The two-story Dutch Colonial at 12 Brainard Street, beside the tennis courts on the southwest edge of Stony Brook Reservation, has stood empty for about a decade. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is now looking for someone to restore it under a long-term lease. Proposals are due before 3 p.m. on Monday, December 28, 2026. The state's terms guarantee Hyde Park only two public visits a year. Anything more depends on what the winning applicant decides to offer.
That makes the request for proposals worth a close read if you use the reservation, even if you have no plans to apply.
A house built for the man who ran the park
The house went up in 1898 as the home of the park superintendent. Later it became DCR office space. It is one of the oldest remaining buildings put up by the Metropolitan Parks Commission, the agency that became DCR. Inside, the built-in cabinets, window seats, trim, floors and an oil-fired furnace have survived. When crews went through the house in recent years, they found leftovers from the office years, including desks, filing cabinets and internet equipment, mostly beyond repair.
State officials describe the building as being in "fairly good condition." Kevin Allen, DCR's senior preservation planner, told Boston.com that its soundness makes it a rare candidate for the program. He hopes that will draw a wider range of applicants.
The terms on the table
DCR's Historic Curatorship Program leases empty historic buildings to people who agree to restore and maintain them. Applicants compete in an open process. Here is what the Brainard Street offer looks like:
| Term | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Ownership | None. The curator holds a lease |
| Lease length | 25 years |
| Fair market rent set by DCR | $3,526 a month, or $42,312 a year |
| Estimated baseline repairs | $862,736 in DCR's certified estimate, dated December 13, 2022 |
| Project size in that estimate | 4,013 square feet, with $82,821 for sitework |
| Other costs carried by the curator | All repairs and upkeep, plus taxes, fees, insurance and utilities |
| Minimum standard | Every improvement needed for a Certificate of Occupancy, keeping significant historic features |
| Proposal deadline | Before 3 p.m., Monday, December 28, 2026 |
The estimate covers selective demolition, carpentry, roofing, finishes, plumbing, HVAC, electrical and earthwork. DCR expects the plumbing and electrical systems to be replaced and accessibility to be improved. The full scope and schedule will depend on how the curator plans to use the building.
Rent paid in wiring and plaster
The curator pays no cash rent. The fair market rent is a baseline, and the curator covers it with the cost of the renovation and their own work. At $42,312 a year for 25 years, the rent on paper totals $1,057,800. DCR's baseline repair estimate is $862,736. The two figures are close enough to show what the deal amounts to. A curator spends money up front on the house, then spends decades on upkeep, in exchange for living or working there.
Two details change how that estimate reads in 2026. It is dated December 2022 and assumed construction would start in fall 2023. Anyone pricing a bid this fall is working three years later than that assumption. The estimate also covers only the baseline. Whatever the curator adds for their own use comes on top of it.
Allen also pointed out that the hard part often comes after the restoration. "Sometimes the harder part is the ongoing maintenance," he said. "That's kind of why we get in the position we're in with some of these in the first place."
Two days a year is the floor
This is the part that matters most to people who don't plan to apply. The RFP requires every proposal to open the property to the public at least twice a year. DCR keeps the right to decide whether a proposed use counts as a public benefit. Any use must also fit DCR's mission, public enjoyment of the park and the building's historic importance.
Twice-yearly access is the only public-use requirement written into the RFP. DCR's stated goal for the house goes further:
"invites the public to use the property from time to time, has some programming that engages with the neighborhood, with the reservation, and really restores the vibrancy and life that this building has the potential to provide."
That goal does count in the scoring. DCR judges proposals on four things:
- The applicant's experience
- The quality of the reuse plan
- Proof of enough money to do the work
- Public benefit beyond the twice-yearly access requirement
A proposal that brings the neighborhood in more often should score better on the fourth point. Nothing in the program requires it, though. Whether 12 Brainard Street ends up as a private home with two open days a year or as a place Hyde Park visits regularly depends on what applicants put in their proposals.
What the uses could be
DCR's 2022 conditions report studied two kinds of reuse. One was a home. The other was offices, either for a single tenant or for several small businesses. Ethan Parsons, who manages the curatorship program, told Boston.com he can picture the house going back to residential use or hosting a small business or nonprofit. He added that the program is open to every possibility.
Other DCR curatorships around the state show the range:
- Willowdale Estate at Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield is now a wedding venue.
- Charles River Speedway in Brighton is now a marketplace.
- Mountainside in Princeton occupies the old Wachusett superintendent's house, which sat empty for 30 years. Its curators put hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money into the building and opened an eatery and event space there.
Mountainside is the closest match. It was also built as a superintendent's house, inside a state reservation, and it now serves the public. The Brainard Street house is a smaller residential building on a quiet side street. Its smaller repair needs could make a modest use more realistic here than at the larger estate projects.
The corner it sits on
The location explains why the choice of use matters. The house sits on the reservation's southwest edge, right next to the tennis courts. The RFP puts Hyde Park commuter rail station 0.7 miles away. The Hyde Park Community Center is also nearby. The RFP's site map shows Brainard Street meeting Enneking Parkway. DCR's plan for the reservation places Turtle Pond and its surrounding woods and wetland on the east side of the parkway.
From the Enneking Parkway lot, a 2025 trail guide lays out two loops on the north side. Using Stony Brook Path and East Boundary Path, they run 1.8 miles and 2.7 miles. To the south, a 2.1-mile paved route follows the Rooney Rock, Chamberlain, Gavin and Overbrook paths. It includes some stretches on the road and some road crossings.
Bajko Memorial Rink is at 75 Turtle Pond Parkway. Its phone number is (617) 364-9188. As of early October 2026, DCR's skating page still shows only the 2025–26 season. Last season, public skating ran from November 28, 2025, to April 12, 2026, so check the page for this winter's dates. DCR also recommends calling the rink to confirm hours and rental availability.
Courts, trailheads, a pond and a rink all sit within a short walk of the house. Whoever wins the lease will be working right where people already gather in the reservation.
The other DCR building in line nearby
Brainard Street is not the only DCR building near Hyde Park that could get a curator. DCR's resource management plan for the Brook Farm Historic Site in West Roxbury was adopted in June 2026. It lists Brook Farm's Print Shop as eligible for the curatorship program and recommends getting it ready for one. DCR presented its preferred design concept for Brook Farm at a public meeting on June 25, 2026. The plan identifies the Print Shop as an opportunity but does not award a lease.
Brainard Street is the one taking proposals now, with a deadline of December 28. Boston.com's October 2 story includes archive photos of the outside and the kitchen. The full RFP, the cost estimate and the conditions report are on mass.gov.
If you're a Hyde Park homeowner watching this house the way we are, you may be wondering what a well-kept older home near the reservation is worth now. Kristen Gets It Sold can put that number together for you. Get your free home valuation and see where your house stands this fall.
