rear of the structure.

"We're playing it by ear," Leach said. "We have to re-grade the whole site. As with everything involved in restoration projects, that too costs money.

"We're trying to figure out how we can do this. There's always something."

But Leach looks at the project from the big picture, tallying up every little achievement, every breakthrough of elements that seemed to be roadblocks. In an email he wrote: "I still don't think we all fully appreciate how important this building's preservation is to the community. It is so rare to find an important and well-preserved colonial building and with such a rich history, hiding in plain sight."

For information, call 568-8967.

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