Unionville Painters — West Central Street & Forge Hill Road

The Massachusetts Historical Commission records Unionville as a historic area of industrial buildings and housing, mapped along West Central Street and Forge Hill Road in western Franklin. Only three inventoried resources fall inside that mapped boundary: the Oliver Pond House at 789 West Central Street, dated 1760 and described as Colonial; the 1883 Franklin Cotton Manufacturing Company at 860 West Central Street; and an 1887 woolen mill on Forge Hill Road whose style the inventory leaves unresearched.

The Franklin Historical Museum's timeline connects Unionville's mills to the Ray family. Col. Joseph G. Ray began making cotton goods in Unionville in 1839, the Unionville Woolen Mill opened in 1871, and Ray Fabric Mills followed in 1901. The town's 2025 master plan says that as industry grew, Franklin's population grew mostly in the Downtown and Unionville areas.

Census Tract 4421.05, which contains both West Central Street addresses, tells a different story about today's housing. Of its 980 units, the survey estimate for homes built in 1939 or earlier is zero (with a margin of ±14), 51.6% date from 1980 to 1999, and 31.0% were built in 2010 or later. Single-family detached houses make up 41.1% of units, attached townhouse-style units 22.3%, and buildings of ten or more units 35.0%.

Townhouses and apartment buildings

With more than half the tract's units attached or in larger buildings, exterior repainting on those buildings may rest with an association or the building owner rather than the resident. Before work starts, expect to settle a certificate of insurance, a building-by-building schedule and an approved color set with the board; what an individual owner may paint depends on the master deed.

Houses from the 1980s and 1990s

A wood- or fiber-cement-sided house built thirty to forty years ago may already have been repainted more than once. Trim boards, sills and garage door jambs are common failure points, so a careful repaint starts by replacing soft wood there rather than covering it.

Woods and shade

Forest covers 46.1% of Franklin, the largest land use in town. Siding on a lot backed by oak, maple or pine stays damp longer after rain, which favors mildew. Washing, a mildewcide-treated primer where needed and keeping branches trimmed back help the new coat last.

The rare older survivor

Unionville's inventoried house dates to 1760. On a building that old, early paint layers may contain lead, so any scraping follows lead-safe practices. Old clapboards and window trim are worth repairing in kind instead of replacing with stock profiles.