To the editor:

I write to this newspaper about a subject that happens too often without notice and probably affects all three island communities. I speak about the dwindling amount of old houses, whether historic or not, that get lost due to modern development. 

Specifically, a new development on Glen Road will require the demolishing of a circa-1780 farmhouse. The house is very basic, is in decline from lack of maintenance, but has potential. 

The developer looked at the house and decided it did not work with his project. I do not fault him but praise him for offering the house to neighbors who attended the planning board meetings and saw that the house would not remain.

For me, Glen Road is the heart of Portsmouth’s historic district, and I am saddened to see the loss of this house, but I write in hopes that someone reading this letter could use this house on their property. 

In Portsmouth, I was previously chair of the Lower Glen Farm Preservation Committee as Portsmouth has its own “historic” properties to repair and maintain. We succeeded recently with The Leonard Brown House renovations and will hopefully move on to the so-called “Phelps House” further on down Linden Lane, but more work lies ahead.

I have started contacting several historic organizations for an admittedly, “last-ditch effort” to save this 235-plus-year-old house, so if you or anyone you know could take on a project of this nature, please contact me.

David M. Gleason

63 Massasoit Ave.

Portsmouth