Further down Manchester Road to the west, Pond actually has houses that are much older than its neighbor Grover.
Updated: Thanks to Lynn Josse, I have learned more about the long, dilapidated building pictured above and below; it was the Pond Hotel, and you can read about its plight here. Unfortunately, the Pond Hotel has been torn down, as of July 22, 2013.
In particular, this double house right at the corner is a great example. It’s a cool house, in bad shape, and is currently sitting vacant. What is the story behind this house?
There also is a gas station from what looks like the 1920’s, which is now some sort of business.
The old house on the corner was a French restaurant a few years ago, but now it sits empty. It’s an interesting house, but like the rest of Pond, is made of wood and lack of maintenance is taking its toll.
The general store, now closed, is actually built in front of an older house, perhaps as an expansion of the original, smaller house.
The (1875) Pond Inn was the name of the French restaurant. In its original (1990s, maybe before) iteration, it was owned and run by a man who was quite "original" in his attitude toward customers… – Anthony "Tony" Haenni. He passed away some 10+ years ago.It was revived around 2002 – here is a link to a RFT review: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2002-01-23/restaurants/big-fish/.I had not realized it was long-closed.
The top building is the Pond Hotel, built in stages in the 1840s and 1870s. The historic buildings on this stretch of Manchester could really benefit from historic designation!
The pond hotel was demolished during the week of 7/22/2013. Sad.
A 900 square foot addition is now underway on 2541 Pond Road, just around the corner to the north of the old filling station you’ve shown at the NWC of Pond road and Old Manchester Road, and our office has completed the design and construction drawings. It is to be a photography studio called “Higher Focus Photography” and is planned to open in the spring of 2014.
Great, that’s good news, John.
A good piece of news of out Pond is that when I was on my way to photograph Bethel United Methodist Church just west of it I saw that the Pond Inn is being renovated. They demolished the white outbuilding and cleared all the brush away leaving the lot bare except for the Inn. I think it is turning out quite nicely, but I didn’t take any pictures because there was a utility truck parked right in front of it. Its a shame that nothing could be done about the Pond Hotel or that great Italianate farmhouse, but its seems that attention is finally coming Pond’s way.
I’ve been out there recently, and saw some new construction, but didn’t realize so much rehabbing has been going on. I’ll have to check it out!