Category Archives: Peak House Heritage Center

Peak House Heritage Society Creates the “Traveling Trunk” with MFi Legacy Fund Grant

Posted on February 5, 2025 | Comments Off on Peak House Heritage Society Creates the “Traveling Trunk” with MFi Legacy Fund Grant

From the Peak House Heritage Society –

 
Hello Pete,

Recognizing the continuing partnership with the Directors of Medfield Foundation’s Legacy Fund, the Heritage Center Directors proudly announce the arrival of the Peak House Traveling Trunk.

A magnifying glass with an eye in the middle.What’s the Trunk’s Purpose?THE PEAK HOUSE TRAVELING TRUNK will transport the material culture and history of the Peak House into Medfield classrooms.

Initially it will engage about two hundred twenty-four (224) Third Grade students while traveling to nine (9) classrooms at the Ralph Wheelock School.

In order to foster greater student interest in early Medfield and Peak House cultural history, the Traveling Trunk will contain a variety of discovery resources selected by Nicole Sheehan and Erin Watson, both highly-qualified Third Grade teachers at that school.

– A detailed teacher’s notebook and lesson plans
– Actual historical artifacts and authentic reproductions
– Maps, graphics, games, crafts
– Student reading and reference material, activity sheets and discussion questions

This project directly addresses Massachusetts Academic Standards for this grade level and correlates with existing PHHC exhibits.

A video play button.How was This Initiative Funded?In March 2024, the Legacy Fund awarded a grant to the Peak House Heritage Center to address the inadequacies of traditional field-trip experiences at the Peak House with a new initiative designed for creativity and discovery in Third Grade classrooms

. A video play button.

What’s the Trunk’s Connection to Medfield History?

The developer of the Clark Tavern Condominiums next door to the Peak House contributed material from the 1742 Tavern as his way of repurposing and extending that site’s historic legacy.



A magnifying glass with an eye in the middle.What’s the Trunk’s Appearance?

 
A small megaphone blaring.What are the

Trunk’s Contents?

Seen surrounding the Trunk are some of the items: gravestone reproductions with rubbing paper and colored waxes, joinery samples, artifacts in acrylic cases. Also included are lesson plans, activity sheets, photos of early downtown Medfield and more.



A small calendar.What’s Its 2025 Schedule?

Classroom workstations with the Trunk’s collection will roll out in mid-March according to curriculum designers and teachers Erin Watson(l) and Nicole Sheehan.



A small megaphone blaring.Our Thank You for Partnering

The Heritage Center Directors are most grateful for the insight and support of the Legacy Fund Directors to provide this unique learning opportunity.

Discover more PHHC community partnerships here 

Our Contact InformationPeak House Heritage Center52 South Street (Business Office)
Medfield, MA 02052-2616508-505-7742
http://peakhouseheritagecenter.org
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Posted in Charity, History, Medfield Foundation, Peak House Heritage Center, Schools

MFi Legacy Fund Grantees Reported Back

Posted on December 6, 2024 | 1 comment

From Leanne LaBelle of the Medfield Foundation –

Celebration of MFi Legacy Fund Grants

The 2024 Grant Recipients of the Medfield Foundation’s Legacy Fund celebrated with midyear reports at the Zullo Gallery on Thursday night, December 5th. 2024 Legacy Fund Grants were awarded to the Peak House Heritage Center for a Traveling Trunk exhibit, Medfield TV for Podcast Equipment and the Dwight Derby House for their East Parlor Project, honoring one of its extraordinary residents, Mary Derby.  

Director of the Gallery, Bill Pope, welcomed everyone to the Zullo, which received a Legacy Fund Grant itself in 2023 for the creation of an innovative Augmented Reality Exhibit. According to Pope, the exhibit is still hosted on the internet and can be seen around town with the app, Hoverlay. 

This year’s Legacy Grants have already made a big difference. The excitement was gushing from Wheelock’s 3rd grade teachers about their plans for the Traveling Trunk as a multidiscipline time capsule in their 3rd grade curriculum. 

