Published: 2/14/2023 1:14:02 PM
AMHERST — An historic home on Leverett Road near the Leverett town line, once part of the sprawling real estate holdings of the late founder of Yankee Candle, is slated to be demolished.
The Historical Commission on Feb. 27 at 6:35 p.m. will hold a hearing under the town’s demolition delay bylaw for the Austin Loomis House, also known as the Leonard House, at 260 Leverett Road.
The 1830 Greek Revival was the home of Landscapes by Earthcare Inc., prior to being acquired by a subsidiary of Michael Kittredge at a time when he owned much of the land on the west side of Leverett Road in Amherst, with those properties extending to his estate in Leverett.
The 260 Leverett Road property, which also includes a large red barn, is owned by Kevin and Mary O’Brien, who acquired it for $760,000 from the Pocomo Road Nominee Trust in 2017. Kittredge had bought the land for $1.05 million in 2009 from Gordon and Melanie Fletcher-Howell.
A Massachusetts Historical Commission document, recorded by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in June 1988, noted the home was in good condition and that “Amherst has relatively few well-detailed Greek Revival houses”
Loomis was a minister farmer and, at the time, was living in the northernmost house on the rural road, just a few hundred yards from the Leverett town line. By 1860, two other homes, including one owned by another Loomis, were closer to the town line. Later in the 19th century the home was owned by the Leonard family.
The Historical Commission is already holding a hearing on demolishing another Greek Revival home, the Charles Leeds House, built in 1836 at 815 Main St., Thursday at 6:35 p.m.