Surrounded by a rolling lawn and woods, the grand fieldstone house with the red-slate roof has long been a curiosity for those visiting Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield.
After sitting underutilized for more than 50 years, the state-owned historic property has been restored by a tenant, at private expense, under the terms of a novel arrangement.
Called Willowdale Estate, the former private home of one of the North Shore's leading citizens now operates as a wedding and event center with overnight facilities.
"It was a long time getting here, but we finally made it," said Gerald Fandetti, an architect who began the project 11 years ago. "We just made the commitment, and that was it. It has a lot of real potential."
The project was a challenging one for Fandetti and his wife, Charlotte Forsythe, who began a $1.5 million restoration in 1997 when they signed a long-term lease under the state's Historic Curatorship Program.
According to the terms of the program, a curator-tenant enters into a long-term lease with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, with rent paid in the form of services, specifically the rehabilitation and maintenance of the property. The tenant is in charge of financing and executing the project and future maintenance.
In this way, the state-owned properties are restored at no cost to the state. There are provisions in the agreement that call for some public access to the property.
"We're delighted," said Wendy Fox, spokeswoman for the state agency. "It's an absolutely beautiful place, and they did some wonderful work on it."
In the majority of cases, the properties are used as homes.
Other properties under agreement in the Historic Curatorship Program are the farmhouse at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport and the Glenledge Cottage (also called the Viereck House) at Halibut Point in Rockport. Other properties at Maudslay State Park are also eligible, according to the state's list, along with the Lamson House, which, like Willowdale, is inside Bradley Palmer State Park.
While this was their first foray into the Historic Curatorship Program, Fandetti and Forsythe had previous experience with historic restoration.
In 1992, they renovated the Mary Prentiss Inn in Cambridge, a former nursing home that required extensive rehabilitation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2002, the family finished another renovation, this time of a Cambridge firehouse that became the Kendall Hotel.
When they signed the Willowdale lease in 1997, Fandetti and Forsythe envisioned Willowdale (then called Willowdale Lodge) as a bed-and-breakfast that would host artist retreats.
Their vision for the property changed as the project moved forward, in part because the Town of Topsfield assessed them with property taxes, which they hadn't expected. (The family and town have largely resolved the issue and the family is paying taxes, say spokesmen for both, although some issues remain in legal dispute.)
The tax implications motivated them to change their vision for the property. At the urging of their daughter, Briar Forsythe, they decided to renovate the estate into a function facility specializing in weddings and events. Briar Forsythe now serves as executive director of the property and handles the day-to-day operations.
The change in direction required more expensive renovations, such as a larger kitchen and septic system, she said.
As the project crawled along, there were other things that drove up the cost, such as a change in fire codes that required a sprinkler system.
Fandetti and Forsythe also were occupied with completing the renovation of the Kendall Hotel, so they put Willowdale on the back burner.
Bringing Willowdale back to life took eight years longer than expected and the costs ran at least $3.5 million over budget, because of the aforementioned issues as well as the usual ones that one runs into with the historical renovation of a 15,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom house.
"It was just like with any historic property," Briar Forsythe said. " 'Oh, now there's this, and now there's this. . . . Oh, the roof is going to cost more than we thought .' "
The home was built in 1901 by Bradley Palmer, a noted lawyer who, among other accomplishments, represented President Woodrow Wilson at the Versailles Peace Conference.
Palmer was heavily involved with the design of the building, which fused elements of several design styles with the "arts and crafts" style popular at that time. Palmer donated the building and surrounding 721 acres to the state in 1944.
The woods became a state park named for Palmer and the building was used in a limited way for the next 50 years, for civil defense and environmental police training, Fandetti said.
The status and location - a historic property in a forested, state-owned park - also forced the owners to navigate among several state and local agencies when it came to permitting issues, Fandetti noted.
At one point, the couple was seeking someone to take the project over from them, and instead decided to have their daughter manage the property autonomously.
"There was always someone continuing the work on it," Briar Forsythe said, "but we never had a major crew the way we did this last year. My dad just got a huge crew and finished it."
At Willowdale, rentals can run from $1,000 for a weekday meeting to $4,800 for a weekend wedding. Single rooms may be rented on weekdays for $150 an hour, Forsythe said.
The family has a 75-year lease. As part of the contract, it is obligated to hold some events that will be open to the community. Among other activities, daytime Sunday tours of the home are planned.
A classical holiday concert featuring opera singer Lisa Tamagini is scheduled at 3 this afternoon, with a $25 admission charge.
A schedule of events is posted on the website, willowdaleestate.com.
