SELT awarded $240K grant to preserve Epping farmhouse

EPPING – A project to rehabilitate the historic John Prescott Chase Farmhouse at Burley Farms recently received a $240,000 matching grant from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP).

The Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire will use the funding to go towards its project to rehabilitate the farmhouse into two units of workforce housing, while achieving enhanced energy efficiency and meeting historic rehabilitation standards. 

The farmhouse is a part of SELT’s Center for People and Nature.  SELT’s project will transform Burley Farms into a working farm, a public hub for outdoor recreation, and a learning center for nature-based education. The renovation of the farmhouse is expected to begin next year. 

“When completed, the farmhouse will be transformed from a vacant, deteriorating building to a productive, living building,” said Brian Hart, executive director of SELT. “As part of SELT’s larger Center for People and Nature, Burley Farms is projected to have more than 7,100 visitors. Working in partnership with the Epping Historical Society, SELT will highlight and celebrate the wonderful history of the farmhouse and its historic significance. We are so grateful to LCHIP for their support of this vision.” 

The John Prescott Chase Farmhouse is listed on the New Hampshire Register of Historic Places and represents an 18th-century federal home that was renovated in the Greek Revival during the 19th century to reflect the growing prosperity of the farm. The property retains many character-defining features from each era. Together with a cluster of nearby historic farm buildings the adjacent protected farm and forest landscape the farmhouse exemplifies the evolution of agriculture and farms in New Hampshire. 

Grant recipients are required to raise a minimum of one dollar for each dollar provided by LCHIP.