Local News
With an artist’s rendering, the new sign reads “honoring 100 years of memories. Demolished March 11, 2025, but never forgotten.”
The Pink House in 2025. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe)
The demolished Pink House, which once stood on the North Shore’s Plum Island as an inspiration to local artists, is now immortalized by a new sign unveiled last week by the Town of Newbury.
At the site of the century-old home on Plum Island Turnpike in Newbury, the house will be remembered with an engraved sign suspended between two granite posts — paid for by an anonymous donation to the town.
With a rendering of the Pink House by artist Kathy Culbert, the sign reads “honoring 100 years of memories. Demolished March 11, 2025, but never forgotten.”
“The community has been in a place of hurting, in a place of loss. It’s been a very emotional time where the community has struggled to find a way to heal,” Sandy Tilton, a former board member of Support the Pink House, told Boston.com. “The gift of this sign to the community will help them to heal. It already is.”
Select Board Member Patrick Heffernan, Select Board Chair William DiMaio, Select Board Vice Chair Alicia Greco with the sign commemorating the iconic Pink House, which was demolished in March 2025. (Photo Courtesy Sandy Tilton)
The Pink House was demolished after a decade-long battle to keep the beloved and mysterious single-family home standing near the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, governed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
After the federal agency threatened demolition in 2015, the now-defunct nonprofit Support the Pink House formed to protect it. After grassroots efforts failed to relocate, salvage, or negotiate a land exchange, a last-minute donor pledged $1 million in 2024. A few days later, Gov. Maura Healey stepped in.
However, in February of 2025, Healey announced there was no solution between the Pink House’s owners and US Fish and Wildlife. It was demolished — after an emotional vigil — a month later.
“Our Pink House came to mean a great deal to so many, in countless ways,” said Bruce Stott, whose family was the last owner of the house for nearly 50 years, per the town’s statement. “In this historic area, now it too will be forever remembered.”
After years of advocacy, Tilton said the new sign is “fabulous” and thanked the town for accepting the gift for the community.
“It was a welcoming beacon that was always visible as you passed by it,” Tilton said. “and you knew that you were going to have a wonderful day.”
The Town of Newbury is planning a Pink House Memorial Celebration in early June near the site.
Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.
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