The Taft House sits in the center of Greenville. It’s right next to the library and down the street from the Junktion Shoppe. It can’t be missed both because of its location and fact that it’s undeniably grand. There’s an air of elegance to the white Colonial with bay windows, a third-story lookout room and pillars leading up to the front door. So no wonder it’s central to Greenville’s mill history.
According to Marshall Buttrick, president of the Greenville Historical Society, it would be more accurate to call the Taft House the Chamberlin-Taft House. It was built by James Chamberlin sometime in the early 1860s.
James Chamberlin was the son of a textile maker and trader, Loammi Chamberlin, who moved to Greenville in the 1820s, when it was Mason Village. James built a mill on the Souheagan River – aptly called Chamberlin Mill – that made furniture and included a grist mill. James’s daughter Ida married Herbert Taft, hence the Taft House name. The house stayed in their family for generations.
So long, in fact, that Natalie and Jeremy Klebes are only the third family to own the home. They had been eyeing it for a while and then in the fall of 2020 they decided to buy. It seemed like the right time. They both work remotely, which gave them the flexibility to make the move, and they wanted to be somewhere more rural where their children could play outside.
It was a leap of faith. Neither Natalie nor Jeremy had direct connections to the Monadnock region, and with Natalie at the end of her pregnancy with their fourth child, they sold their house in Manchester and made the commitment.
“We moved in a week or two after he was born,” Natalie motioned to the toddler on her hip.
The house felt special to the Klebeses.
“I’ve always wanted an old house,” said Natalie. “It’s so charming.”
She said her 10-year-old daughter has been excited about the history and amazed by how long the house has been around.
“We were telling her Abraham Lincoln was alive when this was built,” said Natalie. She couldn’t believe it.
“The fact that it has a name,” Jeremy said, adds to the intrigue. In the hallway behind the main staircase, a collection of old framed black-and-white photos hangs on the patterned wall paper. The house looks amazingly similar today, but modern cars have replaced the old Chevy parked in the round driveway. At one point, there was a wraparound porch on the second story. Natalie and Jeremy aren’t sure when it was removed.
There’s a carriage house attached to the back portion of the home and a big detached barn. The Klebeses said a lot of stuff was left in those spaces and they’ve repurposed a few of the pieces of furniture inside the home, like the desk in Jeremy’s office – a dark wood table with curved legs and carved claw feet.
Inside, the house has a Victorian feel to it. There are lace curtains on the windows, older wood furniture and a number of “K” decorations (for Klebes). Some are hanging on the walls, while others sit on shelves or are on the mantles over the fireplaces.
There are six bathrooms. “One for everybody,” Natalie said, laughing as she looked at her husband. “That’s the joke your dad makes.”
The house feels spacious but the rooms are cozy and appropriately fancy. There’s plenty of artwork filling the walls, a huge gold mirror in one hallway and carpeting running up the two staircases. One is a steep “servants’ staircase” in the back of the house.
They’ve created a guest bedroom in the front portion of the carriage house where the in-laws stay when they visit. Up above the bedroom is a hangout space with a TV, ping-pong table and games.
The house has a large, long lawn. They’ve set up a fire pit and there’s a gazebo with bushes grown up around it.
The barn is huge and painted green-blue. It has rows of stables in the back. For years, it was used to house horses and the property was fenced in as pasture.
“No ghost sightings as of yet,” Jeremy said as he descended the ladder down from the hayloft.
This summer, the Klebeses were thrown into Greenville history and reminded of the significance of their home. A tea party was held on the Taft House lawn on the 100th and 125th anniversaries of Greenville, and this summer the town celebrated its 150th. The Klebeses said about 40 children sat at tables in their yard dressed up for the party, and it was rewarding to help ensure that the tradition continue.
Natalie is a member of the town’s historic society and she has been inspired as she learns more about the early town and the huge influence the Chamberlins and Tafts had in the area. She said Buttrick has shared photos and information about the house, giving Natalie and her family a greater appreciation for the mill town and the Taft House.
“It is definitely a landmark on the Main Street of Greenville,” Buttrick said, and Natalie and Jeremy are proud to have made it their home.