And the energy for the Dwight Derby House has been transformed. Their East Parlor Project will honor Mary Derby, a single mother who ran a bonnet manufacturing business from her home while raising a son destined for greatness.

To paraphrase Rob Babson of the Peak House Heritage Center, he said, “Thanks to the grants from the MFi Legacy Fund, impressive talent has been brought to Medfield and ‘cross pollinated,’ amplifying and raising the quality of our offerings and excitement for our town.”

Stay tuned for news on Legacy Fund’s next “Call for Grant Applications.” To learn more, visit MedfieldFoundation.org. 

The MFi’s key fundraiser, the Angel Run 5K / Run / Walk is happening this Sunday, December 8th at 11:30am at the Medfield High School.  Come celebrate the season and support a great cause!

The Medfield Foundation is a volunteer run 501-(c)(3) nonprofit charitable corporation whose mission is to build community by supporting nonprofit initiatives, raising funds for those in need and distributing grants that positively impact Medfield.

The MFi Legacy Fund is a professionally managed, community-supported Endowment Fund empowering residents to make permanent gifts to improve the community and town of Medfield. Through a competitive “Pitch It” process, Medfield based non-profit initiatives or town agencies can apply for grants to benefit the town. To date, almost $100,000 in grants have been given away. Planned gifts to the MFi Legacy Fund are encouraged and will keep the granting going strong. 

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Posted in Art, Dwight-Derby House, Medfield Foundation, Medfield TV, Peak House Heritage Center, Uncategorized

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Peak House Heritage Center’s newsletter

Posted on February 21, 2024 | 1 comment

From the Peak House Heritage Center (always interesting – subscribe yourself to get their version with better formatting) –

Medfield’s Peak House Heritage Center







+ What’s New for February +
+ Object of the Month #1
Ever heard the saying, “Dead as a doornail“? Whether you have or haven’t, the front door of the Peak House is a good place to begin a close-to-home story about it. As seen today, this door (36”wide by 66” high) was installed in 1924. It has two pine panels: a vertical set facing outdoors and a horizontal set inside. The outdoor panels have weathered nicely, while inside the boards were fashioned to continue the original Colonial apstrake style.

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The door is commonly called a batten door. At the Peak House horizontal boards (around 13” wide) are nailed across vertical boards (also 13” wide). The nails, called Roseheads, were special nails used in 1924 to imitate the soft iron ones first crafted by hand in Colonial times. These 3-inch nails are driven through both the outside and inside boards and then bent over, or clenched, on the inside face.



Once the door was studded with them, the nails were useless for any other purpose and thus were “dead as a doornail.” Today’s door is as strong as ever and represents the architect’s desire in 1924 to preserve and display a 1762 construction method and style. A word of historical caution. When the present building was built in 1711, it was an ell or addition to Benjamin Clark’s 1680 house. As such, no outside door was needed. When the present building was moved around 1762 to today’s location, it was then that a door was introduced to the south wall as seen today. There is no recorded or visual citation to document today’s door as original in style to what might have been. The Peak House door was built in 1924 by Abbott Lowell Cummings, a well-respected architectural historian whose best intent was to represent an authentic Colonial style.
+ Object of the Month #2 
How is this door hung? Although iron nails were an uninspired necessity, there was room for artistic expression when it came to hinges and latches. The blacksmith could combine his own likes and abilities with regional and cultural preferences to produce eye-catching additions to panel doors. Hinges suspended the door and allowed it to swing freely. Colonial hinges were named for their shapes – strap, butterfly, cocks-head, H and H-L hinges They were usually secured on pintles, a pin or bolt forming the pivot of a hinge. The present-day hinges are a pair of pintle-strap hinges . The pintle spike required a sturdy frame and was commonly used for external doors.

+ Object of the Month #3
This artistic trefoil latch opens the door today to all visitors. It appears that no door knocker was ever installed in 1924.

