2014 Fete Program Book by Nantucket Preservation Trust

Into ththe S unset... NPT's Annual August Fête in association with the ’Sconset Trust

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Generously Underwritten by Brown Brothers Harriman

Brown Brothers Harriman

Private Banking is pleased to sponsor the Nantucket Preservation Trust

Investment Advisory & Trust Corporate Lending M&A Advisory Private Equity www.bbh.com

Private Banking is committed to helping business owners and those with substantial wealth achieve their financial goals. We serve both corporate and private clients throughout the cycle of wealth creation, transition, and preservation. Our mission is to become a trusted advisor to our clients by leveraging our shared intellectual capital and reputation, offering objective advice, and putting client interests first.

Nichol MacManus, Managing Director 212.493.8122 or nichol.macmanus@bbh.com

www.bbh.com

photo: Jeff Allen

THE TRINITY COLLECTION fine timepieces & jewelry

S U R F B O A R D S

A Gentleman’s Surf Shop

50 Main Street  Nantucket, MA  508-228-7557

50 MAIN STREET NANTUCKET, MA 508.228.7557

Into ththe S unset...

Thank you for participating in the 9th Annual NPT August Fête. This event provides the opportunity to learn more about the history and architecture of the Sunset Heights neighborhood and to view firsthand the work of property owners to preserve and protect historic Nantucket. House Tours: This year’s tour features the cottages along Pochick Street and on nearby lanes. Properties are marked with the Fête flag and are open from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Docents are on hand to direct you and to answer questions. Reception: Under the tent at 37 Ocean Avenue from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Enjoy food by Nantucket Catering Company and Spanky’s Raw Bar and music by Coq au Vin. Underhill Book: Be among the first to purchase a copy of the new Underhill biography by author Margaret Moore Booker for the NHA. Purchase your copy and have it personalized by the author. Designated Drawing and Wine Pull: A wine pull and special raffle drawing, featuring unique gifts, will be held under the tent between 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

nantucket preservation trust 55 Main Street - 3rd Floor • P.O. Box 158 Nantucket, MA 02554 508-228-1387 www.nantucketpreservation.org Historic images courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association Graphic Design by Kathleen Hay

SUNSET HEIGHTS, ’SCONSET THE HOUSES Visit the following properties between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to gain the flavor of the nineteenth-century cottages in Sunset Heights: 7 Pochick – Osprey 9 Pochick – Main Top 11 Pochick – Cockpit 12 Pochick – Natocket 15 Pochick Street – Sleepy Hollow 10 Magnolia – Thorncroft

HISTORY

This history was adapted from NPT House Histories written by Betsy Tyler, with additional research by NPT interns Sal Cumella and Briane Shane. S unset Heights, the area south of the village core, was one of the island’s early seaside resort developments. Siasconset, with its proximity to the ocean and fishing grounds, had long been a retreat for islanders and the occasional mainlander, but it was not until the 1870s that summer visitors arrived in earnest. In 1872, Nantucket builder Charles H. Robinson, along with his business partner, Dr. Franklin A. Ellis, purchased a tract of land south of Main Street in ’Sconset that they named Sunset Heights. Robinson and Ellis plotted nineteen lots along the new Ocean Avenue with sixty-eight lots along side streets. Construction began on two-story cottages as well as the Ocean View Hotel, completed in 1873—designed with Gothic Revival elements such as pointed-arch windows and decorative vergeboard at the roofline. Individual houses were often designed in the popular Queen Anne Style with turrets, gingerbread details, and large porches to capture the sea breezes and panoramic ocean views. Although many of the earliest cottages were remodeled or taken down in the early twentieth century when Victorian architecture was out of fashion, the development plan and the occasional 1870s–80s cottage remain.

