That November Full Moon ~ always bringing in the highest tides! Incredible how some areas seem to fill with all that surge... and others do not.​ Below is the launch at the Parker River Wildlife Refuge, just inside the gate. It's usually dry all the way to those two poles you see in the center. But yesterday, the water came right up to the road. 

Many people are questioning recent statements by Fish and Widlife, who say this property floods as if it happens all the time or is a reason not to save the house and restore it. The  The Pink House is in the AE FEMA Flood Zone, as are most of the homes around here and much of the Refuge. That same flood zone comes right up to the edge of the Refuge Visitor Center on the corner of Rolfe's Lane. 

These photos were shot on the same day and time and the one of The Pink House below, clearly showing it's property as dry. 

The below shows The Pink House's comparatively higher ground all around the parcel during a regular high tide. By the way, what does it matter to FWS - or anyone - if there would soon be a new owner of house? We don't hear any talk about the homes across the way. 

Please continue to let the Parker River Wildlife Refuge know how you feel about this.   Please write and call Congressman Moulton, Senators Markey and Warren to let them know how you feel about their absence of representation of your views at this critical time and very public concern. 

No civilian has been in The Pink House as often as the man on the left in the red shirt, Bill Barrett, HIC/CSL licensed owner of Plum Island Construction and Plum island Property Management. ​Bill did the first walk through of the house in early February 2016 on the community's behalf,  to see how stable the house was before we began this work to save it, and reported she had good bones - no cracks in the foundation, all windows and walls straight, no leaks from the roof, confirmation it's on the PIOD (Newburyport water). Bill subsequently checked on the house many times a year, especially before and after significant storms. There was a 1.5 year break before and during early Covid when there was no manager, and the house suffered from negligence. But the house is still completely salvageable. 

This photo is from what was to be the final walk through, on August 16, 2022: the month FWS set for closing. 

​Below is Bill's most recent letter of conditions of The Pink House, 60 Plum Island Turnpike, Newbury MA. 

November 18, 2023
 
Evaluations, Observations and Suggestions for the property known as “The Pink House”.
 
My name is William Barrett, Owner of Plum Island Property Management. I am a retired home builder, remodeler and general contractor. Currently I am the owner of Plum Island Property Management. I help my customers evaluate property, obtain building permits for remodeling and new construction projects and manage their properties for them. I have been in the building and remodeling business for 49 years. 
 
I have visited “The Pink House”, (TPH), on many occasions dating back to early 2016. I have evaluated and given opinions on the conditions of the building and the property in whole. 
 
Below is a synopsis of my thoughts: 
The last time I was on the property and in the house was in August of 2022.
 
My opinions, evaluations and observations of the building have not changed dramatically in those years. 

• The building is on solid footing and foundation and is in great condition structurally. There is water that seeps into the basement through the floor/wall joint, though only a few inches. This could be easily resolved with a sump pump installation. If for some reason this cannot be resolved with the pump, a second flooring system can be installed above the level of the water table. Not an insurmountable problem.
• I have seen Fish and Wildlife report that indicates there is asbestos in and on the building. It is minor in nature and can easily be remediated. This is common in most houses built before 1978. I myself have dealt with this situation on more occasions than I can count. The material containing asbestos can be removed or encapsulated at reasonable cost and if handled properly is no danger to the future inhabitants of the home. There is no danger in simply walking through the building or doing minor repairs to keep the integrity of the building envelope. If this were to include working on areas listed in the asbestos report a professional should get involved. Removal of the asbestos by professional remediation team would be the first step of any remodeling project that is proposed.  This would also be required should the building be demolished.
• Mold was observed on the first floor and in the basement but was not significant. This is to be expected on a house that has been closed up for many years. Mold remediation can be easily achieved at minimal cost. If I were to be remodeling this house I would most likely be taking the walls down to the studs. This will eliminate any mold issues but would also allow for easy updating of the electrical and plumbing systems. 
• The roof is old and needs to be replaced but as of my last visit on site the roof had a leak which was repaired by Fish and Wildlife personnel. 
• The front porch needs to be leveled and secured. Minor repair.
• There is a good amount of rot in the trim boards and windows. With permission from Fish and Wildlife, I personally sealed up the areas I could reach from the ground. In my opinion someone who is renovating this house would be installing all new doors and windows as well as replacing the siding and trim boards. 

 
It has been 7 years since I first looked at this property. I have volunteered my time to paint some areas and foam the openings and gaps due to rotting wood. The Fish and Wildlife personnel have done some minor repairs to the window openings and the 1 roof leak we detected. At our suggestion they have also cleared out the brush and shrubbery that had grown up around the building. 
 
I would have to say that a lot more could have been done to keep the building in better condition. However, with that said the building is worth saving given its current condition and the fact that it is a historic and iconic symbol for the Plum Island area. It is a viable structure that can easily be restored to its past glory. 
 
Bill Barrett

William Barrett,

We've wanted Fish and Wildlife to clearly spell out their specific criteria for land swap to save The Pink House out to the public for a long time. Here, in one place, is criteria defined and explained. 