+ Object of the Month #4 
Make that Objective #4. Plan to visit the Peak House Heritage Center during a Saturday from April through October to appreciate more architectural history as well as to engage in a variety of interactive exhibits both inside and out. Catch the upcoming schedule in this newsletter or our website. Our historic door always welcomes you.
+ Credits Photographs by the Peak House Heritage Center 
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Our Contact Information
Peak House Heritage Center
52 South Street (Business Office)
Medfield, MA 02052-2616
508-505-7742
http://www.peakhouseheritagecenter.org

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Pete – If you enjoyed reading this newsletter, please forward it to friends who might like to read it. Thank you very much.

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Posted in Peak House Heritage Center

Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund’s 2021 grantees’ report

Posted on November 16, 2022 | Comments Off on Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund’s 2021 grantees’ report

Legacy Fund Grantees Report

Grantees of the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund’s latest 2021 round of grants reported to the Medfield Foundation board and the Legacy Fund founders at a meeting this past Monday evening at the Public Safety Building.

  • Peak House Heritage Society showed a remarkably informative video produced by Medfield TV of the PHHS’s archeological dig that the PHHS’s grant funded in the basement of the Peak House. Rob Gregg reported that the most mysterious findings were three 1912 license plates, mysterious because the last residents in the Peak House left in 1910. The rest of the archeological findings are in the process of being analyzed and cataloged.
  • Friends of the Medfield High School Theatre Society reported on the new cyclorama purchased with its grant which was installed at the back of the stage in the MHS auditorium, allowing for better performances. “The replacement of the MHS auditorium cyclorama allows students to engineer complex lighting scenarios; offers those performing a more complex atmosphere in which to tell their stories; and enhances the visual quality of shows for Community members who attend performances.”
  • Medfield Outreach used its grant to commission a survey of town needs, data designed to focus Outreach’s strategic plan. Outreach Director Kathy MacDonald reported on the survey and its results. “In the winter of 2022, Medfield Outreach began work to complete a community needs survey and create a five-year strategic plan for the department. What you see on these tabs is the result of that almost six month long undertaking.”
  • Sustainable Medfield used its grant to further publicize and share its mission promoting sustainability with town residents – “1. Provide residents a one-stop resource of Medfield-specific ACTIONS to improve our environment and reduce our carbon footprint. and 2. Connect community groups to network and collaborate on sustainability.”

About the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund
The Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund Is a professionally-managed endowment created to support community-driven projects. Volunteer-run and designed to complement the initiatives of Medfield organizations, the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund raises funds from the community and makes grants to established non-profit organizations through a competitive process. For more information or to contribute to the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund, please visit https://www.medfieldfoundation.org/legacy-fund.

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Posted in Charity, Climate, Cultural, Environmental, Events, Green, History, Information, Medfield Foundation, Medfield High School, MFi Legacy Fund, Peak House Heritage Center, Recreation, Schools, Teens, Uncategorized

Peak House – transformed

Posted on June 30, 2022 | Comments Off on Peak House – transformed

First the emailed newsletter from the Peak House Heritage Society, and below that photos from the Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund board self-guided tour this week. The Peak House Heritage Society was the recipient of a Medfield Foundation Legacy Fund grant this year. Lots more improvements are reportedly in the works per Rob Gregg. –

  A Quick Peek at Our June Feature  

Announcing Our 2022 Visitor Season – the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of July, August, September and October Delivering New Self-Guided Displays Featuring Intriguing Artifacts, Interactive Exhibits, Authentic Colonial Gardens 

Paid admission is by tickets available only through our website. You first choose a date for your visit and then select a time slot from the six available on those Saturdays.Covid-related restrictions limit six (6) visitors at a time for a suggested visit duration of thirty (30) minutes. You are welcome to tour the outdoor gardens for as long as you wish.



For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.  


Our Discovery Contest Finishes and a Grand Prize   

Winner Announced May’s contest question: This plant found in our kitchen garden was a most important dye plant both in England and the Colonies.  Its leaves produced an intense blue-colored dye but it also developed a most disgusting aroma during processing. Its pigment was frequently found on the faces of warriors. What is the name of this plant? 

