Weston Historical Commission Approves Boston Post Road Childcare Restoration, Advances Three More Cases

WESTON -- March 8, 2022, Weston Historical Commission unanimously approved a childcare center's restoration of the historic Alpheus Bigelow House at 863 Boston Post Road and advanced three other preservation cases at its March 8 meeting. Co-Chair Steve Wagner led the panel through initial significance determinations and project reviews for 44 Willow Road, 242 Merriam Street, and 111 Loring Road, all referred to a public hearing April 5. The commission also approved window replacement plans at 44 Willow Road as "not detrimental," accepting submissions dated March 1. The meeting's most urgent discussion involved 49 Concord Road, a 1920 house built by architect Harold Willis, recently purchased by neighbors Bill Mayo Smith and Leslie Vensel to block subdivision; the couple described a $2 million rehabilitation cost and said they are "at our limits" financially. Historian Pam Fox called the interior paneling and staircase "architectural fabric from a very early house" and "very unusual," while members debated deed restrictions, lot splits, and possible Community Preservation Committee funding, with no formal vote taken.