Key Points:

  • Ambler Farm hosting public open house to highlight condition of Yellow House before key town vote
  • $1.37M bonding proposal would fund renovation of long-vacant historic structure
  • Officials cite safety concerns and significant structural and environmental deficiencies

Why it Matters: Voters will decide whether to approve funding for a major historic renovation project with long-term financial and community implications.

Friends of Ambler Farm (FOAF) will host a public open house at the farm’s Yellow House on Saturday, May 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., (257 Hurlbutt St.), ahead of a proposed bonding item that that will go before voters at the 2026 Annual Town Meeting.

Ambler Farm officials are holding the event to give residents an opportunity to view the condition of the historic structure and learn more about the proposed renovation project.

They said that “due to safety considerations,” visitors to the open house will not be permitted to enter the building but may look inside through doors and windows.

Uninhabitable since 2020, FOAF officials said the Yellow House currently meets the Town’s own definition of blight. It is one of four primary structures on the Ambler Farm property and is the last major building that has not yet undergone renovation.

Previous restoration work at the site includes the farm’s Red Barn and Carriage Barn, completed in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Voters approved funding in 2025 for the final phase of the Raymond-Ambler House renovation, with construction expected to begin this year.

The Board of Selectmen has approved, and the Board of Finance has endorsed, a proposed $1,367,749 bond to fund the Yellow House renovation. According to the FOAF announcement, the organization anticipates that rental income paid to the Town would offset the cost of the bond over time, “eventually paying for it in full.”

Ambler officials said the building has “substantial deficiencies” that need to be addressed, including lead remediation to the interior, exterior and soil; upgrades to the original (c. 1920s-1940s) electrical systems; structural stabilization between the basement and first floor; restoration of a rotting exterior; and a dirt-floor basement. The announcement also cited new interior water damage from a concaving roof and leaking radiators.

If renovated, the building is planned to be used as housing for a FOAF staff member. An Ambler Farm staff member previously lived in the Yellow House for more than a decade prior to 2020.

The FOAF announcement attributes the scope and cost of the project to what it describes as longstanding deferred maintenance and “extensive neglect” during the Town’s ownership of the property.

“The cost is not due to extravagant features or design, but rather is the direct result of the Town not addressing the building’s issues during the 27 years it has owned the property,” the announcement said.

Voting on the Yellow House referendum will take place at the Clune Auditorium following the Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, May 5, at 7 p.m., with additional voting scheduled for Saturday, May 9, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

More information is available on the Ambler Farm website.