Littleton’s Tilton, Salomon Blocks To Remain Locally Owned After Sales

LITTLETON — After decades of ownership by the Eames family, two prominent blocks in the core of downtown have changed hands following recent sales, as Eames Realty Co. winds down its day-to-day property management side of the century-old business.

Both blocks, featuring a mix of residential apartments and retail storefronts, will remain under local ownership and are turnkey operations for the new owner, Aaron Spicer of Littleton, who will retain the current tenants and rents.

According to a posting Thursday in the New Hampshire Registry Review, Spicer closed on Tilton’s Opera Block on June 18 for $3.75 million.

The block was purchased in 1972 by John B. Eames, who sold it to his nephew, Jack Eames, the head of Eames Realty Co., in 2007.

The block encompassing 7 through 21 Main St. houses tenants that include Bella Funk Boutique, TM Jewelers, WLTN radio, Bondcliff Books at 4 Eames Way, and apartments at 15 Mill St.

According to a history provided by Eames Realty Co., Tilton’s Opera Block was built in 1881 by Henry Tilton, who made his fortune during the California Gold Rush and returned to Littleton to invest, including in real estate.

The Tilton Block is Littleton’s largest brick structure and influenced the design of many Main Street buildings.

It had been intended as a performance arts venue until the nearby Littleton Opera House was built 13 years later.

In 1945, Littleton Coin and Stamp Co. was launched on the second floor of Tilton’s Block.

Today, it features seven two-bedroom apartments and 11 one-bedroom apartments on the second and third floors and storefronts on the Main Street level.

Also on June 18, Spicer closed on the adjacent Salomon Block for $2.5 million.

Before the sale to Spicer, the Salomon Block, which encompasses 1 through 5 Main St., had been owned by Jack Eames/Eames Realty Co. since 2007, after a purchase from John Eames, who bought it in 1997.

Also extending onto Cottage Street, the Salomon Block houses G M Photography, Harden Law Offices, Rachel’s Jewelry and Exchange, and Edward Jones financial advisors.

Built in 1912 by Jacob Salomon, it was the culmination of three decades of Main Street development, beginning with H.L. Tilton’s Opera Block, according to the Eames Realty history.

The Salomon Block has five storefronts, six two-bedroom apartments, and 13 one-bedroom apartments.

Except for some modest cosmetic work, renovations and new paint on the Salomon Block, the historical integrity and appearances of both blocks will remain intact, Spicer said Monday.

“I don’t have any major plans for them, other than basic upkeep, some minor renovations and improvements, and things like that,” said Spicer. “I really don’t plan on changing people’s rents too much.”

Some of the basement storefronts, which are currently used for storage, haven’t been renovated in 60 years, he said.

“We want to turn those back into usable areas for Main Street stores, not the Main Street frontage, but the basements of the Main Street buildings,” said Spicer. “Those aren’t usable for anything other than storage at the moment, but when you redo them, they’re quite nice for a second level of store.”

In April 2025, Spicer bought the Kilburn apartment building at 96 Cottage St. for $2.2 million from Eames Realty Co., which had owned it since 1970.

Constructed in 1873 by the Kilburn brothers, Benjamin and Edward, the structure opened as the Kilburn Stereoscopic View Factory, which used early 3-D technology and was, for half a century, a vital part of Littleton’s economy.

Built in a Colonial style, it is now an apartment building with 12 one-bedroom and 8 two-bedroom apartments. Outside is a historical marker highlighting its early history.

Up the street, in November 2024, Spicer purchased 74 Cottage St. for $640,000 from Jack Eames, who had owned it since 2007 after purchasing it from John Eames, who had owned it since 1995.

The property at 74 Cottage St. houses a hair salon, a podiatrist’s office, a massage parlor, and second-floor apartments.

Spicer also owns rental properties at 50 Carleton St., 31 South St., and 241 Cottage St., all of which he purchased in the past few years.

A primary reason for buying the two Main Street blocks and some other buildings is to maintain the integrity of the town’s historical structures under local ownership by people familiar with them, said Spicer.

“It’s sad to see the old buildings in the area go to disrepair and whatnot,” said Spicer. “They’re spaces that are not available for institutional investors because they’re all too weird and unique and you really have to be hands-on and know what you’re doing to keep those buildings alive and in good shape. It’s not feasible for them because they’re too scary to get into if you’re a big institution because there are so many intricacies in those old buildings.”

Eames Family And Realty Co.

On Tuesday, Jack Eames spoke about the reason for the sale of his family’s two largest real estate holdings and about Spicer, who will manage them with his wife, Bailey.

