French Hill Houses for Sale

French Hill is named for the original French-Canadian immigrants who settled in Marlborough for factory jobs following the Civil War, when the town was the second-largest shoe manufacturer in the world. “Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, there was a big French-Canadian community; now, it’s a bit more multicultural,” says Robert Tunnera, a Marlborough local and owner of Tunnera Real Estate. For much of the neighborhood's history, it was more common to hear residents speaking French than English, and streets named after Versailles and Paris have cemented this community’s cultural legacy. Today, it’s a quaint, small-town suburb that’s within walking distance of Marlborough’s downtown area and next to natural locales such as Williams Lake and Fort Meadow Reservoir. “In 2018, the city approved a new zoning district for the French Hill area called the Neighborhood Business District. This zoning also encourages mixed-use and retail along the existing corridor,” says Meredith Harris, the executive director of the Marlborough Economic Development Corporation. “Since then, the city has been able to attract a new 276-unit mixed-use development that includes 10,000 square feet of retail space and