SPRINGFIELD – The house with the classical columns at the corner of Union and Maple streets has been restored after years of neglect.

The Merrick-Phelps House will now be the new home of DevelopSpringfield and another tenants and part of a three-building office park, DevelopSpringfield President and CEO Jay Minkarah explained to Reminder Publications.

DevelopSpringfield bought the property in 2013 and the restoration took more than a year. Minkarah called it “a significant amount of work.”

The cost of acquiring that property was well as an adjacent carriage house/garage and the historic Female Seminary building next to it as well as the renovation of the Merrick/Phelps House was $1.8 million, Minkarah said.

The complex of the three buildings will be know as the Lower Maple Business Park, he said.

The Greek Revival style house was built in 1841 as the home of Solymon Merrick, the inventor of the monkey or adjustable wrench. Merrick sold it in 1847 to Ansel Phelps Jr., the city’s fourth mayor, who lived there until his death in 1860.

Maple Street, as one of the historic placards at the open house noted, was Springfield’s “Gold Coast,” a neighborhood favored by the city’s wealthy as it was on a plateau above downtown but yet close to it. Nearby the home of Daniel Wesson – cofounder of Smith & Wesson – had been located.

The Merrick-Phelps House subsequently was used as a home and in the 20th Century as both a home and an office for several doctors who lived there.

Minkarah said the project had two large challenges. The first is the fact the skylights were missing from the roof, possibly ripped off by the 2011 tornado. Subsequently there was much water damage.

The famed porches and columns were also collapsing, presenting another construction challenge, he added.

Minkarah said the goal was to stabilize the structure and then restore as much as possible to its original state. For instance, he noted the slate roof was repaired and as well as the plaster walls and ceilings. The original windows were restored and Minkarah said the first floor windows were designed to allow access to the porch.

The building, he noted, had been spared the fate of other older homes and was never “chopped up to apartments.” The end result was to historically restore the house and yet make it suitable for office use, Minkarah said. This involved doing certain things, such as installing a sprinkler system “in the least intrusive way possible,” he explained.

Making the doors complaint with the Americans with Disability Act requirement was also a challenge. Minkarah showed how the clearance of the doors was extended with the use of special hinges.

DevelopSpringfield is now clearing the lot next to the Merrick/Phelps House to be used for parking as well as finishing the restoration of the Female Seminary, a school built in 1832. Springfield Preservation Trust had started the restoration of that building.

The carriage house is now available for rental, as DevelopSpringfield will move into the first floor of the Merrick/Phelps House in July. The second floor has been leased, Minkarah said.

Mayor Domenic Sarno praised the project and said he would continue to support historic preservation when “it makes sense.”

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