“I’ve been doing this for 27 years,” said Eames. “I do other things, too, for the family, and we’re a small family. After 27 years, I was ready for a change and wanted to focus on other interests and spending more time with the family. Even though being a landlord isn’t necessarily a 9-to-5 job, it’s a seven-day-a-week job. You’re always on call and you really can’t get away, which is fine. It’s been great. I’ve really enjoyed all the tenants. That’s probably been the thing I’ve enjoyed the most over the years, the people. But it was just time for me, for lack of a better description, to get off the hamster wheel.”

Eames, who informed all of his tenants of his plans for the sale, is the third generation to run the family business.

“It’s the 100-year anniversary for Eames Realty this year,” he said. “I didn’t time it this way for that. It just coincided with it. It was just me. My three kids all have their paths, which is great. They love Littleton, but I don’t think real estate is the future for them. I’m very happy with Aaron and Bailey. It feels right. The tenants seem happy as well.”

As he prepared to take the reins, Spicer introduced himself to the commercial and residential tenants and spoke of his plan to keep rents stable.

Rents had always been below market, which has led to very little turnover and some tenants renting for decades, and has been a win-win for both tenant and landlord, said Eames.

Eames, who will remain in Littleton, enjoyed the remodels and expansions and maximizing each of the buildings, but said having a little more freedom and time spent with family was the driving force for handing both blocks to a new owner.

“In terms of Aaron, he comes from a wonderful, local family,” said Eames. “Dr. Spicer, his father, our family’s known him for a long time. And Aaron came into the [property] business. He’s a younger guy, and he has a tremendous amount of energy and knowledge as well. He’s a hands-on guy, which I really appreciate, and he understands the town, having grown up here. That was important. All of these tenants, they mean a lot to me, they mean a lot to our family. I wanted them to be in good shape. Aaron and Bailey really fit the bill here. They are long-term and are not looking to come in and flip this to somebody else. Across the board, they seemed like the perfect fit. The timing was right for him and Bailey and obviously for me.”

Although he sold the Tilton Opera and Salomon blocks, Eames will retain ownership of the block encompassing 28-34 Main St., known as the Eames Block or building, which houses the Eames family offices and Jax Jr. Cinemas.

All the business archives are at the family offices, where Eames will focus more on asset management.

“It’s really just getting out of the day-to-day 24/7 part of being a landlord,” he said.

He also owns the parcel along Cottage Street that supports the Irving gas station as a commercial tenant, as well as some 60 acres of land by Exit 43 and St. Johnsbury Road.

Recently, Eames sold the Exit 41 Travel Inn along Cottage Street.

“That was always going to be a development property,” he said. “We ran Exit 41 kind of as a placeholder.”

Harrington Block

Nearby the Tilton Opera and Salomon blocks is the Harrington Block, located at 25 through 29 Main St., built in 1897 as a grocery market.

In August 2024, Jack Eames sold the Harrington Block to Douglas Frizzell, of Exeter, for $325,000, according to the Registry Review.

The Harrington Block has been owned by the Eames family since 1984, first by John Eames and then, after a 2007 sale, by Jack Eames.

Now undergoing major renovations by Frizzell — including apartments on the second and third floors, which have been vacant for decades following a fire — the Harrington Block featured the Topic of the Town restaurant, located on the Main Street level, which closed several months ago as upgrades began in that space.

“He has tremendous plans,” Eames said of Frizzell. “He’s another one who’s been really great for Main Street, with the amount of investment he has made, and it’s all first-class investment. He really brings things up and improves them, and this project will be no different. It’s going to be really great for Main Street when it’s done.”

After the fire in the Harrington Block, the apartments were never rebuilt, Frizzell, a partner and senior financial advisor with the Bedford, N.H.-based Silver Stone Investment Management, said Tuesday.

“We completely gutted the building, right down to nothing but a shell,” he said. “We are rebuilding the building.”

Before it could go out to bid, the structure had to be gutted, a labor-intensive process that was necessary to determine how much the entire project will cost, said Frizzell.

The plan is to create a safe, environmentally conscious building that is fully sprinklered and up to code, with a brand-new roof and other new features, as well as high-tech soundproofing that will exceed normal noise-reduction requirements, said Frizzell.

“It’s going to be very quiet,” he said. “You won’t hear anything from any neighbors … We’re going to have nine apartments, six two-bedroom apartments and three one-bedroom apartments … Topic of the Town restaurant is not coming back, but the same owner has completely gutted that space and a new restaurant is coming in under the same owner.”

Under the current timeline, the Harrington Block renovations are expected to be complete around March 2027.

Frizzell said he intends to keep the property for the long-term.