FWS is looking for a willing landowner who will directly exchange their lands for the Pink House OR sell their lands to STPHs restoration partner, who would then exchange the land for the Pink House (to restore it).

YOU DO NOT NEED TO OWN THE PINK HOUSE TO EXCHANGE YOUR LAND. 
If you have land anywhere in the country that fits the below criteria, you do NOT need to own The Pink House in exchange! Our  Restoration Partner is available to buy your land to make you whole, then exchange it for The Pink House/acre. He intends to restore it on his own dime according to our perpetual preservation restriction. WIN WIN!!

HOW TO ASSESS VALUE:
Because they can’t sell the house/acre, they want to do a land trade:  That means your land should be of roughly equal-value (i.e., $400,000+), and there can be a gap in which some cash can be added to make up the difference. They’d like it to be 10% or less but if the land is truly beneficial to their mission, whether the value is monetary, ecological, or usefulness, we have seen them willing to consider a bit higher cash gap. 
 
LOCATION: 
Preferred is contiguous to or within a mile or two of a current Refuge anywhere in the US, as the crow flies. But it can also be anywhere they want to start a new Refuge (which they would know). So anywhere you have land to roughly fit their specifications should be sent in. 

CRITERIA:
​1. Salt marsh and/or adjacent upland habitats, access to water or a road, with equal or greater ecological value to FWS. Most marsh land is worth about $1000-1200 an acre, so meeting close to $400K is a lot of acreage.
2. Parcels of less acreage could be combined to get closer to the monetary value works. Parcels of higher monetary value due to being part or wholly upland, or having features such as water or road access works. 
3. Upland in the price range that is near a Refuge or a location that may have value for a use like storing equipment near a light house they own, or rescue boats they can get to from a road to use in flood zones. 

WHAT OF ACREAGE WITH A STRUCTURE?
FWS doesn't prefer it that but if the land is right, that can be demolished - by them or others. If can demolish The Pink House for tens of thousands of dollars, they should certainly consider prime land with a structure. It would just be better if it wasn't there. 
​
HOW TO SUBMIT
Send any options to both FWS at parkerriver@fws.gov and us at info@supportthepinkhouse.com.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. PLS talk to your neighbors, your town administrator and planner,  your family adn friends near and far. You never know!

We've wanted FWS to put their specific criteria for land swap to save The Pink House out to the public for a long time.  They said all options had been exhausted in their November 1 Press Release, website and reports and we said that's just not true. Because of the overwhelming response from the public (KEEP IT UP!) each week they list more and more specifics. ​ Here was their last summary in case it makes the above easier: 

A direct exchange with a willing landowner is the most likely path, but only if it meets requirements under federal law and is compatible with the refuge’s mission. For this to occur, the following conditions must be satisfied: (1) a landowner within 1-mile of refuge boundaries (2) the exchange lands must be of approximately equal monetary value to the 1-acre Pink House parcel ($400,000-$500,000), and (3) the exchange parcel must be of greater ecological value than the upland and marsh habitat on which the Pink House sits.  

Support The Pink House board members were on the Local Pulse radio show with Joe DiBiase the other morning, answering his questions about the truth of the matter.   Check out Episode 473, staring at 44:00 minutes in to hear some of the history of The Pink House from the woman who researched it all, Sandy Tilton, along with Kelly Page who talks about why Support The Pink House was created. Rochelle Joseph explains what everyone needs to know about what STPH has been working on behind the scenes for the last several years with FWS deals that fell through. And reveals how FWS said trading The Pink House/acre would be far more beneficial for their mission. 

Our Support The Pink House Tree - called​ Preserving The Past, For Our Future -- is on display now at Sea Festival of Trees in Salisbury! And, it won an award for the "Best Tree for a Good Cause" at tonight's Gala!!

So many volunteers & donors pulled all this together to show support for our community & our neighbors: The Salisbury Beach Partnership, Inc. & Historic Carousel!! Ornaments, artwork, tee shirts, bows, lights, ribbon and the tree were donated, while other volunteers showed up to decorate.  It takes a village!!

Make sure to enjoy the beautifully painted Pink House on Santa's mailbox - and write your letter to him asking for him to save The Pink House and why! 

Such a huge honor, and the timing could not be more perfect. Please come down to see it and enjoy all the other wonderful trees and causes participating! 

By Sandy Tilton, Board Member of Support The Pink House, photographer, author

So many of you are writing to Congressman Moulton and the FWS/Parker River Wildlife Refuge to tell them why you want to stop the demolition of The Pink House. And when you write, it's easy to cc: Senators Markey and Warren as well as your Rep Kassner or Rep Shande (if from their district). 

While your letter should be all your own, in addition to writing what it means to you, you will increase your letter's power if you add compelling, value based reasons that fit your truth like: 

• My cause earned a lot of money at our fundraiser through Pink House art.
• I supplement my living through PH art.  
• The Pink House brings more tourists and visitors out to our area, especially in the off season. This is critical to keeping our businesses supported as they then eat, shop, rent, or come back to stay in hotels or B&Bs in the area- not just in Newbury/Newburyport, but in Amesbury, Salisbury, Rowley and Ipswich as well.
• My business is boosted by the tourism THP generates, especially during the off season.

