Annual Check-up for our Easement Properties

Spaulding House, Pawtucket

Each spring, Preserve RI staff travel across the state to conduct monitoring visits to our easement properties. The purpose of our visits is to ensure that these historically significant buildings are being well-maintained, to document conditions for confirming compliance with easement standards, and to discuss any issues, concerns, or projects with the property owners. After each visit, we provide owners with a report that includes recommendations to help prioritize future maintenance work and, if needed, connect them with contractors experienced in historic preservation.

Our 2025 monitoring visits have been especially unique in that two of our easement properties, the Spaulding House in Pawtucket and the Free Library in the Wickford Historic District, changed ownership in the past year. We had the privilege of meeting the new owners to explaining their role as good stewards of these properties and explain how we can support them. We are continually inspired by the dedication of these stewards in maintaining Rhode Island’s historic places.

A preservation easement is one of the strongest tools available for protecting a historic property’s architectural integrity and historic setting in perpetuity. An easement donation is typically an arrangement in which an individual or organization wants to transfer ownership of a property with the assurance that its historic features will be protected for any future ownership. It is a legal document that is recorded with the deed as part of a sale, safeguarding a historic property’s preservation and conservation values.

To learn more about our easement program, click the button below!

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