What happens when you have the most iconic, three-story, Victorian house in town donated to you to be used as an art and historical center? You get very excited and think it is just the best thing that could ever happen to you. Now fast forward sixty years. The tile roof needs repair, the brick needs to be re-pointed, the wooden trim is rotting, there is a tree growing out of one of the chimneys because we have not been able to afford to run the heat in the winter for several years, one of the walls of the Carriage House is collapsing, and we have no funds to fix any of the above problems or any of the other smaller problems, like plumbing and wiring. After much discussion, last year the trustees voted to put the house on the market and hoped someone would fall in love with it and be able to afford to restore it to all its former beauty.
In the meantime, we began a search for a place to house three-floors of town history and art in case someone actually made an offer to buy the house. The security of the collection and what the society could afford were our criteria. Accordingly we had to eliminate the very old, wooden buildings on Main Street from our list of possibilities. Other places we visited were either too expensive or needed a lot of structural work that, once again, would leave us with no financial cushion.
Well we did get an offer from a Connecticut couple who love the house and want to turn it back into a home--their home. They are excited that so much of the original interior has remained intact. It is the best thing that could happen to the house. It needs a lot of love and work—we all loved it, but we do not have the money to do the work.
Now fast forward.
We have officially and completely moved out of 9 Elm Hill (The Miller Building) and passed papers to the new owners! We hope everyone will respect the privacy of the new owners now that the Miller House and grounds are no longer open to the general public. We have relocated four floors of possessions in about three weeks time. It was a huge task but we made the deadline!
We negotiated a lease with Cota & Cota and have moved to the former Probate Court Office on Route 106 in North Springfield. The space is smaller than we would like but it is newly renovated and ready to move in. It has good visibility and parking, and we can operate year-round. The rent is closer to what we can afford but we are going to need to raise about $18,000 per year to become an active society and not just a warehouse for Springfield’s artifacts.
THANK YOU to all those who volunteered their time, we could not have done it with out you. Now we are laying out our new space and working on putting all of these things in their new locations. We have a much smaller space so it is going to take time.
We don't expect to be officially open until our Annual Meeting, scheduled for Saturday, October 17th. More details will be announced as we work our way to this new and exciting deadline.
Please note the changes to our contact information. We have a new physical address and phone number.
Our new physical address is
65 Route 106,
North Springfield, VT
Our new telephone number is
802-886-7935
Our mailing address remains the same:
PO Box 313,
Springfield, VT 05156
However, we are currently closed while we relocate into this new space.
Our new physical address is
65 Route 106,
North Springfield, VT
Our new telephone number is
802-886-7935
Our mailing address remains the same:
PO Box 313,
Springfield, VT 05156
However, we are currently closed while we relocate into this new space.