• We know every option has not been exhausted! If F&W is, in good faith, open to land trade, where is their specifications for desirable land posted for the public?
• Please extend the demolition plans.
• The comment period should go longer than 30 days, given that FWS is open for solutions, and the holidays are imminent through New Years. Keep it open until the end of January. 
• The house needs to be properly fortified The Pink House for the winter and care much better for it on a regular basis, or allow others to do so until a solution is found. 
• Congressman Moulton, why have you not made a statement of support for this which is so important to those who voted for you? 
• It is a cultural landmark, our history and heritage and we value that more than your plans. 
• We can use Greenbelts' property just to the East to park more cars than you plan and have the same view rather than lose the Pink House.
• There are marsh grasses to everywhere in the Refuge and our area. These are hardly pristine being on a main road and only 9 acres, with haying activity all around it.
• Suggest solid solutions.
• Expand on its value to the state, the area, your community, New England. 

WANT TO DO MORE? 
Please "volunteer" by spreading the word on your social media from our website or social media, and by leaving any more ideas like the ones on this list in the comments for others to see and spark their own ideas. Thank you!
​

For much of the last 8 years, we at Support The Pink House (STPH) had been steered to keep quiet the details of our plan for the preservation and restoration of Plum Island's beloved and iconic Pink House and the agreement made with US Fish and Wildlife for land exchange. US Fish and Wildlife (FWS) and various stakeholders did not want to inform the public of our agreement. While not comfortable with that, we complied for the good of the project. We kept our focus on getting it done. 

STPH has come so close to fulfilling our mission to save and restore the iconic Pink House under our perpetual Preservation Restriction on behalf of the tens of thousands of MA constituents who love the house and want to see it saved. This made Fish & Wildlife's sudden decision to not fulfill their part of the agreement in November 2023 and announcing a new plan for demolition of The Pink House more devastating than we could have ever imagined. 

That being said, we can now share what the public deserved to know.  Support The Pink House Inc. HAD completed all the steps necessary to make the house ready for trade by August 2022, and are still waiting for FWS’s part to complete the process. 
 
Here is a list of STPH’s steps, funded by donors, including The Pink House Board: 
 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS in 2021:

• Yellow Book Appraisal - a costly and intensive appraisal used by Fish & Wildlife to determine value of a property
• Survey and Wetland Mapping
• Collaboration with Fish & Wildlife re: public relations plans
• Assisted FWS with boundary line agreements with abutter Bob Colby, needed on all sides of FWS/PH area parcels
• Created an ANR (Division of Land) Agreement 
• Met with Newbury Zoning Board of Appeals 3 times. Obtained a unanimous vote to approve variance separating The Pink House from the surrounding marshland that currently exists with the pink house property.  
• Submitted Form B application to Mass Historical Commission (MHC). Explored TPH’s historic and cultural significance on the state level.
• Submitted our Preservation Restriction to the Newbury Historical Commission and Newbury’s Town Counsel for review.

 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS in 2022:

• Newbury Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the ANR, thus creating TPH’s own 1.069 acre lot. 
• Meeting with FWS Realty, STPH Board and our attorney to discuss final procedures. FWS Realty presents a swap date for July/August 2022. 
• Pink House walk through with FW Refuge Manager Matt Hillman, PH Restoration Partner, his architect, and engineer.
• PH Restoration Partner creates exterior architectural elevation plans to submit with the Preservation Restriction, as requested by Newbury Town Counsel. 
• Restoration Partner completed interior architectural plans
• Newbury Historical Commission voted unanimously to hold and enforce The Pink House Preservation Restriction
• Preservation Restriction sent to Michael Steinitz at Mass Historical Commission at his request to expedite review to meet the deadline FWS set to trade.
• Mass Historical Commission (MHC) declares TPH as “included in the Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth and is significant for its architecture, associations and/or archaeology, and qualified for the protections of a perpetual preservation restriction.”
• Obtained DEP#, passed NEESP/MESA review. 
• Met twice with Conservation Commission + site visit. Unanimous vote for The Pink House restoration plan. 
• Mass Historical Commission completed review and confirmed the Perpetual Preservation Restriction is approved but for seeing the FWS proposed deed. Once received, MHC committed to a 3 day turn around. We are still waiting for FWS to share the requested proposed deed. 
• Both The Newbury Select Board and Historical Commission met, voted to accept the Preservation Restriction, and stand ready to expedite. 

 
Concurrently, Fish & Wildlife Division of Realty identified desirable land in their system, got it approved for trade, and informed STPH on July 6, 2022 that the swap land was ready. But by August 2022, the month we were to close, that land fell through.  That was over one year ago. 
 
STPH pursued meetings with FWS, who, in November 2022, asked for time to procure new land. To date, this has proved unsuccessful, and FWS has since paused their search as of March 2023.

THERE IS STILL HOPE! PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR HOW YOU CAN HELP SAVE THE PINK HOUSE & PRESERVE IT FOR POSTERITY!