Two properties in Dorchester ­– the Tileston House in Lower Mills at 13 River Street, one of the oldest surviving homes in Boston, and an old farmhouse on Howe Street that has a unique tie-in with modern-day special education – are before the City Council and likely to receive Boston Landmark status this month.

“These are both early houses in Dorchester,” said Earl Taylor, president of the Dorchester Historical Society (DHS). “The Tileston House goes back before 1800 and the Howe House around 1830 or so. Houses of that age…I’ve always been in favor of preserving them to highlight our architectural heritage when there is no reason to tear them down…It has to be a pretty high level of significance.”

The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) approved, by 9-0, the home as a Landmark on Sept. 13, and the matter has made its way now to the City Council for a vote.

According to the BLC Study Report, the home built by Euclid Tileston in 1797 “is one of the rare examples of a gambrel-roof Georgian style house and also one of the only two extant buildings of its style and form identified in Dorchester. Few buildings from this time period survive in cities such as Boston due to rapid urban growth and replacement of older buildings.”

The second property at 16 Howe St. near Hancock Street is a farmhouse connected to the Howe family in the mid-19th century and more recently tied to the Kingsley family, who started the modern special education movement at the Kingsley School in the Back Bay. It was built by Nahum Bragg in 1836 and passed to the Howe family in 1842.

The Howe Kingsley Home at 16 Howe St. as seen in its heyday during the early 20th Century. Photo courtesy Boston Landmarks Commission

“The house is a rare surviving example of a Greek-Revival style farmhouse in Dorchester, and the changes to the property over time reflect the transition of Dorchester from farming community to dense suburban landscape,” according to the Landmarks summary. The home retains a high-level of integrity on the exterior and the interior also contains a lot of the original materials, the BLC report stated.

The Landmark proposal for the property has been approved by Mayor Wu, and is in the Council Planning, Development and Transportation Committee where it will become a Landmark this month if not acted upon.

Meanwhile, neighbors in Melville Park have been overjoyed at the latest plans coming out of the 10 Melville Ave. property, sometimes known as the “New Kids” house for its association with the Knight family of New Kids on the Block. The latest plans include a full renovation and restoration of the dilapidated carriage house behind the property.

While most carriage houses in Dorchester have submitted to the wrecking ball, the owners of 10 Melville advanced plans at a BLC meeting on Oct. 25 to move it, stabilize it, and build out a two-story, four-bedroom living unit. It comes on the heels of news earlier this summer that the owners plan to fully renovate the main home into a two-family residence. The home was sold this year to the current owners by the Salvation Army.

The DHS’s Taylor said he was happy to see the reuse as housing via preserving the carriage house. “I think everyone thought they would be applying to the BLC to tear it down and I would not have been surprised if Landmarks okayed that, given its condition,” he said. “Luckily we have concerned homeowners who feel they can put the resources into restoring it…Keeping that visibility of carriage houses gives a sense of times before the automobile and defines Dorchester’s history a little more.”

The proposal, presented by architect Derek Bloom, also got high praise from Landmarks commissioners. “This project is a testament to any applicant that comes before us and says a building is too far gone to restore,” said Commissioner David Berarducci. “I think this is an amazing job to keep this and the improvements you’re making.”

The matter will remain before the BLC for more reviews this month.