Canterbury Shaker Village Awarded $150,000 LCHIP Grant For Renovation & Restoration of Trustees' Office

Challenge grant award kicks off fundraising effort to complete major restoration of nationally significant building

Canterbury Shaker Village, a National Historic Landmark, was recently awarded a $150,000 Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) grant for the purpose of renovating and restoring the Shaker Trustees’ Office. The award of these funds, which requires a one-to-one match, officially kicks off a fundraising effort to raise the additional $208,000 to complete the project.

The Trustees’ Office is one of the most important structures of the 30 buildings within the 694 acre historic National Historic Landmark of Canterbury Shaker Village, and is part of the Shaker Village Historic District created by the Town of Canterbury in 1994. The Trustees’ Office is situated along Shaker Road, one of New Hampshire’s first designated scenic and cultural by-ways.

The restoration and renovation project will consolidate the museum’s offices and create program and exhibit spaces on main floor, provide overnight accommodations for workshop participants and lecturers on the second floor, provide collections storage on top floor, and create a rental apartment in the lower level with a centralized area for housekeeping. The total cost of the project is $358,000 and will rely on a combination of private donations and additional grant funding to match the LCHIP funds.

“Interpretively and historically, the Trustees’ office was the center of Shaker business transactions with the surrounding community,” noted Funi Burdick, Executive Director.  “Its story provides critical context to the importance and significance of commerce and industry to Shaker life. Once restored, the public will have access and visibility to the building year round and the interpretation of Shaker life will be complete.”

The Trustee’s Office was designed as the hub of the Canterbury Shakers’ considerable commercial enterprises. It housed only those Shakers who had the authority to conduct business for the community. Here, they executed contracts for their inventions and manufactured goods (such as washing machines, medicines, seed packets and other dry goods), housed guests and clients who arrived from distant places, and met with townspeople and local officials to discuss civic matters. The building was continually used and occupied by the Shakers from 1831 through 1990 and was the home of the last members of the Shaker Lead Ministry in America. The Trustees’ Office has national significance as one of the best examples of Shaker architecture surviving in any of the original 19 Shaker communities from Maine to Kentucky. The fact that the Shakers spent more money on the Trustees’ Office than on any other Shaker building underscores the significance and scale of their economic activities. The restoration will complete the interpretation of Shaker life in Canterbury.

The Trustees’ Office is the only masonry building at Canterbury Shaker Village. Architecturally, the Trustees’ Office is the finest Shaker building of its type and houses some of the finest original Shaker interiors (1831-1920s). The four-story, 22 room brick building is sited on a cut-granite foundation and retains much of its original character and many features not found in other Shaker buildings or in domestic structures of the time period. The original Shaker style double staircase, with one side for men and another for women, is completely intact. The entire building retains original doors, hardware and built-in cupboards. The upper two floors retain some original finishes. The lower level and main floor were selectively modernized by the Shakers. The building also contains numerous technological or building features that were advanced for the 1830s.

Businesses and individuals interested in supporting the restoration of the Trustees’ Office should contact Funi Burdick at (603) 783-9077 x 201. For more information on Canterbury Shaker Village, please visit www.shakers.org.

About Canterbury Shaker Village

Canterbury Shaker Village is dedicated to preserving the 200-year Shaker legacy of innovative design, entrepreneurship and simple living by providing a place for learning, reflection, and renewal of the human spirit. Visitors are encouraged to rethink tradition by learning about the life, ideals, values, and history of the Canterbury Shakers. The National Historic Landmark includes 25 restored original and four reconstructed Shaker buildings, and 694 acres of forests, fields, gardens, nature trails, and mill ponds under permanent conservation easement. The Village cafe offers simple lunch fare and the Museum Store features unique gifts and wares handmade by regional artists. Canterbury Shaker Village, located at 288 Shaker Road in Canterbury, New Hampshire, is open daily from May 27-October 27 and weekends in May and November. For more information, visit www.shakers.org.