BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Dunbarton town historian Bud Noyes was only 22 years old when he purchased a dilapidated colonial-style house on 10 acres in  Bow for $300 in 1948.

The house, which now sits on Page Road in Bow – formerly known as Chateauguay Corner – was featured in the Nov. 22, 2006, edition of The Bow Times.

In 2003, Kim Thurlow and Stacey Rovinelli purchased the home, which served as a tavern and part of the Underground Railroad during the 1800s.

They have dedicated their time and resources toward restoring the historic facade.

Noyes, after reading the story, wrote a letter to Thurlow and Rovinelli. The three recently met to talk about the home’s history, and Noyes was treated to a tour of his old property. He also brought along old photos and paperwork to show the current owners.

“It was great to sit down with him,” said Thurlow. “We learned a lot, and he was thrilled to come over and see the house and point out some of the stuff he had done. He was really excited to see that some of the stuff he had done to the home is still intact.”

Noyes’ work and time spent on the home have not gone unnoticed by Thurlow either.

“The person who owned it before him didn’t live here, so in my eyes, he basically saved the house,” she said. “If he hadn’t purchased the house, it probably would have just collapsed and rotted away.”

Noyes said when he purchased the house it was on a dirt road with no other residences within a mile and no utilities, power or telephone.

“The house hadn’t been lived in for years and part of it had rotted away,” said Noyes. “I don’t think many people living in that area of Bow today realize that was derelict territory only 60 years ago.”

Noyes said the structure was in poor condition and had a large hole in the roof before he installed new windows, opened the fireplaces, scraped and stained the old siding and replaced the roof – all by hand.

Noyes is also happy to see that the aluminum siding on the home had been stripped by Thurlow and Rovinelli, now revealing the clapboards he had stained 60 years earlier.

“To actually see all his hard work in fixing up this house and staining it made me really appreciate his efforts,” said Thurlow. “I think people who have lived in this house have a better sense of appreciation for it and he is one of those people who understands that feeling.”

Though he only owned the property a few years, Noyes said the experience was rewarding.

“It was fun, but it was more of a learning experience than anything,” he continued. “When I bought that house, it proved to be a plank construction and the knowledge I gained from the experience proved to be invaluable in later years.”

Noyes said plank construction was a popular building technique in the 1800s.

Outside walls, he said, were made up of 2-inch-wide planks with clapboards nailed to the surface to form the exterior of the home. Plaster made up most of the interior walls but, Noyes said, there were no areas designated for future insulation or wiring.

When Noyes became a real estate appraiser years later, experience with the house helped him identify how homes were built and where possible problems may exist, he said

Thurlow said she encourages anyone with more information on the home and its history to contact her at soulroad2freedom@comcast.net.