Kimball Home Joins Job Lane House on Historic Register

By Kim Siebert MacPhail

Corrections: The original article, we wrote that the Kimball House is only the second in Bedford on the Historic Register. That was incorrect. The Kimball House is the second in town, besides the Job Lane House, to have an Historic Preservation Restriction Agreement.  We also inaccurately reported that the Kimball House needs work on the interior. Instead, it needs repairs to the exterior. We regret any confusion resulting from these misunderstandings.

The Farley-Hutchinson-Kimball House, located at 461-A-463 North Road, has become Bedford’s second house to receive an historic preservation restriction agreement joining the Job Lane House in that distinction. Jan van Steenwijk, president of the Bedford Historical Society, and Frank Gicca, chairman of the organization, made a presentation at the Selectmen’s August 20^th meeting and received the Selectmen’s approval for the agreement to perpetually preserve the house and property. Also, because the Massachusetts Historical Commission has already pre-approved the Historical Society’s application, no obstacles stand in the way of the property’s official acceptance on the National Registry of Historic Houses.

According to the Historical Society’s records pertaining to the house, in 1733 Benjamin Farley sold what wasthen a 73-acre farm to Benjamin Hutchinson.The property at that time included “14 acres of pasture, three acres of tillage, four acres of English and upward mowing land, and nine acres of fresh meadow.” The house and fields remained in the Hutchinson family for over 80 years. In the early 1800’s, a branch of Bedford’s Stearns family acquired the property. They, too, lived in the house and farmed the land. In 1895, Henry Desmazes became the owner. He named the property Oak Grove Farm, which it was known as until 1911, when theowner at that time, Richard Andrew Griffin, sold it to Charles and Edith Kimball. They renamed the property Red Feather Farm.

The Kimballs produced handmade candy on the property, starting production in the kitchen but moving to the adjacent barn as business grew. An early advertisement for Red Feather Candy claimed that it was “the kind that spoils you for any other.”

The youngest of the Kimballs’ three children was Lawrence Woodruff Kimball, who was born on the property and became an electrical engineer. Lawrence and his wife Mina (nee Ready), a teacher,moved to the house in the late 1970’s. They raised two sons— Paul and Nathan— at Red Feather Farm and were active at First Parish and St. Paul’s Episcopal churches,in various clubs and on public committees. In 2010, the Historical Society received the house and roughly four acres from Lawrence and Mina’s estate.

Referring to the protection agreement, Frank Gicca said, “Fundamentally, this has been a process of preserving the Kimball House, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places….It basically preserves the externals of the house forevermore,” said Gicca. “The house was built pre-1740, so it’s one of the older houses in Bedford.”

“As I understand it,” said Selectman Bill Moonan,” anyone who owns the house in the future that wants to do anything other than just repair it would have to go to the Historic Preservation Commission. It would operate the same way the Historic District Commission does—there’d be a hearing.”

“That’s right,” replied Gicca. “No one can do anything to change the exterior of the house. Another thing that was added and made very clear…You can’t build anything on the land that would prevent you from seeing the house from the road.”

According to Gicca, the house needs a lot of exterior work. The Historical Society has been concerned that whoever might buy the house could, without the historic preservation agreement, decide to change its exterior appearance.

“Whoever owns it from now on, it will stay the way it is,” said Gicca. “In the long term, we think that the house should be occupied as a residence. It is a residence, much like the Fitch Tavern is a residence. If you have owners that take care of it, then it will help preserve it for the ages.”Gicca added, “Most likely we will seek an owner for the house and sell it, but the Historical Society’s primary objective is to make sure the house is preserved, particularly for the two Kimballs who were very active in Bedford, both in public committees and in the Historical Society. We want to make sure it’s preserved in their memory.”