Plan of Sunset Heights

The success of Sunset Heights drew other real estate investors to ’ Sconset. In 1879, the land known as the Pochick Lot was sold by the heirs of Matthew Crosby to Edward F. Underhill of New York City, whose development featured cottages very different from Robinson’s Victorians. Underhill modeled the Pochick cottages after the fish shanties in the village core along Broadway, Center, and Shell streets—using the same architectural vocabulary including warts, T-shaped plans, and half-gable roofs. He soon purchased additional land to the west—present-day Evelyn and Lily Streets (named for his wife and daughter) to extend his cottage development. A year after the railroad came to ’Sconset in 1884, Isaac Hills bought from Charles Robinson a block to the north of Pochick, stretching from present-day McKinley to Ocean Avenue. Included in the sale was the cottage originally called Woodbine and later known as Thorncroft at 10 Magnolia, a cottage that once stood along Elbow Lane in the village center. These three developments, together with the Ocean View Hotel and the later Beach House, formed the core of the Sunset Heights neighborhood.

Beach House hotel ad featured in Nantucket Directory, 1919

THE UNDERHILL COTTAGES At the Pochick lot, Underhill created a road down the m iddle of the parcel and immediately began construction on his own c ottage, China Closet, at the east end, on the south side of the street (now a secondary cottage for the house on Ocean Avenue). Underhill was a man of many talents and was perhaps one of the most famous ’Sconseters of the nineteenth century. He was a Civil War reporter for the NewYork Times in the 1860s, a journalist for the NewYork Tribune in the 1880s, a famous New York court stenographer in an era when a court stenographer could be famous, owner of a vineyard, collector of rare books and china, noted wit, and ’Sconset enthusiast. He was especially gifted as a writer and promoter and was successful in luring visitors to the village from across the country.

The cottage of Mrs. Evelyn Underhill, circa 1900. The walls and ceiling of the cottage interior were lined with china collections, dishes, and tea services.

Edward F. Underhill, 1890s

Underhill’s advertising circular included a detailed description of the cottages: They are built . . . following the traditions of the builders of a hundred years ago, who made their houses strong and compact for comfort and convenience and with no thought that the structures they reared would ever be in demand for the residences of families from distant parts during the warm season. The only variations I have made from the strict simplicity of ’Sconset architecture are to have the apartments more commodious, and to avail myself of a few accessories which improve the appearance of the dwellings without, in the least degree, giving them the ornate look of modern built cottages at our fashionable seaside resorts. Each house has a small cellar, a cistern abundantly supplied with rain water, and is completely furnished for house-keeping, even to the extent of p roviding crockery, cutlery and bed and table linen. The bedsteads are of modern style and are furnished with spring bottoms and mattresses of the best quality curled hair. Each house is situated on a lot having a frontage of 55 feet with a full area of 3,300 square feet of ground. One of Underhill’s quirkiest creations was a room on wheels that could be rolled up to a cottage for additional living space. This innovation was most likely constructed by Underhill’s carpenters of choice, Asa Jones and George W. R ogers. The c ottages along Pochick, Lily, and E velyn, appear to have been built over several years, but individual cottages were built quickly, and according to newspaper accounts, often completed within ten or fourteen days. By the late 1880s, Underhill’s compound was completed, and with nearly two dozen cottages was flourishing. In the 1890s, it became known as the village’s “Actors Colony,” due to its being largely populated by Broadway actors and actresses, artists and writers, and other bohemian types. The Underhill cottages continued to be rented until the mid 1920s—often by the same families, year after year.

Drawings of 15 Siasconset cottages from the pamphlet titled The Patchwork Village, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sconset by the Sea, by Edward F. Underhill, 1889

Main Top, 9 Pochick Street, circa 1910

Local artist Annie Alden Folger owned 足several properties in the Actors 足Colony in the 1920s. Portrait by Ruth Haviland Sutton

