History on the Hill: Grand View Farm Yesterday and Today

By Saorise Stallings, Student Reporter, Endicott College

This story is featured in the 2025 Summer Buzz Magazine, your guide to having the best time this season. You can read our magazine now or purchase your very own print edition.

Lexington and Concord get the spotlight for most references to Revolutionary War history, but tucked into the heart of Burlington is a property with its own deep ties to early American history – complete with visits from Founding Fathers, a stagecoach tavern, and a panoramic view that inspired its name.

With a story stretching back more than 250 years, Grand View Farm is a local landmark. The farm was first built by Soloman Trow in 1770. Then, in the 1840s, the property became known as the Marion Tavern and served as a popular stage-coach stop for travelers between Boston and points north such as Lowell, MA, and Concord, NH.

In the early 1900s, Charles McIntyre bought the home and renamed it “Grand View Farm” after finding that New Hampshire’s Mount Monadnock and Massachusetts’ own Wachusett mountain could be seen from the property. Under McIntyre’s stewardship, the land became a successful dairy and garden market farm, known especially for its corn and squash.

The farm’s connection to Burlington’s civic life deepened when Charles’ son, Walter McIntyre, donated a portion of the property to build the town’s first high school. Before 1939, Burlington students had to travel to Lexington or Woburn for their secondary education. Thanks to the McIntyre family’s gift, a school was built—marking a turning point for the town.

Over the next several decades, the property changed hands three times. In 2001, a proposal to replace the historic house with an apartment complex sparked significant public backlash.

A citizen’s committee was created in 2003 to guide restoration efforts and recommend long-term uses for the property. A partnership between the current owners, the Town of Burlington, and the Gutierrez Company led to a new vision: preserve and restore Grand View Farm. That commitment launched a series of restoration phases. In 2004 and 2009, the original barns on the property were taken down because of bug infestations.

Wood from the structures was salvaged and bought by the Wyman House in Burlington.

In 2010, Shawsheen Tech students helped fix the electrical, plumbing, and carpentry in the house. The final phase of restoration was completed in 2011 when the small barn was restored and the interior of the main house was redecorated in period style.

“We didn't do much inside, we mainly did the barns and the outside property,” said Kathi Horton, a historical commissioner and member of the Burlington Historical Society.

“We did have it painted and so on and it looked beautiful. We had windows put in. We did get furniture that was appropriate for that time. People on our committee would go and shop for furniture,” Horton continued, “of the mid to late eighteen hundreds.”

Today, Grand View Farm is available to rent for private events including graduation parties and baby showers. It is also available to tour by appointment.

The Historical Commission meets at the house every first Wednesday of the month and works to ensure the history of this building is shared with the public.