19th-century Amherst home cleared for mile-long move

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Authorities have cleared the way for a 19th-century home in Amherst, Massachusetts, to be moved intact to a new site about a mile away.

The two-story building owned by Amherst College will be brought to a vacant lot after the Historical Commission gave unanimous approval last month to lift a yearlong demolition delay put in place last May, The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported.

Mark Andrews, capital projects manager at the college, said the move is being coordinated by Amherst developer Barry Roberts, who owns the new lot and the neighboring property on which a mixed-use building with apartments and a medical office on the ground floor is being developed.

Roberts said he is working with the state Department of Transportation to schedule the day and time the home will be moved down the Route 9 hill and past Amherst College’s athletic fields.

Known as the Martha S. Hubbard House, the 1,575-square-foot (145-square-meter) building is a single-family, Greek Revival-style home built in 1862. Roberts said it will remain a single-family home once it gets to the new site.

The building is being sold by the college to accommodate development on a neighboring property.