Forestdale Painters — Forest Street, Sylvan Street and the old poor farm

Forestdale has far less written about it than some Malden neighborhoods. We found no area survey form or neighborhood study for it, so this page sticks to what public records document and doesn't guess at street-by-street house styles.

Its anchor is the former city poor farm at 341 Forest Street. Malden organized a poor farm and almshouse there in 1780, and in the first half of the 20th century parts of the land were split off for a cemetery, public housing and a school. Forestdale Cemetery sits on former farm land west of Forest Street. The listed property includes a two-story wood-frame Italianate warden's house from around 1870 and a single-story brick infirmary from 1933. The city ran it as a nursing home until 2009; it now operates as Forestdale Senior Living and was added to the National Register in 2020. Malden's 2007–2008 survey dated the warden's house to 1871 and recorded clapboard walls with wood trim.

Census Tract 3416 contains both that site and Forestdale School on Sylvan Street. It holds 2,884 housing units with a median build year of 1947. Nearly half (47.5%) date from 1939 or earlier, but building continued in later waves: 13.1% went up in the 1960s and 11.5% in the 1980s. About 36.5% of units are in buildings with ten or more apartments, while 26.3% are detached single-family houses and 11.8% are attached ones. Owners occupy 49.8% of homes.

Two very different building types

A tract where more than a third of units sit in ten-plus-unit buildings and a quarter are detached houses doesn't have one typical job. A wood-sided house needs its siding, trim and porches assessed board by board; in a condominium building, a unit owner's own paint decisions typically stop at the unit's interior. Start with interior painting in Malden or exterior painting in Malden depending on which you own.

Older paint layers

In this tract, 73.3% of units were built before 1980, so older coats under newer paint should be tested or treated as lead before anyone sands. Federal rules call for certified, lead-safe work practices whenever pre-1978 paint is disturbed. Our lead-safe painting page covers containment and cleanup.

Help for qualifying owners

Malden's Lead and Healthy Homes Program funds lead hazard work, including exterior repainting and window and door replacement, for pre-1978 homes where household income is under 80% of area median. Rentals qualify as well as owner-occupied homes, which matters in a tract where about half of households rent.

Condo and apartment buildings

Where a larger building is a condominium, hallways, stairwells and exterior trim are common property. Unit owners can read our Malden condo painting page for how association approval and insurance certificates fit into scheduling.