By Chris Mayes, Brattleboro Reformer May 25, 2026
BRATTLEBORO — Plans to turn the former residential care facility Holton Home into apartments are moving forward.
Due to financial struggles and staffing challenges in the aftermath of COVID-19, the Garden Path Elder Living Board closed Holton Home in 2022 and consolidated the facility with Bradley House. The site, at 158 Western Ave., was then used to house traveling health care workers.
At a hearing last week, the Brattleboro Development Review Board provided site plan approval for the new plans.
Peter Paggi, director of housing development at Windham & Windsor Housing Trust, said Holton Home currently has “35 single-room, occupancy-style units.”
“They do have full bathrooms in each unit, but there are no cooking facilities,” he told the board. “And then there’s associated common space in the building.”
WWHT’s proposal calls for converting Holton Home into 21 full apartments for general occupancy. All of the units would be “income restricted” but not “service enriched or otherwise specialized housing,” Paggi said.
His group would not receive referrals from any agency like it has with other properties.
“We would just receive applicants as we would for any standard residential property,” Paggi said. “One unique aspect of this is that we are partnering with Black Mountain Assisted Family Living, where five units would be prioritized for individuals with developmental disabilities and their living caregivers.”
Paggi said the building facade is proposed to “remain largely unchanged” and most landscaping will not be disturbed. Three trees will be added to comply with landscaping requirements in local regulations.
Currently, the project is in the design phase. Paggi said the hope is to start construction by the end of the year.
The work is anticipated to take about eight months.
“Since it’s mainly interior renovation and there’s there’s not a whole lot of exterior work,” Paggi said, “it should be a little quicker than the new construction project.”
Concerns about noise, safety and traffic were raised by neighbors at the hearing. Paggi said his group is more than happy to meet with neighbors.
