UniBank buys 100-year-old home linked to original founder’s family for $1M

Image | Courtesy of UniBank A 100-year-old estate is now in the hands of Whitinsville-based UniBank.

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Whitinsville-based UniBank is now the owner of a 100-year-old house tied to the bank’s founding family, with plans to convert the building into a banking training center and home for its charitable foundation.

The house, located at 456 Hill St. in Whitinsville, was built in 1926 by Lawrence and Elizabeth Keeler. Elizabeth was the great-granddaughter of John Whitin, the founder of Uxbridge Savings Bank in 1873, which merged to form UniBank in 1988, according to a Thursday press release from UniBank.

“This is far more significant than just a purchase of real estate — it’s a bridge between the past and the future,” Timothy Wickstrom, chairman of the board of directors at UniBank, said in the press release. “The historic homes in the Village of Whitinsville helped define an important period of advancement in our country’s history. Sadly, several of those historic homes have been lost, making this preservation project all the more vital.”

UniBank purchased the house for $1 million in a transaction finalized on July 28, according to Worcester District Registry of Deeds records. The site was purchased from James M. Knott Sr. 2014 Revocable Trust.

The site will be renovated to preserve its historic character while incorporating modern infrastructure allowing it to use the site as a training and education center for the bank, as well as the future headquarters for the UniBank Charitable Foundation, according to the press release.

Launched in 2021, the charity had $4.65 million in total assets in 2023, the most recent year of financial records available via GuideStar, a nonprofit data provider.

The 5.6-acre property contains a two-story colonial building with a stucco exterior and a one-story building made of clapboard and stone masonry. Both were built in 1925, according to Town of Northbridge property records, where the unincorporated village of Whitinsville is located.

The site received a 2025 tax assessment value of $1.12 million.

UniBank is the seventh largest bank in Central Massachusetts, with local deposits of $2.4 billion and total assets worth $2.7 billion, according to information compiled by the WBJ Research Department. The bank has 254 employees, with 15 branches in Central Massachusetts.

Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.