This conservation restriction, which is located within the local Pleasant Street Historic District and which lies directly opposite the historic National Register “Town Hall Complex” preserves a very visible and prominent historic landscape as well as valuable open space in a densely developed urban environment. It is comprised of approximately 54,854 square feet of open space surrounding the historic Italianate “Homer House” built by William Flagg Homer, uncle of the renowned artist Winslow Homer.
Winslow Homer’s early works included paintings and sketches in and around the house and property including the famous “Croquet Scene”, now in the collection of the Chicago Museum of Fine Arts, which is believed to have been set on the front lawn.
The portion of the Conservation Restriction facing Pleasant Street consists mostly of this landscaped lawn area and included two massive ancient copper beech trees dating to at least the period of the construction of the “Homer House” itself (1853). These trees, which appear in the aforesaid painting, were a Massachusetts state entry in the American Forests program entitled “Famous and Historic Trees”. The wooded area of the conservation restriction on Concord Avenue in the rear of the property contains several mature specimens of native trees and and is in the process of being landscaped in a historically accurate manner.
Belmont Woman’s Club CR
- Location: 661 Pleasant Street
- Date Acquired: 2010
- Donated by: Belmont Woman’s Club
- Acreage: 1 acre