Mansion to Montessori: Holy Cross house will become a school

May 20, 2019

A Catholic Montessori school has announced that it will be moving in to the Holy Cross Fathers mansion at 824 Tucker Road, just as plans for a new subdivision on the property seem likely to go ahead with one key change.

The Montessori School of the Angels will be moving from their current location in Westport to the mansion by June 30 at the latest, according to the school’s Upper Elementary teacher and co-director Brigitte Davis.

“It’s the perfect spot for us,” said Davis, adding that they are “so excited” to be coming to Dartmouth.

The Roman Catholic school uses the Montessori Method to teach kids from preschool up to the eighth grade. The school was originally founded in Fall River in 1992, and moved to the St. George Campus in Westport, MA in 1999.

Current enrollment stands at around 100 children.

The school will be moving into the historic Tucker Road mansion, which already carries with it a lengthy religious history. The 12,255 square-foot mansion – noted in historical records as being one of Dartmouth's finest examples of Georgian revival architecture — was originally built in the early 1900s as a hospital. For decades it served as a retirement home for members of the Congregation of Holy Cross. The Congregation vacated the property in 2015. 

Meanwhile revised plans for a 21-lot subdivision on the 60-acre property were presented at Monday’s Planning board meeting. RRT Properties, the company which owns the property, is proposing a subdivision for what is now an open field in between the mansion and the second house. 

The proposed subdivision has been the subject of much debate, as neighbors and board members have weighed in with concerns — including a belief that the addition of so many dwellings would negatively impact property values as well as spoiling the rustic view along the road.

The new plans leave an untouched space abutting Tucker Road to try to preserve the rural character of the neighborhood.

Instead of a new house, the space between the Holy Cross mansion and the adjacent large single-family home will now be left as vegetation in a ‘No build zone’ averaging 230 feet in width.

Although it is unclear as of yet who will be responsible for maintaining the new zone or which property will technically own the space, the board members commended the revisions.

“Thank you for addressing that issue,” said board member John Sousa. “It’s more acceptable to me, this plan, than what you had before.”

The new plans for the subdivision will be submitted for review this week and will be presented again at the next Planning Board meeting on June 30.