In the heart of historic Windsor Village, a cluster of three beautiful buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries make up the Windham and Windsor Housing Trust’s 14-unit preservation project known as Phelps Court. Situated at 8 and 10 Phelps Court (circa 1885) and 54 State Street (circa 1794), the historic structures were purchased by Rockingham Area Community Land Trust in 1996, then acquired by Windham and Windsor Housing Trust in May of 2011 when the two organizations merged. The properties have been through renovations, a fire and a rebuild, and are now undergoing a comprehensive rehabilitation by WWHT.
Paula Silvester has witnessed all of these milestones and more – she has been living in her apartment at 10 Phelps Court since 1970. She describes Windsor as a close-knit community, bonded in large part by the state prison located down the street that has been a part of the town’s history for 208 years. The prison closed in 2017. “We were always known as a prison town. It never bothered me,” says Paula. “Every now and then we had prison breaks – I just always left keys in my vehicle, incase anyone wanted a car to get out of town.”
Paula and her husband were newly married when they first moved into their apartment at Phelps Court. She recalls the early years. “We had those kerosene heaters for heat, and we had no heat in our bedroom. Gosh it was cold! So, eventually my husband convinced the owner to put in a wood stove. So we put in a wood stove and that’s how we heated the house. But there was still no heat in the bedroom – that’s where we stacked our wood – in our bedroom!”
For the next 26 years, Paula lived without heat in her bedroom, until RACLT acquired the property and launched extensive renovations. But then, there was the fire.
“I was just getting ready to move back in. They were doing the sheetrock, and they had one of those big heaters, and it caught the sheetrock on fire and burned the house down. Nobody lost furniture or anything – it was all in storage – we just lost the house we lived in. It took two years to rebuild. It was so exciting the day we finally got to move back in!”
Bob Crego, former Director of Property and Asset Management for WWHT, also served as the Executive Director of RACLT during the 1996 development project. He explains the significance of the current rehabilitation of Phelps Court.
“A critical part of housing development is redevelopment – making sure our homes stay high quality. The state is currently prioritizing the creation of new units to address Vermont’s housing crisis so we were extremely fortunate to fit this project in when we did. Phelps Court is part of a larger preservation project that includes a total of seven properties in Brattleboro and Windsor.”
The goals of the Phelps Court Preservation Project are: to preserve the rural housing resource through substantial upgrades to the three historic properties; to add energy efficient building and mechanical systems; and to ensure future sustainability through a financial restructuring. All of the buildings will be syndicated into a new limited partnership.
As is the case with all renovation projects undertaken by WWHT, residents are relocated during construction. This can be challenging even without a housing shortage, especially for elderly residents. This is where the SASH program can become a critical resource.
SASH (Support and Services at Home) is a wellness program for Medicare recipients living independently within WWHT properties.
“A resident at Phelps Court was experiencing some stress around the move,” says SASH Coordinator Molly Bennett. “So we engaged her in the SASH program. On the day of the move, we went to help her and discovered she was experiencing a health emergency and had fallen. We immediately got her the medical help she needed, and safely moved her belongings to her new space. We discovered this health situation had been building for years. We were fortunate to have gotten her into the SASH program when we did.”
Meanwhile, 26 years after Paula Silvester’s first renovation relocation, she has signed up for Meals on Wheels in her temporary residence. “Now that I’ve been here for 3 months, I’m eating healthy. I figured if I sign up, I’ll keep eating healthy when I move back in.”
After 52 years in her apartment, Paula has earned the title of “Queen Bee” of Phelps Court. She loves her home as well as the community she is part of.
“It’s in a good place. It’s by the library, it’s by the Common where they have music in the summertime – we’re centrally located, you can walk around the square if you want to, or there are smaller routes that you can take. We’ve got a good group of people. We’ve got all good tenants and good neighbors and everybody’s friendly. We all like to congregate on my porch, and we sit outside and chitchat and share stories. It’s such a nice community. I’m very proud of it.”
Paula has moved back into her freshly updated apartment as of November.