Answer: Woad 

Congratulations to our May winners who became Peak Performers:             

Sandy Frigon             
Katherine Munz             
Jeanette Ruyle 

After the contest’s duration of six months during which there 18 winners, a grand prize winner’s name was selected to receive a $50 gift certificate from Brothers Marketplace. Seen below is Jeanette Ruyle receiving her prize from PHHC Director Rob Babson. Congratulations to Jeanette and every Peak Performer!

  

The Piggery Becomes a Colonial Vegetable  Garden 

With special thanks to our neighbors to the east, Matt and Emily Seminerio, and their willingness to share their corner land which was a piggery at their historic Morse homestead, a colonial vegetable garden will take shape over the summer and fall.



To further extend the Seminerio’s offer, foundation stones from the former Clark Tavern to the west will be used to build the borders of the new beds.



Keep your eyes on this area in the coming months to see a Colonial Vegetable Garden taking shape.



  Photograph Credits PHHC 
Our Contact Information
Peak House Heritage Center
52 South Street
Medfield, MA 02052-2616
508-505-7742
http://www.peakhouseheritagecenter.org

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Posted in History, Medfield Foundation, Peak House Heritage Center

CPA base state match at 28.6%

Posted on November 20, 2020 | Comments Off on CPA base state match at 28.6%

The Division of Local Services (DLS) newsletter had the following article about the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act (CPA) base state matching monies coming in this year at 28.6% for the 3% CPA communities.

Medfield residents continue to pay in to fund the state payments to other towns, because Medfield has not adopted the CPA – i.e Medfield is leaving free state monies on the table. See https://www.communitypreservation.org/ for information.

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The map below shows all the communities that have adopted the Community Preservation Act, including those recently adopted.

FY2021 Community Preservation State Match Distributed
Donnette Benvenuto and Lisa Krzywicki – Data Analytics and Resources Bureau

On November 13th, the Data Analytics and Resources Bureau (DARB) distributed the FY2021 state match of Community Preservation (CPA) funds. The CPA trust fund receives revenues from surcharges on documents filed at the Registry of Deeds.  Effective January 1, 2020 the registry of deeds increased fees on most documents from $20 to $50 and on municipal lien certificates from $10 to $25. In FY2021, there are 176 communities eligible for the CPA state match and as of November, the CPA state trust fund recorded revenues totaling $61.1 million.

Of the 176 communities eligible, 76 have adopted the surcharge at the maximum 3% making them eligible for base distribution match of 28.6% of the local CPA surcharge committed.  They are also eligible for the 2nd round distribution (equity) and 3rd round distribution (surplus), which can result in an increased percentage match, up to 100%.  The remaining 100 communities that did not adopt the CPA at 3% are only eligible for the first-round match of 28.6% of the local CPA surcharge committed.

Number of communities eligible for the FY2021 state match by percentage adopted:

The full distribution breakdown and decile ranking by community can be found here on the DLS website.

On the November 3rd ballot an additional 9 communities voted and approved the CPA and West Stockbridge adopted it earlier in the year.  Municipal Clerks in these communities are reminded to send in the Specimen ballot, results and notification of acceptance form to DARB at databank@dor.state.ma.us as soon as possible.

List of additional communities and percentage adopted eligible for the FY2022 CPA state match in November of 2022:

For questions about the distribution or to notify us of local adoption, please email databank@dor.state.ma.us.

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Posted in Affordable housing / 40B, Budgets, Community Preservation Act (CPA), History, Medfield Rail Trail, Peak House Heritage Center, Recreation

Peak House Heritage Center opens Sunday

Posted on June 13, 2019 | Comments Off on Peak House Heritage Center opens Sunday

20190616-peak house jeritage opening

The Peak House, one of the town’s and the country’s oldest houses is newly rejuvenated by the creation of the Peak House Heritage Center, a Medfield Foundation initiative.  Their website is chock-a-block full of data, details, graphics, and information – in a word it is spectacular.  It is also beautiful, fascinating, authoritative, and has an easy to navigate interface.  Link to it here https://peakhouseheritagecenter.org/

 

 

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Posted in Events, History, Medfield Foundation, Peak House Heritage Center, Uncategorized