If at First You Don’t Succeed

by Mark Amarantes

First published in August/September, 2004, Volume 1, Issue 4, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.

Well it looks as if Mr. Robert Dube, the current owner of Maplecroft, will try, try again. After withdrawing a similar petition early last year that sought a zoning variance for his famed property, Mr. Dube submitted yet another petition to the Fall River Zoning Board requesting permission to divide the French Street property into two separate lots—leaving the aging Maplecroft home on one lot and a new single family home to be constructed where the Carriage House now sits, on the other. 

The same zoning variance was submitted before the board early last year but was withdrawn by Mr. Dube before it came up for a vote, after meeting stiff opposition. Like last year, many of the Maplecroft property abutters and neighbors showed up in force to voice their opposition to the subdivision plan. While most opposed were concerned with how the subdivision might affect their quaint neighborhood of stately Victorian mansions, there were some in attendance who felt that the property is vitally historic to Fall River and should be left as is. The zoning board apparently felt the same and quickly denied the variance. It looks as if the Maplecroft property will remain intact for now! 

What is ironic is that after Miss Emma and Miss Lizzie Borden bought the property, Lizzie expanded their French Street holdings by purchasing the Kenney lot at #5 French Street and had the small home removed. In 1911 a garage was built for her chauffeur driven touring car which had the only private gas pump in the city! So while the subdivision plan Mr. Dube submitted to the city’s zoning board may have sounded sacrilegious to many of his neighbors, the property that is now known as Maplecroft was originally divided similarly to the plan Mr. Dube was requesting.

Another thing that is ironic is that the whole French Street property, including house and carriage house, is up for sale. While the price may be a little too steep for some ($725,000), the purchase of the property by a concerned citizen or group thereof would surely prevent the division of this Fall River landmark known as the second most famous house in the city, after the scene of the murders at 92 Second Street. 

While this writer cannot currently afford to buy the Maplecroft property and save it from possible division, I do feel that there is more that the city of Fall River and we can do to keep this Fall River jewel intact. The house is zoned as a Bed and Breakfast and it might have been Mr. Dube’s intention to eventually operate it as such, but converting a house as grand as Maplecroft into a B & B that meets today’s fire, safety, and building codes takes a lot of money. Is the city of Fall River stepping up to the plate and helping by offering a low interest loan to any potential new buyer as Dube’s credit union had done when he first purchased the property in 1980? Not that I know of. And I don’t know why they wouldn’t. Maplecroft finally operating as a true B & B could only do the city good by bringing in more tourist dollars. 

Is it because the city is no longer in the business of handing out low interest loans to residents who have ideas that may add revenue to the local economy? Perhaps they have been burned on this matter before— ten years ago the city funded a grand carousel that now sits empty 80% of the time, eagerly awaiting any rider with a dollar in his hand. The city has yet to make a profit on this grand scheme after years of operation. Mr. Dube not only has yet to turn the property into a full-fledged Bed & Breakfast, but he seems uninterested and annoyed by those who wish to tour the house or have a peek at the life of Lizbeth of Maplecroft. He has even resorted to putting a blue-painted board over the top step of the house, masking the carved name of the house from any potential tourist who wishes to drive by and photograph the etching outside.

While the city of Fall River may not feel able to financially assist a potential buyer, how could they afford not to, and potentially lose such an historic piece of property that is Maplecroft.