Tucked inside Hyde Park’s forest landscape lies the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s latest project. DCR’s Historic Curatorship Program is scouting for a curator fit to restore the house at 12 Brainard St. at Stony Brook Reservation. The organization currently has a request for proposals out for the “rehabilitation, reuse, and maintenance” of the site. Proposals should also include planned use for the space, which can be anything from residential to commercial or nonprofit.
The program strives to rehabilitate the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable and underutilized properties, often holding historical value. Kevin Allen, DCR’s senior preservation planner, said the hope is to “preserve the building, not just for the time being.”
The program’s public-private partnership allows curators to lease a one-of-a-kind historic property in exchange for long-term rehabilitation and maintenance. Under the lease, curators can transform the space for their own use — they can live in it, operate a business, or any other use approved in their proposal.
DCR is behind restoration projects like the wedding venue Willowdale Estate at Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, the Charles River Speedway marketplace in Brighton, and the Wachusett Historic Superintendent’s House which now operates as an eatery and event space called Mountainside in Princeton, about an hour west of Boston.
In 2019, CBS Local reported that the Wachusett Mountain space was vacant for 30 years until the DCR curatorship transformed it. “Thanks to a unique program offered by DCR, [Katherine Huck and Robin Springfield] will invest hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money to bring this old building back to its former glory. In return, they will get a long-term lease to operate a second location of their business, The Mountainside Market, at the site,” the site reported.
The curator doesn’t gain any property ownership, but holds a lease that typically lasts 25 to 30 years. A fair market rent is established as a base, but outside of the cost of renovations and the sweat equity put in, the curator is not responsible to pay rent.
The fair market rent set by DCR for the Hyde Park house is $3,526 a month ($42,312 annually) through a 25-year lease. According to DCR’s request for proposals and conditions assessment reports, the estimated cost of the baseline required improvements is $862,737. Curators hold responsibility for all rehabilitation and maintenance costs, including applicable taxes, fees, insurance, and utilities.
Ethan Parsons, the DCR’s historic curatorship program manager, envisions the house returning to its residential roots or being used by a small-scale business or nonprofit. But he said he and the rest of the curatorship program are open to every possibility.
During its original construction in 1898, the Stony Brook Reservation home served as the park superintendent’s residence. Over time, it shifted into a general office space for DCR staff. Parsons estimates the property has been vacant for roughly a decade. Artifacts of DCR’s office use have been uncovered in the past few years — internet equipment, desks, filing cabinets — most beyond repair.
The structure, one of the oldest remaining builds by the Metropolitan Parks Commission (now DCR), sits on Stony Brook Reservation’s southwest edge. The reservation — roughly 600 acres of forested space — surrounds the property, with idyllic trails and ponds.
The home is also near the Hyde Park Community Center, a commuter rail station is under a mile away, and a tennis court sits just adjacent to the property.
Inside the two-story Dutch Colonial, original details like built-in cabinetry and window seats, trim, flooring, and an oil-fired furnace have stood the test of time.
State officials note that the structure is in “fairly good condition.” To Allen, the soundness of the 128-year-old home makes it a rare candidate for curation.
“Folks don’t need the same amount of investment and resources, as in time,” he said. “Hopefully that means we do have a broader range of applicants.
“Sometimes the harder part is the ongoing maintenance. That’s kind of why we get in the position we’re in with some of these in the first place,” he added.
DCR anticipates replacing the plumbing and electrical systems and improving accessibility. The bulk of the restoration — and timeline — will depend on what new use the curator imagines for the structure.
The DCR’s overarching hope is that the restoration “invites the public to use the property from time to time, has some programming that engages with the neighborhood, with the reservation, and really restores the vibrancy and life that this building has the potential to provide.”
Hopeful curators can submit proposal requests through Dec. 28.
Olivia McKenley can be reached at olivia.mckenley@globe.com.