J. Myers, "Castle’s new keepers", The Lowell Sun

Date: 2011
Type: newspaper
Repository: The Lowell Sun archive; clipping in the house archive
Access: Newspaper archive (lowellsun.com / NewsBank at Pollard Memorial Library).

Statements this record supports

C-001 — The house at 236 Fairmount Street was built in 1883.
C-008 — The property is one of three stone 'castles' in Lowell (with Faulkner Castle on Belmont Street and the Round House on Andover Street).
C-021 — The house was divided into apartments by 1931 at the latest: the Lowell city directory for 1931 lists three households at 236 Fairmount Street (Butler Ames, president of the Heinze Electric Co.; Donald F. Cameron; William E. Sharpe jr., purchasing agent), 1936 lists four, 1950 six. The 1981 survey's 'converted into apartments in the mid-20th century' is therefore too late; the conversion belongs to the Stevens ownership (1925–44) or earlier.
C-022 — The Battles Home for Aged Men was founded in 1901 by Mary (Mrs. James) Battles, who conveyed her house at 15 Belmont Street to trustees; it operated from April 1902. Lowell city directories for 1931–1956 place the home at 93 Rolfe Street, so it moved from Belmont Street to Rolfe Street before 1931 and from Rolfe Street to Fairmount Street in 1956–57. By 1966 the directory lists 'Battles Home for Aged Men Inc, Bailey Trull pres, Eric J Anderson treas, 236 Fairmount St' with five retired men as residents.
C-023 — The Battles Home operated at 236 Fairmount Street from 1956/57 until early 2004 as a private rest home housing up to about 11 residents at a time.
C-025 — Owner's statement (2011) that the house 'was used as a retirement home for 104 years' conflates the Foundation's age with the house's use (c.47 years).
C-030 — After the Battles Home closed, the property was sold (c. 2005–06) to private buyers; it was foreclosed in 2009 and the lender took title by a foreclosure deed recorded 7 January 2010 (Middlesex North Registry Book 28668 p. 20).
C-031 — The property was purchased in 2011 by the current owner from the foreclosing lender, with a federally insured rehabilitation mortgage; restoration began immediately.
C-032 — At purchase the house had been vacant about two years and had suffered significant damage and the removal of fixtures, cabinets and lighting after the 2009 foreclosure; major repairs were required to obtain a certificate of occupancy.
C-033 — The house has about 11,000 sq ft of living space, nine fireplaces, 20 stained-glass windows, 12 (rooms/bedrooms) and an elevator (2011 description).