Thursday, December 29, 2005

Staging the Daniel Lummus House

There has been much activity going on at the
Daniel Lummus House in the pas t month, hence, not a lot of postings until progress was underway. Two large dumpsters arrived last month at the property to clean-out years of unwanted debris. The house was not ready to show agents since it was difficult to walk inside the house and on the property.

After the clean-out peeps left, I went to carefully inspect the property. To my surprise I found it was still in a state of disarray. I hired a cleaning woman to come in and finalize the cleaning.

Now the listing is almost over two months old and ready to finally be put on the Multiple Listing Service.

I contacted the Ipswich Historical Society and asked for additional information on Daniel Lummus and the genealogy hoping to find out more information on the house and land itself. Not much else to tell, but according to "Ipswich, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony," a godly reference it seems to most geneological ancestors of Ipswich, the original parcel of land included 9 acres. The parcel of land was originally a grant to one of the King of England's Govenors, Mr. Thomas Dudley, Esq.

"Given and granted to Thomas Dudley Esq. in October, 1635," "one parcell of ground containing about nine acres lyeing between Goodman Cross on the West and a lott intended to Mr. Broadstreet on the East. "..."The house-lot was the largest ever granted by the Town and its size alone would identify it with the Dudley lot."

Over the years the land passed from the Hubbard family and then eventually by way of "administrators to Captain Stacy, William Baker and John Staniford to Jonathan Lummus Sen., June 18, 1712. Lummus bequeathed his lands to his son Jonathan by his will, approved Aug. 17, 1728....He bequeathed his sone Daniel a "small piece of land out of my homestead adjoining to his homestead, to make him a convenient way to his barn, and so to extend from the northerly end of his homestead, until it come out to the cross fence as it now stands..."

The barn, although somewhat dilapitated, still stands to this day on the property and serves as an essential footprint for the new owner to rebuild a structure for specific use stated by the Town's zoning and planning boards. When people ask why it was not torn down, it is important to note that if it had been demolished, the Town would not recognize the footprint and therefore could not be grandfathered as such.

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