Hale Homestead Getting Modest Makeover
Hale Homestead Getting Modest Makeover
COVENTRY (AP) ââ All houses need a fresh coat of paint every now and then. Especially when the house is 227 years old.
Not only will the Nathan Hale house ââ home of the official state hero ââ be getting new paint, several clapboards are to be replaced as well.
The house was last repainted in the 1980s, site administrator Desiree Mobed said.
It was last restored with new clapboards just prior to the national bicentennial celebrations in 1976, according to Bill Hosely, executive director of the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society, which owns the homestead.
Mr Hosely said the slow economy and budget woes have forced the society to defer thousands of dollars in maintenance each year.
The $60,000 project was funded in part by a $25,000 Quinebaug Shetucket Heritage Corner grant, which Hosely called an âessential component.â The other $35,000 will come from the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society.
The Benjamin Moore company is donating the paint, Ms Mobed said.
The house was built shortly before Mr Hale, a Revolutionary War hero, was hanged by the British in 1776. He grew up in a different house on the same property that was torn down to make way for the current building.