END NOTES Charles H. Robinson Robinson, who died in 1915, is largely credited with creating the new ’Sconset of the 1870s and 1880s as well as building many houses in town from this era. Besides the Victorian houses at Sunset Heights, he constructed the ’Sconset footbridge, ’Sconset Chapel, and thirteen cottages at White’s Hamlet, on the site of the present-day Wade Cottages. His work across the island can be seen today in Victorian structures such as the Surfside Lifesaving Station and the Eliza Starbuck Barney house at 73 Main Street in town. R obinson’s work also appeared off-island, as he shipped cottage parts to Falmouth Heights on the Cape and Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard— probably made by the large team of carpenters in his shop on Fair Street. Asa Jones Jones, who began his career as a carpenter, took up as a fisherman during the hard economic times of the mid-nineteenth century. He returned to carpentry in later life and worked well into his seventies when he was cranking out the Underhill cottages. Underhill referred to Jones as the “septuagenarian architect and builder.” Asa and his wife, Eunice Smith, were longtime ’Sconset residents, owners of Ivy Lodge on Shell Street, one of the original fishermen’s cottages that was considered an old house in 1814. Edward F. Underhill Underhill’s enjoyment of his ’Sconset creation was short-lived. He died “suddenly” on June 25, 1898, at the age of sixty-eight. A will written four months earlier specified that all of his property descend to Evelyn and Lily as joint tenants, and that his ’Sconset property “shall not be sold but shall be retained and improved with the view of producing a permanent income for my wife and daughter.” True to the will, Evelyn maintained and managed the cottages for almost thirty years, during the “heyday” of the Actors Colony and beyond. Lily Underhill Doubleday Lily, who was Edward’s daughter by his first wife, was born in 1854, when her future stepmother Evelyn was only three years old. She married Charles Dickinson Doubleday, brother of publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday, and died in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at the age of seventy-three, just a year after she and Evelyn sold the ’Sconset cottages they had inherited from E dward.

Evelyn Underhill Evelyn’s later years were spent in close association with Florence H igginbotham, an African-American woman who was her housekeeper and, finally, her only friend. Florence began working for Evelyn in ’Sconset in the 1920s. The stock market crash of 1929 ruined Mrs. Underhill financially; she moved to Nantucket year-round, living with Florence, who had bought a house in town on York Street (adjoining the African Meeting House and now protected by an NPT easement). Pieces of Underhill china and furniture were sold d uring the Depression years to help support the elderly widow, who eventually transferred all of her personal property to her caretaker, Florence. Evelyn died in 1935, at the age of eighty-four.

RECEPTION SITE – 37 OCEAN AVENUE

37 Ocean Avenue, at right, c. 1890. It was later remodeled by Robert O’Connor. Known as The Studio, the current structure is an early twentieth-century rebuild of the Victorian cottage constructed by the developer Charles H. Robinson. Robinson sold the cottage to Georgiana and Edward P. White in 1887, whose family retained the cottage until the early twentieth c entury. In 1935, the cottage was redesigned by Robert O’Connor, a concert pianist and friend of Gertrude Leverett, owner of the adjacent house known as The Sheiling. A wealthy New Yorker, Leverett was also O’Connor’s benefactor. Local lore notes that O’Connor was a great e ntertainer and lived in grand style, with Leverett’s assistance, in New York, Paris, and N antucket. Eventually, O’Connor inherited The Sheiling and was later forced to sell both properties for financial reasons. The Wheeler family of Sterling, Illinois, purchased the house from O’Connor in 1951, and family members retain the property today. npt

AUGUST FÊTE DESIGNATED DRAWING & WINE PULL Support the work of the Nantucket Preservation Trust and join in the fun by participating in our new designated drawing and a wine pull.

DESIGNATED DRAWING

Purchase a raffle ticket for $50 and place your stub in the basket for the item you want to win. Buy as many tickets as you like and distribute them among the three raffle items, or put all your tickets into one basket to increase your chances of winning that item.

Featured Items:

Custom-Built Birdhouse – Local craftsman David Hitchcock will construct a sturdy wooden birdhouse fashioned after your own home. This unique item is ideal for the Nantucket homeowner or a gift to a friend. Value: $500 ’Sconset House Painting – Renowned local artist Joan Albaugh has created a painting of ’Sconset to commemorate our celebration this year. Joan’s pristine brushwork and architectural planes of flat color will look beautiful in any home. Value: $2,400 Trinity Collection Ring – This “E. Townsend” sterling silver, one-of-akind ring, donated by Main Street jeweler The Trinity Collection, displays three large and beautiful gemstones of amethyst and rubellite. The perfect addition to a sophisticated ensemble, these gorgeous summer colors really pop. Value: $925

WINE PULL

We have assembled a large collection of delicious wines all valued at $25 or more, with some special and rare gems among them. $20 will buy you the chance to pull a wine from the selection at random – guaranteeing a tasty choice at a bargain price. No limit on the amount of pulls per person. Try your luck and bring home a new wine tonight. Bottles must be picked up by 8:30 p.m. at the check-out desk.

