NORTH ATTLEBORO - At 390 Mount Hope St., the Benjamin Stanley Freeman Home, a prime example of Massachusetts Victorian history, has captured the attention of many a passer-by during its major restoration over the past several months.

On April 5 and 6, those passers-by, as well as the general public, will have the opportunity to view the interior as well during a home tour, which will include historical presentations and other special features.

The home was built as a simple Colonial-style home, circa 1830, by Freeman, one of the area's jewelry manufacturing magnates, and was transformed into a Victorian Italianate in 1877. During the 1900s, the home's impressive stature was diminished as it was converted into various multi-family units, and later fell into disrepair.

Since last summer, however, through a restoration project headed by Modern Victorian Home Restoration, the house has been elevated once again to its grand status, highlighted by exterior features from its five-bay facade to its 4 -story tower and its grand entrance pavilion.

In addition to those who have commented on the restoration project verbally, many have expressed their interest and appreciation via a restoration blog at www.modvic.com, the Web site of the home's restoration company. In response to this public interest, Modern Victorian Home Restoration owners Bruce and Melanie Rosenbaum decided to offer the home tour to the public before the home goes on sale.

"There's been a lot of interest in the house from people within North Attleboro and the area," Bruce Rosenbaum said. "There's a lot of history, and people want to see it, not necessarily buy it. So, we thought it would be a great win-win situation if we could, before the home officially goes on sale in April, have all the people that are just curious to see what it looks like come to the home tour," he said.

The Rosenbaums also thought it would be a win-win situation to use the expertise of the North Attleboro Fire Barn Preservation Society, which could in turn benefit from the tour. As a result, with the assistance of the North Attleboro Fire Barn Preservation Society, the home tour will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6, followed by an open house for interested buyers and others on April 12 and 13.

Members of the preservation society will be on hand during the home tour to offer information about the house, and proceeds from the tour will go to the society to help fund the professional painting of the Falls Fire Barn on Commonwealth Avenue.

As part of the restoration project, Bruce Rosenbaum kept the public informed each week about the many ways the home was restored as well as modernized, but says he attributes the success of the project to the home itself and its original owners.

"I love the thought of how a well-built house and a house that has had sort of loving attention paid to it has survived all these years - partly because there was enough quality and craftsmanship and care that went into the building of it and the renovating of it that it could go through all these up and down periods to survive to present day where families can still be enjoying the house," Rosenbaum said.

As an example of one of the updates Rosenbaum offered on the restoration, he noted during Week 35 of the project that Jay Cardero from Modern Yankee Blacksmith did an amazing job on creating and installing the front entrance railings that he made connect to the salvage cast iron newel posts.

"The magic is that the railing and posts looked like they had always been there," he said. "You know it's done right when what is new is made to look old and what is new looks like what would have been original to the house."

Rosenbaum also noted during his Week 35 comments that he placed a specially created ModVic Time capsule into one of the home's walls which will be covered with sheetrock and plaster for hopefully another 100 to 150 years.

"Included in the time capsule are the architectural drawings, Home Tour and Open House booklets, newspaper articles about the restoration, a pen and ink drawing from a student architect and the worker's stories," he said. "It's our way to pass on the history that we are making now to future homeowners." For those who plan to visit the home during the tour on April 5 and 6, there will be additional history as well when Mack Woodward, architectural historian and author of "From Plain to Palatial: The Renovation Story of the Freeman Family Home (circa 1830 and circa 1877) in Attleborough Falls, Massachusetts" offers 30-minute presentations at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 6.

In his book, Woodward talks both of progression of the Freeman family fortune and the progression of the home, from simple Colonial to Victorian Italianate, attributing the home as one of the town's jewels.

"The Freeman House, one of the community's houses eminently worthy of preservation, is swaggering testimony to the entrepreneurial spirit that drove this community in the second half of the 19th century," Woodward said.

Janette Sears can be reached by phone or fax at 508-222-0993 or by e-mail at janette@janettesears.com.