Historical Commission signs Draper House preservation restriction amid shutter dispute

WAYLAND — December 12, 2022 — Wayland Historical Commission signs Draper House preservation restriction over lingering shutter complaints. Members voted 6-0 to execute the Massachusetts Historical Commission-approved restriction on the 1889 Plain Road property, allowing a Jan. 12 closing to proceed, after consultant Gretchen Schuller told the panel the replacement shutters on six front windows looked synthetic and a dormer sash had gone missing. "Nobody would ever approve reinstating with new shutters" under the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, Schuller said; the developer maintained the shutters are custom pine from National Lumber and agreed to a site inspection. In the same meeting the commission unanimously backed the Wayland Free Public Library's CPA application to digitize the full Town Crier microfilm run and the 1935-1941 Wayland Chronicle, but declined to support a $45,800 Council on Aging proposal for River Walk interpretive signs and indoor display-case exhibits, citing CPA eligibility questions around signage.