2014 AUGUST FÊTE CONTRIBUTORS We extend a special thank you to Brown Brothers Harriman, the sole corporate underwriter for this year’s August Fête. In addition, we would like to thank the property owners: the Engle, Heller, Johnson, Jones, Maypoulous, Stockton and Williams families and Margaret Moore Booker The following individuals provided financial support for the event at the L eadership Level (as of June 25, 2014)

BENEFACTORS

Janet and Sam Bailey Kathleen and Robert Hay Amos and Barbara Hostetter Marie and John Sussek

PATRONS

Mary-Randolph Ballinger The Bauer Family Mary and David Brown Bill and Laura Buck Laurie and Bob Champion Mr. and Mrs. Edward Daisey Barbara J. Fife Nancy and Al Forster Sam and Matt Fremont-Smith Douglas Horst MD and Maureen Phillips

Diane and Art Kelly Ken and Carol Kinsley Barbara Sachnoff Mendlowitz Sharon and David Northrup Lisa Quattrocchi Marcia and Tom Richards Maria and George Roach Peter C. Steingraber Jane and Wat Tyler Eileen Shields-West and Robin West Mary and David Wolff

CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Joseph and Mrs. Kathy Arvay Beverly and David Barlow Kathy and David Cheek Ms. Martha Dippell and Mr. Daniel Korengold Caroline and Doug Ellis Rose Gonnella and Frank Holahan Susan and Edward Greenberg Wade and Susanne Greene Ray and Betsy Grubbs Patty and Jeff Haines Ann and Peter Holmes Mary Ann and Paul Judy Sue and Byron Lingeman

Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Lynch Mary McAuliffe Linda and Ben McGrath Ethan McMorrow Winnie and Chris Mortenson Mr. and Mrs. P. Rhoads Zimmerman Kennedy and Susan Richardson Ruth and John Sayer Don and Mary Shockey Reverend Georgia A. Snell Laura and Greg Spivy Harris and Esta-Lee Stone Pam and Will Waller

AUGUST FÊTE COMMITTEE Deb MacLeod, Honorary Chair Kathy Arvay, Special Events Chair Marie Sussek, Volunteer Chair Members: Kathy Arvay • Caroline Ellis • Mary Helen Fabacher • Nancy Forster Barbara Halsted • Deb MacLeod • Marcia Richards Marie Sussek • Suellen Ward • Pam Waller

NPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Executive Committee Ken Beaugrand, President David Brown, Vice President Thomas Richards, Treasurer Pam Waller, Secretary Nancy Forster, Personnel Directors Kathy Arvay Samuel Bailey Mary-Randolph Ballinger Christopher Dallmus Caroline Ellis Michelle Elzay Michael Ericksen Mary Helen Fabacher Alan Forster Mark Godfrey Susan Zises Green Barbara Halsted Carol Kinsley Michael Kovner Ethan McMorrow Christopher Mortenson Esta Lee Stone Marie Sussek Anne Troutman Suellen Ward

STAFF

Michael May, Executive Director Ema Hudson, Event and Membership Coordinator Marisa Holden, Marketing Associate Sal Cumella, Summer Intern Briane Shane, Summer Intern

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House Histories NANTUCKET

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Nantucket Preservation Trust Every historic Nantucket house has a story. Do you know yours? For more information, contact the NPT 508-228-1387

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Become a Member of the NPT The Nantucket Preservation Trust is a nonproﬁt, membershipsupported organization formed in 1997 whose members are dedicated to the preservation of the island’s historic architecture.

Membership Form Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Email:____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address:_________________________________________ Summer Address:___________________________________ _________________________________________

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State, Zip________________________________________ Dates at Summer Address: __________________________ Tel: (

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□ I want to learn about NPT volunteer opportunities.

