New Boston Historical Society
New Boston, New Hampshire
Peg (Normandin) Chaffee drew this picture of her childhood home.
Behind the Door: 178 Old Coach Road
by Mary Atai (May 2025)
The first real estate transaction on record occurred in 1874 when the homestead house and all pertinent land and buildings were sold by Mary Buckley to Mr. William Buxton. When the Parkers of Goffstown bought it three years later, it consisted of 150 acres.
By 1917, the home was bought by Arthur and Lena Corthell. Arthur was the Chief Engineer for the Boston and Maine Railroad. He traveled a great deal. It was a working farm then and included the current beautiful barn and carriage house, which are original. The Corthells carried out major renovations. A small sleeping porch was added on the side of the house. A ship's carpenter from Marblehead spent the winter of 1918 there and converted the empty floor above the kitchen in to two bedrooms and a bath. He replaced the old kitchen ladder used to ascend to the second floor with a staircase, and rebuilt the house's simple front staircase into the present Captain's staircase.
The Corthells' house in the 1920s
At that time, the property was sold to E.A. (Alfred) Beals. He was a real estate agent and also bought and sold properties for himself. He sold off about half the acreage right away, bringing the total down to 60 remaining acres
Three years later, Mr Beals went to work for Roger Babson and sold this property to him. Famous for predicting the 1929 stock market crash, Roger Babson was thought of as a genius and an eccentric. He became quite wealthy and famous. He founded Babson College in Massachusetts. He also ran for president, coming in third. But he became known worldwide for his profound belief that gravity could be overcome. He bought what is now the Molly's Tavern and Restaurant and ran the Gravity Research Foundation there, hosting the world's leading scientists.
This home on Old Coach Road was most likely used to house visiting gravity researchers when the annual meetings were held. Roger Babson bought as many empty properties as possible in New Boston and Beals took care of all the real estate transactions for him. Babson sold this particular property after just a few years.
The old carriage house and barn can be seen in this undated aerial photo.
During their time in the house, the main change was a complete kitchen remodel. This was completed by Bobby and Gerry Kennedy, the preeminent construction team in town, and it remains unchanged today.
Louise Norwood, a real estate agent, who now works with the Norwood Group in Bedford, bought the house as a project and took on the challenge of modernizing the inside while leaving the external charm. She replaced plaster with drywall and created an extra bedroom upstairs by dividing a large room into two. The electrical and plumbing systems were redone. The insulation was upgraded and storm windows were added. The most visible improvement was the conversion of the sleeping porch into a beautiful four-season room. The house was then sold.
By 1994, Richard Floreani and his wife, Sheena, bought the home, loving it from first sight. Sheena, who grew up in the country in Lancashire, England, was a talented decorator and excellent gardener. The Floreanis' goal was to improve one thing each year on the home's exterior. They put up the white picket fence, added the pond, the vegetable garden, and all the flower berms. Sheena nicknamed the property "Fox Hill Farm" because she liked foxes. She also decorated the beautiful interior in a warm, classic, and cozy style before her untimely death in 2012.
The barn is almost 200 years old.
Continuing Sheena's English gardening legacy, Richard and his special companion, Frances Kessler, President of the New Boston Garden Club, provide joy with the beautiful gardens we view on the road to and from the Transfer Station every season.
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