The town of Brookline is suing a local property owner, claiming she installed windows that violate historic district regulations and demonstrated “willful disregard” by ignoring demands to fix them for four years.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 29 in Norfolk Superior Court, has prompted the property owner, Pamela Bardhi, to accuse Brookline officials of discrimination and unfair practices.
The dispute began in 2021 after Bardhi replaced five windows on the front of 179 Babcock St. without approval from the Brookline Preservation Commission.
In a phone interview Jan. 30, Bardhi said she was unaware of the lawsuit and that the town “has been nothing but racist, discriminatory and unkind.” She said she plans to take legal action against the town for “defamation, discrimination, and unfair practices.”
Town officials denied requests for an interview with Brookline.News and instead sent a statement signed by commission preservation planner Rebecca Moroski, planning and community development director Kara Brewton, and first assistant town counsel Jonathan Simpson. The statement said the town tried to work with Bardhi but that she was unresponsive.
“For [the commission] to respond in this way is disgusting, truthfully, like [they] are not a human being,” Bardhi said of the lawsuit.
Bardhi, a real estate developer, purchased 179 Babcock St. in 2020 as a family home, she said, and undertook what she described as a “full-gut” renovation costing more than $1 million, which included replacing the windows.
The property is a three-unit building, and some of its apartments are listed for rent on Zillow , Apartments.com and Hotpads. Bardhi did not respond to follow-up questions about whether she lives in the building. The town’s lawsuit against her says she lives in Roxbury.
In her interview with Brookline.News, Bardhi said she was unaware the property was in a historic district and subject to strict regulations.
“It was an honest mistake,” Bardhi wrote in an April 14, 2025, email to town officials. Had I known, I would have never installed those few windows or even touched them for that matter.”
According to a letter sent to Bardhi by senior preservation planner Tina McCarthy, Bardhi submitted a retroactive application in 2022 for the window replacements, which was denied.
Nearly five months later, Bardhi submitted a follow-up application proposing the installation of cheaper windows similar to those down the street at 189 Babcock St., but that request was also denied.
“[McCarthy] can reconsider the windows that [she’s] approving me, and I can find a manufacturer faster that will be a bit cheaper, but [she’s] not even giving me that leg room,” Bardhi told Brookline.News. “Nobody else needed to get that type of approval.”
The town clarified in a statement that the pre-existing windows at 189 Babcock St. were vinyl but were installed in the 1990s, before the historic districts were established.
The house, built in 1929, is in the Graffam-McKay Local Historic District, which is governed by Brookline’s Historic District By-Law. Under its regulations, exterior changes visible to the public require prior approval from the preservation commission, and any unauthorized alteration is considered a form of “demolition.”
“The purpose of this By-law is to promote the educational, cultural, physical, economic and general welfare of the public through the preservation and protection of the historical assets of Brookline,” the town’s statement reads.
After her application for vinyl windows was denied, Bardhi was ordered to correct the violation by installing wooden-framed windows with a historic look, court documents show.
Court records say that the windows had not been replaced as of April 2025 and Bardhi failed to respond to previous emails and voicemail messages.
Bardhi said in an interview that she delayed replacing the windows after receiving estimates of over $50,000, and cited financial strain due to personal hardships, including the birth of twin daughters and a divorce.
“The town is absolutely terrible and doesn’t communicate and tries to corner people when they’re in their most vulnerable times in their life,” Bardhi said.
Town officials disputed the claim. They said the commission discussed Bardhi’s financial hardship and suggested she apply for a Certificate of Hardship, a provision for homeowners in local historic districts. But the town said Bardhi never applied for the certificate despite being informed about it multiple times.
Town officials said they sent Bardhi at least 35 emails and two certified letters over a four-year period.
The town said the dispute has been ongoing since July 2021 and filing the lawsuit was a last resort to resolve the issue. The lawsuit seeks to compel Bardhi to install windows that comply with the historic district regulations.
“[The commission has] exhausted every avenue of collaboration and communication as well as provided information, alternatives and assistance without a suitable resolution per Town and State laws before going to the Select Board on October 21, 2025, for authorization to file a lawsuit,” the town’s statement said.
Bardhi said the lawsuit is making her concerned about potential damage to her reputation as a real estate developer, broker and founder of a modular construction company.
In text messages to this reporter, Bardhi threatened to file her own lawsuit if details of the case were published.
“If this is being publicized, I will absolutely be taking legal action,” Bardhi wrote, without specifying whom she would sue. “Seems to be that because my occupation is real estate development, that the town wants to paint me as a villain, which qualifies as defamation. This is nowhere close to the truth.”
This story is part of a partnership between Brookline.News and the Boston University Department of Journalism.