Forbes House Museum Awarded National Grant for Building Restoration

The National Park Service has awarded the Forbes House Museum a grant totaling $673,520 for restoring its historic barn and carriage house.

“We’re thrilled and honored to receive this funding. The Save America’s Treasures grants are very competitive, and our museum was the only site recipient in Massachusetts this year,” says Heidi Vaughan, Forbes House Museum executive director.

The first phase of the project, comprising new windows and repairs to the carriage house roof and foundation, is now complete. The second phase, including structural reinforcement and new cedar roof shingles for the barn, and a new subsurface drainage system, is expected to start in 2025. The overall project is funded in part by a Save America’s Treasures grant, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

Also supporting this multi-year project are Community Preservation Act funds, Mass Cultural Council and Massachusetts Historical Commission grants, and many generous individual donors.

The museum property has been designated a National Historic Landmark since 1966. Designed by architect Isaiah Rogers, the carriage house was built in 1833 in the same Greek Revival style as the main house. In the late 19th-century, the renowned Boston architecture firm of Peabody & Stearns designed the shingle-style barn addition.

Currently, the museum uses the barn and carriage house as a backdrop for community events, including seasonal Barnfests, a popular family-friendly evening gathering with live music, local food and lawn games. Once completed, the renovated barn and carriage house will be more widely available as a community resource.

For more information about the museum, tours and other programming, call 617-696-1815 or visit www.forbeshousemuseum.org. Information about the Save America’s Treasures grant program is available at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/historicpreservationfund/save-americas-treasures-grants.htm.

About the Forbes House Museum:

Inspired by the Forbes family legacy of entrepreneurship, social action and philanthropy, the Forbes House Museum fosters discourse around civic engagement and cultural awareness. Built in 1833, the Greek Revival home at 215 Adams Street in Milton has been a museum since 1964 and a National Historic Landmark since 1966.

About the Save America’s Treasures program:

The Save America’s Treasures grant program was established in 1998 to celebrate America’s premier cultural resources in the new millennium. After more than 20 years, this grant program has awarded more than 1,300 grants totaling more than $300 million to projects across the United States. Funded projects, selected from 4,000-plus applications requesting $1.5 billion, represent nationally significant historic properties and collections that convey our nation’s rich heritage to future generations. The National Park Service administers Save America’s Treasures grants in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.