Ham House Made Historic
This early 19th century homestead, located on Dundee Community Forest, has never had electricity or indoor plumbing. By highlighting the connection of the surviving farmhouse to the land, a determined grass-roots group successfully advocated for the subdivision of a 1.6-acre lot with the house to save it from demolition by USVLT, which owns the surrounding 1,250 acres. The friends group has completed initial stabilization of the house with foundation repairs and sill replacement as they work to revive this rare early dwelling and find compatible new uses for it.
In May of 2025, the Ham House was approved for listing on the NH State Register of Historic Places. According to the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources, "The New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places (State Register) is an honorary listing that encourages the protection of significant buildings, districts, sites, landscapes, structures or objects that are meaningful in the history, architecture, archeology, engineering, or traditions of New Hampshire residents and communities." Learn More
A $7,500 grant, awarded by the NH Preservation Alliance and 1772 Foundation, will help fund replication and installation of the early 19th century windows.
“The c.1830 Ham House, a traditional northern hillside cape, persists as an echo in time after surviving 65 years of abandonment and slated demolition. This farmhouse is an important example of the intersection of land conservation and historic preservation, and is now building a bridge from a rich agrarian history to a new and repurposed future,” says Anne Pillion, Ham House Committee.
