Bullard House History
Berlin’s late18th-century Bullard House is the oldest known residence in the town center, and the home for 125 years of the 19th-century Bullard family and their descendants. Throughout its long existence it also housed: Berlin's first store, an inn, a tavern, a meeting space, a ballroom, a blacksmith, a post office, a barbershop, a seamstress and a butcher shop. Among the Bullard descendants living there were H. Wallace Woodward and C. Sumner Woodward who died in World War I. The section of Walnut street along the common was renamed Woodward Avenue in their honor.
Bullard House Ownership
Unlike the Hearse House which is owned privately by the Berlin Art and Historical Society, the Bullard House at 4 Woodward Ave was purchased by the Town of Berlin in 1996. The Society has raised funds and worked to preserve and rehabilitate the Bullard House in collaboration the Historical Commission, a town board with members appointed by the Select Board.
Restoring the Building
The Historical Commission, with the support of the Society is working to transform the Bullard House into a local history museum. In 2016 financial support was requested at town meeting from the Town's Highland Commons Cultural Fund. Residents approved $55,200 and although some monies were spent before 2020, work resumed thereafter with recommendations from a building survey by Squaw Hollow Restoration. Weatherization of the building, cellar stairway replacement, sill replacement along the front façade and a white oak threshold replacement customized to the front entrance doorway were completed.
The Bullard House Museum Mission
To interpret the history of Berlin, its people and its institutions, through a local history museum in a historic setting, that tells the stories of over 200 years of community life and continues this historic narrative into the future.
Current work to date
A Bullard House Master Plan establishing work flow and timing developed with architect Dan Barton (who worked on both the 1870 Town hall and 19 Carter) was initiated in the summer of 2022 and is ongoing. Options for foundation and drainage rehabilitation have been proposed by TF Moran Structural Engineering and we await contract proposals to implement this work. An updated site survey by Ross Associates is forthcoming and a Title V Inspection has been completed...these are the building blocks of our master plan.
Funding the Restoration
Community Preservation Act funding, totaling $200,000 designated for historical perservation was appropriated at the 2021 November Special Town meeting and the May 2022 Annual Town Meeting for structural and drainage rehabilitation, architectural, engineering and associated design costs to support an application for a matching grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission's Preservation Project Fund.