Living in the oldest house in Wilton means the owners have to put up with a few quirks – but it’s worth it for the experience of living within a piece of history.
The house has been in Wilton Selectman Matt Fish’s family since his great-grandmother’s time. But originally, it belonged to John Dale, one of the first three settlers in Wilton – or, more accurately, one of the first settlers of Salem, Canada, as the land was known when he first constructed a four-room colonial on the top of a hill, with panoramic views of five local mountain peaks, with particularly spectacular views of Pack Monadnock and North Pack.
“John Dale chose a fantastic spot,” Fish said. “I guess he had his pick.”
The Dales owned the farm for three generations. Eventually, another prominent area family, the Dunbars, bought the property. Stephen Dunbar – another Wilton Selectman – was involved in the sale of meat, and kept a large herd of cows on the property. His son, Charles, inherited the farm, and his name can still be seen carved into the wood of one of the property barns.
The Curtis family – Fish’s family – bought the farm in 1907, and it has housed five generations of his family since, he said.
The farmhouse is a bit more sprawling than it’s original simple construction when it was built in 1746, Fish said, but the original structure is still intact.
Keeping it that way has provided some challenges for modern living. The house was originally built with bricks in between post and beam construction as a measure against raids by local Native American tribes – which means it had no insulation.
“In the summer, the upstairs gets so hot it’s unlivable without air conditioning in every room. And in the winter, water in our bedrooms will freeze,” Fish said.
But Fish said despite the expense of heating the house with steam and wood, and having to close up large portions of the house to save on heating, he could never take the steps to outfit the house with more modern insulation. Because of the way it’s built, it would mean all but gutting the historical structure – something he’s not willing to do.
“It’s like a living history,” Fish said. “There are downsides to living in a house this old – nothing is straight, everything is a major project, there’s lead paint, there’s asbestos – but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Fish inherited the home from his grandmother and has kept up the tradition of maintaining the farm. And, like his grandmother and great-grandmother before her, he’s had to get creative to keep the farm and house viable.
His great-grandmother, Grace Curtis, opened up the farmhouse as a nursing home for the terminally ill, and his grandmother, Jennie Fish, dedicated a portion of the fields to growing grapes and ran a winery.
Today, the wide views of five local peaks serve as a backdrop for weddings, a business Fish started when he took over the house and farm. He still keeps the agricultural tradition going – his fields grow an organic hay crop, and ducks and chickens wander the yard. But a single-crop farm isn’t enough to sustain the property, with its multiple buildings.
“Mono-crop agriculture is just impossible in this market, so no weddings, no farm,” Fish said. “But it’s a symbiotic relationship because it’s a use that allows us to preserve the land and still pay the tax bill.”
Fish said when he inherited the house, it was a bit of a museum. To some extent, it still is, he said.
Stepping into some of the barns is like stepping back in time, and some of the lofts have artifacts dating back prior to the 1930s. The original milk license is still framed in the barn, and horse and dairy barn equipment still hang on the walls.
Fish has discovered carvings on the walls of the barn and basement naming former residents – Abigail Dale carved her name in 1843 on the basement stairwell, and it’s still visible there.
He and his wife Nicole are the first owners to raise children in the home in generations. And they’ve made the decision to create a kid-friendly home, not a museum. Fish said when he grew up visiting his grandparents on the property, it was a “kid’s paradise” and he wants his own children to have that same experience. The parlor, once only used at Christmastime, is now being renovated and planned to be part of their daily living, Fish said.
Fish has had to tear down some of the old buildings, particularly those on the property’s edges that weren’t being used any longer and had fallen into such disrepair they weren’t worth repairing.
But the core of the farm has been shored up with significant restoration work, replacing sills and siding on the barns and keeping the house intact.
He knows that’s what the legacy of the house deserves.
“If there are any ghosts here, I know they’re happy ghosts, because I’m keeping up that tradition, and I think that’s what they’d want to see,” Fish said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.