NORWAY — The Western Foothills Land Trust has received emergency funding to reroof the historic Roberts farmhouse.

Lee Dassler of the Land Trust said the Morton Kelly Charitable Trust has granted the Western Foothills Land Trust $5,000 toward a new roof on the farmhouse on Roberts Road.

Dassler said the asphalt shingles will be replaced with metal roofing. Although restoring the roof with wooden shingles would have been in keeping with the historic nature of the 1823 Federal-style house, Dassler said the roof pitch is very low and the Land Trust decided it would not be wise to use wood shingles.

The Land Trust has hired Peter Toohey of Harrison to do the work. Dassler said Toohey anticipates having to replace roof sheathing and frost shields. The roof framing, a blend of original timbers and some post-fire replacement lumber, is all sound, she said.

Dassler said Toohey has estimated the roof replacement cost to be $7,500 for labor and materials.

Dassler said the Land Trust is looking to purchase materials at or near cost. Anyone who would like to make a directed year-end contribution to the Western Foothills Land Trust should mail it to P.O. Box 107, Norway, Maine 04268 or go their website for an online contribution.

The 150-acre property was purchased by the Western Foothills Land Trust in 2009. Since then, the farmland on Pikes Hill has been developed into a trail system for hikers, cross-country skiers and others. The hip-roof farmhouse is being restored for meeting space and farmstead exhibits on the first floor and Land Trust offices above.

Dassler called the house “amazing” despite a 2004 fire that destroyed a wing and left fire and smoke damage throughout the house.

The farmhouse has two rooms on each floor. There is no electricity or plumbing.

Those involved in the restoration are looking at the birthplace of Henry David Thoreau for inspiration, she said.

Although the Thoreau house in Concord, Mass., is 100 years older than the Roberts farmhouse, the design is very similar, Dassler said. The Thoreau Farm Trust, a nonprofit organization that is preserving Thoreau’s birthplace, has spent close to $1 million so far in its renovation work.

“While Roberts was not Thoreau in terms of cultural significance, the renovated Thoreau farmhouse in Concord is a guide of sorts for us,” Dassler said.

History of the house

According to information from Dassler, the home was built by Dudley Pike’s son, Henry Pike. Dudley Pike was born in Exeter, N.H., in 1760 and fought in the Revolutionary War.

He came to this area in 1787 and reportedly built a log hut that was later replaced by a two-story house on Pikes Hill Road. Dudley was one of the founding fathers of Norway when the town incorporated in 1797. He and his wife, Celia Weston, had 12 children. Henry, who was the eighth child, was given the northwestern portion of his father’s property in 1818.

In 1880, Henry Pike’s daughter, Carrie, married John Roberts, and John assumed ownership of the farm. At that time, a summer kitchen ell was expanded to allow both generations to share the farm.

Thaddeus Roberts, John and Carrie’s son, farmed the land until 1968.

Thaddeus’ son, John A. Roberts Jr., sold the original farmhouse lot in the 1970s and retained the land as a separate 161-acre parcel. The property was sold, logged and sold again in 2002 to the Growth Council of Oxford Hills with the intention to build a technology park on the site. The project never materialized and, in July 2007, the Land Trust negotiated for the Preserve’s purchase.

The massive ell, which accommodated much of the living on the farm, burned in 2004.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link