AMHERST — Despite the town’s Historical Commission determining a North Amherst farmhouse and barn have some historical and architectural importance, its members agreed not to impose a year-long delay to prevent its demolition.

The board, in a 4-0 vote Thursday, gave the go-ahead for Goat Meadow, LLC, a subsidiary of W.D. Cowls, Inc., to remove the structures at 150 Sunderland Road, including the home built around 1850 and the dairy barn constructed in the early part of the 20th century.

But the commission is asking the property owner to preserve interesting materials from the home and possibly incorporate them into future projects.

When W.D. Cowls purchased the property in March, the plan was to demolish the structures and add the property to an additional 15 acres of meadowland on the west side of Sunderland Road. Eventually, some of this property could be developed as part of the mixed-use Mill District that features apartments, single-family homes, restaurants and shops.

Commission Chairwoman Jane Wald said the farmhouse is an example of a 19th century worker’s home, but there are similar properties in Amherst and its removal wouldn’t be detrimental to the historic assets that exist in town.

Still, commissioner Jan Marquardt said she worries that the demolition will mean chipping away at history, in particular the properties of those residents who were not well-to-do.

Marquardt said there is beautiful material inside the home, including flush pine board floors and banisters, that illustrates the vernacular architecture for a working-class family in the 1800s in Amherst.

Senior planner Jonathan Tucker said the home has a “very, very plain structure,” and that there are few flourishes on the door and window moldings.

At an earlier meeting, commissioners expressed concern that homeowners could allow historic properties to deteriorate and whether there is a way to compel them to better maintain the structures.

David Berson, a Springfield attorney with Bacon Wilson, PC, representing Goats Meadow, LLC, said his clients only acquired the property in March, long after it had fallen into disrepair.

“They are not the party that let the property fall into the state it is in,” Berson said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com

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