06/28/2019
GONE!! I drove by 529 King St yesterday and was shocked (one adjective among others) to see the farmhouse at Il Forno's restaurant was gone. According to information passed along to the Historical Commission, they were undergoing renovations and things escalated quickly to the demolition. Unfortunately, because historic demolition procedures were not followed, we didn't even have a chance to document the house.
Since the 1980's the house has been used as a restaurant in a string of owners/operators. In the 1950's-1960's Robert & Virginia Warfield and then Jerome & Marion Rooney owned it and ran the Country Craftsman,a woodworking shop, as pictured in the black & white photo.
Prior to that it was owned by Grace Smith, Harriet & Augusta Smith, Lucy Flagg, Boynton & Osman Needham, Emma Bradley, Ai Hostley (a blacksmith), Joseph Fletcher, Oliver Daland, Asaph Cutter, James Burnham, William Lapham, Luther Phelps (cordwainer), Samuel Smith.
That takes it back to 1836. We don't have any historical photos of the house. Does anyone have one to share?