THOMPSON RESIDENCE 139 SEAVIEW STREET CHATHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
CHATHAM HISTORICAL COMMISSION PRESERVATION AWARDS
The Thompson family purchased 139 Seaview Street in 2002. The house, which dates back circa 1880, is known as the Rebecca Eldredge House. The house was badly in need of repair and updating, and the Thompson’s growing family would require more room. There were also several structural and drainage problems due to the fact that the house had been built very low to the ground on a partial Cape Cod basement. In developing an overall strategy for improving and enlarging the structure, it was decided to demolish the existing (and poorly constructed) ell in the rear of the house, as well as the front porch, and replace those with newly built, architecturally sympathetic, additions. The main two-story section of the house was preserved and raised 18� to alleviate the drainage issues. A new full height foundation was installed, creating a full height basement and allowing reinforcement and partial replacement of the existing first floor framing. The entire interior was gutted and renovated in a historically appropriate manner, yet the original floor plan remained intact. The entire renovation took over two years of planning and construction under the watchful eye of the Chatham Historical Commission.
roof on the east side to enclose a small den, laundry and bulkhead access to the newly enlarged basement. A new balcony with expanded dormer was added over the main entry on the second floor, facing south over the 9th hole of the Chatham Bars Inn Golf Course directly across the street. The curve of the dormer roof reflects the form of the double dormer it replaced. The four bedrooms and two baths under the eaves of the existing sloped mansard roof were all preserved and renovated intact. A new entry porch was added on the northwest corner, entering into the dining room, and a deck and stone patio were added off the northeast corner for an outdoor grilling and entertaining area. Great care was taken to move and preserve some of the original hydrangeas, and the entire landscaping scheme was centered on preservation of two 100 year-old Chinese elm trees.
A new two story ell was built off the rear/north side of the main structure to house the expanded dining room and kitchen on the first floor and master bedroom suite on the second floor. Great care was taken to blend and match the new sloped mansard roof with the existing roof form.
The old garage was also raised and moved slightly to accommodate a two story guest suite. The entire structure was gutted inside and out. The ground floor was redesigned with a sitting area and a new stair access on the first floor and a single bedroom with small bathroom upstairs. A new shed dormer was built above the new entry on the west side and a balcony projects off the south side, overlooking the deck and stone patio of the main house.
A new one-story low sloped roof was added on the remaining three sides to enclose a new screened porch off the living room/west side, a long veranda with railings in front of the house to replace the existing front porch, and a
In 2012 the kitchen was expanded to accommodate a growing brood of grandchildren and the deck and patio were redesigned and rebuilt to accommodate the expansion.
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