High Teas and Artisan Showcases Planned to Save Historic F. Holland Day House from Deterioration-November 12, 1991

Norwood Historical Society Launches Creative Fundraisers to Rescue 1859 Tudor Mansion Listed on National Register

NORWOOD — Facing a race against time and severe structural deterioration, local history buffs have hatched a creative new strategy to save Norwood’s sole recognized architectural treasure: high tea.

The Norwood Historical Society is organizing a series of teas, artisan showcases, and murder mystery dinners inside the ailing F. Holland Day House, an 1859 Tudor mansion located on Day Street near the town center. Cindy-Ellen Soderlund, vice president of both the historical society and the town’s historical commission, warned that without immediate intervention, the mansion will literally fall apart within 20 years.

“There is major water damage, roof problems, leaded stained glass windows that are falling out, tiles around fireplaces that are crumbling,” Soderlund said. “There are parts that are being held together by surgical tape, but they could go any day.”

The urgency follows the painful loss earlier in the year of a three-story carriage house and barn on the estate, which was demolished when the society could not raise $500,000 to save it. Historical Society President John Grove estimated that properly restoring the main mansion will cost at least $300,000, with an immediate $25,000 needed just to halt active water damage. Because the society relies entirely on private donations and large corporate grants have dried up amid tough economic times, Soderlund noted, “Short of someone leaving us a lot of money in their will, I don’t think we’re going to have one large sum. We’ll have to do it in bits and pieces.”

Artisan Showcase Transforms 17-Room Mansion into Living Victorian Exhibit

To generate both emergency funds and public awareness, the society is throwing open the mansion’s doors for a major inaugural fund-raiser: a hand-selected artisan showcase featuring up to 50 professional craftspeople stationed throughout the three-story, 17-room manor.

Organizers have curated the event to reflect the home’s historic elegance rather than a typical craft bazaar:

• Authentic English Tea: Served directly in the grand dining room.
• Live Entertainment: Performances by church choirs, bell ringers, a classical guitarist, and madrigal singers.
• Themed Displays: Artisans offering vintage clothing and lingerie in one bedroom, and Currier and Ives botanical prints in the study.
• Period Ambiance: Society members will don authentic Victorian dress, complemented by period-appropriate floral arrangements throughout the halls.

Built in 1859 and expanded in 1891, the estate was home to the prominent Day family, local tannery owners. Its most famous resident, Fred Holland Day—a pioneering fine-art photographer whose self-portrait photography depicting Jesus has been exhibited at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts—left the mansion to the town upon his death in 1933.

Despite its historical significance, Soderlund noted that the mansion remains an obscure landmark to many modern residents. “So many people when they walk in the door say, ‘Oh, I never would have known such a place was here,'” she remarked. “Then people fall in love with it. All we have to do is get them in the door.” To build on that momentum, the society plans to rent out the mansion for wine tastings, business meetings, and murder mystery dinners to secure a steady revenue stream.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger