Community Leaders Tour Mary Baker Eddy House

Community leaders celebrated the completion of the exterior restoration of the Mary Baker Eddy historic house at 12 Broad St. in Lynn. pictured at the event are (from left) Dan Cahill, Lynn city councilor-at-large; Steve Howard, Director-curator of Longyear Museum; Thomas McGee, state senator; Gary Wolf, preservation architect of Gary Wolf Architects; Gardy Jean-Francois, aide to Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy; Sandra Hous¬ton, interim executive director of Longyear Museum and Richard Sampson, trustee of Longyear museum.

State Sen. Thomas McGee, Councilor-at-Large Dan Cahill, and Gardy Jean-Francois, aide to Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy joined community leaders on a tour Saturday to celebrate the completion of the exterior restoration of the Mary Baker Eddy Historic House at 12 Broad St. in Lynn.

Mary Baker Eddy is the founder of the Christian Science religion. It was while living in the house that Mary Baker Eddy, discoverer and founder of Christian Science, completed her book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.”

McGee praised the exterior work done on the famous home.

“It was really exciting to see a big piece of Lynn’s history being brought back to a life in way that was 140 years ago with the investment on the exterior and the plans to completely renovate the inside to what it was like when Mary Baker Eddy lived here,” said Sen. Thomas McGee.

“It’s very exciting not only for the people who invested it, but just as importantly for our community to recognize that we have a rich history in Lynn and to preserve that history is so important,” added McGee.

Jean-Francois said he enjoyed the tour.

“It was a great tour and we learned so much about Mary Baker Eddy,” said Jean-Francois. “Everything about Christian Science started in this building. When this project is all done, it will be great for our city, and I’m hoping the citizens of Lynn will take advantage of it and visit and learn a part of our city’s history.”

The exterior restoration project was funded by a $395,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund and generous support from Longyear Museum donors. Extensive research by preservation experts was done on the interior and exterior of the house prior to restoration.

Now completed, the exterior of the house portrays a more accurate picture of the home Mary Baker Eddy would have known when she lived here from 1875 until 1882. Longyear Museum, an independent, historical museum in Chestnut Hill, owns and maintains this house. Longyear hopes to begin the restoration of the interior within the year.

(Information from the press release announcing the event was taken from the press release and used in the compilation of this story).

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