NEWBURY – The iconic “Pink House” in Massachusetts was spared from a planned demolition this week, Gov. Maura Healey announced Wednesday.
Healey intervened after community members rallied to save the monument on the Plum Island Turnpike, saying a donor had pledged up to $1 million to preserve the century-old home.
“The Pink House is a beloved local landmark that makes a valuable contribution to the North Shore economy by attracting tourists and artists from across the country,” Healey said. “We look forward to further discussions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the best path forward for The Pink House, the community and the environment.”
Pink House would be demolished
No one has lived in the three-bedroom Pink House for decades. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service purchased the Pink House and the nine acres of marsh on which it sits in 2011 for $375,000. The agency decided the two-story home had to be removed after a 2014 investigation found it contained more than 3,000 square feet of asbestos that could pose a threat to the surrounding area.
No one bids for the Pink House at auction this summer, but there were many complications to deter potential buyers. Anyone who bought the house would have to move it to a new location. Fish & Wildlife says it faces legal restrictions when it comes to selling or donating land it owns, and by law can only accept a “land exchange of equal value” for the property.
Activists protested the potential demolition this summer, with the organization Support The Pink House calling the building “an asset of the United States.”
US Fish & Wildlife responds
A spokesperson for U.S. Fish & Wildlife said it “will have conversations with the governor and state in the coming days and will share details as we learn more.” But the agency also said that “the decision we have made to remove the structure is in the best interests of our conservation mission.”
“While we appreciate the recent generous monetary offer to maintain the Pink House, we do not believe this will impact current actions,” the agency said.
The legend behind the Pink House
The house, built in 1925, became famous as a so-called ‘despite house’. An urban legend about the house says that a woman divorcing her husband demanded an exact replica of their Newburyport home, but did not say where it should be built. So her husband built the house on a marsh with saltwater pipes.
‘The Pink House is as much an identifier of our state as the Motive #1the Gloucester Fisherman and the Citgo sign,” Rochelle Joseph, president of Support The Pink House, said in a statement. “We have always worked with the dual goal of seeing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquire new land to preserve or while preserving this Commonwealth cultural asset in its iconic location on behalf of the many North Shore businesses, visitors, artists and constituents.