1955 SOCIETY LEADERSHIP (Nantucket established a local historic district in 1955.) Leadership level members receive two tickets to the Summer Kitchen Tour and invitations to special donor events. _____$10,000

_____$5,000

_____$2,500

_____$1,955

OTHER MEMBERSHIP _____$1,000

_____$500

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_____$25 Student Membership (valid with Student ID) _____ Enclosed is a check made payable to the NANTUCKET PRESERVATION TRUST. ______ Charge my Visa/MC #___________________________________________________Exp_______CCV_____ in the amount of $_____________________Signature______________________________________________ ______ My employer will match this gift. Please enclose gift form.

Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Nantucket Preservation Trust P.O. Box 158 • Nantucket, MA • 02554 508-228-1387 www.nantucketpreservation.org

Are you inspired by old buildings? Help us expand our scholarship program.



Build on the Past Train for the Future



The Mary Helen and Michael Fabacher Scholarship was established by NPT to offer Nantucket Public School graduates the opportunity to further their building skills through a scholarship to the Preservation-Carpentry program at the North B ennet Street School in Boston. Our goal in establishing this scholarship is to provide educational opportunities that encourage and promote traditional building methods essential for the preservation of Nantucket’s historic architecture. Help us complete our scholarship endowment fund campaign by donating today. For more information about the scholarship program or to donate, call NPT Executive Director Michael May at 508-228-1387.

Nantucket Preservation Trust

55 Main Street • P.O. Box 158 • Nantucket, MA 02554 T: 508-228-1387

www.nantucketpreservation.org

C U R AT E

K AT H L E E N H A Y D E S I G N S

H O N O R I N G N A N T U C K E T â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S E X C E P T I O N A L H E R I TA G E A WA R D - W I N N I N G I N T E R I O R D E S I G N F I R M 508.228.1219

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Edward Fitch Underhill arrived

RENAISSANCE MAN OF SIASCONSET

E D WA R D F I T C H U N D E R H I L L

in Siasconset in the summer of 1879 and fell in love with the little fishing village on the eastern bluff of Nantucket Island.

dc A

GREGARIOUS MAN

with a larger-than-life

personality, he soon became the beloved champion of the village. Fascinated by the diminutive, haphazard architecture of the ancient fishermen’s houses, Underhill created

Award-wining author his own enclave of nineteen small and quirky and cottages that remain today a testament to his former Nantucket idea of the perfect summer getaway. resident Margaret Moore Booker M M B brings to life a manwritten of sparkling wit a andbiography wide-ranging has of intellect, revealing his life as a journalist, court stenographer, humorist, inventor, for the Edward F. Underhill bohemian, “free love” advocate, and bon Nantucket Historical Association. vivant with socialist tendencies—all before he discovered his true passion, ’SconsetPurchase your copy at the by-the-sea. NPT August Fête and have it signed by the author. ARGARET

U MARGARET MOORE BOOKER V

c R E N AIS S A NC E MA N O F SIA S CON S ET d MARGARET MOORE BOOKER

2014 FÊte Event Map

OORE

OOKER

NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

nantucket preservation trust in association with the ’Sconset Trust proudly presents the 2014 August Fête

The NPT is a nonproﬁt, membership-based organization with a focus on the preservation of the island’s historic architecture. We provide programs that explore the architecture and history of the island’s buildings, and strive to increase awareness of the importance and fragility of these resources.

our programs Annual Speakers Program • Apprenticeships • Architectural Studies Architectural Lectures • August Fête Brief, Concise, and Comprehensive House Histories Historic District Commission Testimonies • Historic Research • House Markers House Resource Assistance • Interior Surveys • Interviewing Your Old House Kitchen Marketplace • Landmark History Books Main Street Architectural Walking Tour • Neighborhood Book Series Preservation Awards • Preservation Easements • Preservation Month Programs Private Walking Tours • Ramblings • ’Sconset Architecture and History Tour Summer Kitchens House Tour • Traditional Building-Methods Demonstrations

NANTUCKET PRESERVATION TRUST