The dilapidated, two-and-a-half-story farmhouse at 487 Norfolk Street in Mattapan dates from at least 1806, enough to make it the neighborhood's oldest standalone residential abode (and the probably the oldest farmhouse still standing in Boston). There's also a circa 1860s stable on the old stead, which may have spread to 11 acres before falling into a disrepair so steep the city seized the whole parcel in 2013.
Related: Red Sox Growing Kale, Arugula on Fenway's Roof
There are now plans to make the property, which covers some 30,000 square feet and is known as the Fowler Clark Epstein Farm, into a kind of urban-farming hub in the Hub, complete with classrooms, a demonstration kitchen, a greenhouse, a farm stand and offices. The effort will cost approximately $3,000,000, according to the Globe's Cristela Guerra, with about $300K of that already banked. A fundraiser for $1,000,000 in seed money kicked off Monday evening. Stay tuned.
· Mattapan's Oldest Building to Become Urban Farming Center [Globe]
· City Seizes Control of Historic Mattapan Farm [Globe]
· Our Second Acts archive [Curbed Boston]