From the outside, the old mill at Noone Falls in Peterborough looks like it has not changed much in more than 200 years. 

The long, low building looks much as it did in the 19th century, when textile workers processed wool. But on the inside, the mill has been transformed into a state-of-the-art, high-tech, energy-efficient workplace. 

“I always knew about the mill, and I always loved the property,” said owner Steve Walker, who bought the commercial space at the northern end of the mill in 2022. “When I started looking around for a space for my new business, there were not a lot of suitable options, but this was perfect.”

The mill’s antique hydro turbines, which are powered by the Contoocook River when water flow is high enough,  were a huge draw for Walker, who is an engineer, inventor and renewable-energy entrepreneur. The turbines can be viewed through a window on the second level. 

“We did a lot of work on the hydro to get it up and running again,” Walker said.

Walker renovated much of the main floor of the mill to house his renewable-energy business, Evari, which is developing a compressor for the mass market. 

The restoration and renovations to the mill have been a two-year process, and Walker reports the project is close to being complete. Having restored two historic homes and previously worked on historic landscape preservation, Walker said he was somewhat prepared for the length and complexity of the process. 

Liz Halper, who has overseen most of the renovations for Walker, said the Noone Falls Mill has survived fire, floods and the 1938 hurricane, which wiped out part of Route 202. Walking through the mill, Halper pointed out the cafe space in the middle of the building, which most recently housed Parker Brothers Coffee. An antique iron fire door separates Walker’s end of the building from the residential end, which includes condominiums and the Kogestu restaurant. 

According to the state Division of Historical Resources, the earliest known building at Noone Falls was built around 1813 by Calvin Chamberlin and James Perkins for carding wool. Over the years, the building, which changed hands several times and was enlarged and rebuilt after a fire, was purchased by Joseph Noone in 1845. Noone’s sons carried on the textile business through World War II, and sold the business to Kenwood Mills in 1951.

According to Peterborough’s historic records, the Noone Falls Mill was the first mill in Peterborough to be powered by electricity, thanks to the turbines. The flow of the river  was never enough to power the whole mill, however, and Noone added a steam boiler to provide electricity not only for the mill, but the the surrounding neighborhood. A previous restaurant, The Boilerhouse, took its name from the immense iron boiler that still dominates the restaurant space. 

Another thing that attracted Walker to the mill was the walls of windows lining the on the east and west sides, which let in light and provide a view of Noone Falls. 

“When you run a tech company, the space matters,” Walker said. “It shouldn’t just be a utilitarian space; it makes sense to have a nice environment for your people. People spend a huge percentage of their life at work.” 

Walker worked with the state preservation office throughout the renovations to preserve the building’s historic character.  He designed custom interior inserts for the window walls, which helped seal the building’s energy envelope, and got rid of the building’s old oil burners, replacing them with state-of-the art heat pumps. After research around buildings in flood zones, Walker raised the basement floor four inches above the waterline and installed “weepholes” under the floor to allow the water to flow through in case of flooding. 

Halper noted that the due to the proximity to the river, while the building is grandfathered, the wetlands permitting was a lengthy process. 

“Down here in the basement, we have the stones from the original foundation, which is hundreds of year old, but we also have the servers, the fiber optics and the heat pumps, and the new controls for the hydro turbines,” said Kirsten Colantino, who works for Evari, on a tour of the mill.  “It’s a super cool contrast.” 

Colantino noted that Walker has an app on his phone which monitors the hydro turbines. 

“It’s old and new coming together,” she said. 

A new spiral staircase fabricated by  Peterborough-based American Steel offers access to the lower level. Outside, along the river, a new deck connects the walkway to the parking lot in the back. Walker made the railings on the deck himself, and contributed some of the woodworking. Carpenter Phil Petrov created the support beams and awning at the rear entrance, and Walker credited Tattersall Electric with taking on the job of rewiring of the building. The building also has a new metal roof, which meant the entire ceiling had to be reinforced with brackets. 

“Steve worked with all local businesses and contractors,” Colantino said. “The building needed major infrastructure TLC.” 

Upstairs, Walker’s tenants in the mill, Peterborough Auctions and Everything Moving, have been good sports about moving around during the two years of  renovations.

“Everyone has been very gracious to us, and we’re very pleased with the renovations,” said Molly Williams of Peterborough Auctions. “Now we have this unique gallery space, and it feels like we are in Boston or New York.”

Nick Prior and Williams, who have been running Peterborough Auctions in the building for 15 years,   especially appreciate the state-of-the-art heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, air filters and the building’s security systems.

“All of that is important for our business,” Prior said. 

Renovations to the upper level include new accessible restrooms for all the office spaces and shared meeting space for tenants. 

In the mill’s lower level – which in previous times actually had a part of the Contoocook River running through it – Roy Schlieben, founder and executive director of MAXT Makerspace, was hard at work preparing for Makerspace’s move to Noone Falls.

“It was really a dungeon down here when we first saw it, but Steve had this vision,” Schlieben said. “We came back and looked and we started thinking this was the perfect spot.”

Schlieben said he loves the history of mill and the fact that Makerspace will now be part of that story.

“There has been industry here for 200 years. It makes sense for Makerspace to be here,” he said.