13 RABBIT, RABBIT
Bunnies won't bring you luck in the garden, but you can learn to co-exist with these hungry critters.
By Thomas Humphrey16 RAISING THE FABRIC BAR
At Tracker Home Decor, John Murphy's design team brings experience, style and a sense of humor to the job.
By Sissy Biggers19 WHAT ABOUT WALLPAPER?
It doesn't have to be everywhere; using wallpaper as an accent can bring personality to your project.
By Louisa HufstaderFrom the Editor THESE FOUR WALLS
It’sfunny how the inside of our home becomes a lot more important at this time of year. All summer we’ve been hightailing it out the back door to spend time outside; now – not so much. Suddenly we’re looking around at the four (or more) walls, the old couch, the even older bed linens … and thinking a refresh might be just the thing to keep us from going crazy over the winter.
That could mean something as simple as starting a house plant collection (page 5) or buying that charming bedspread you’ve always wanted (read more about The Beach House, page 8). Or it could mean reupholstering the old couch in a colorful performance fabric (The Tracker Home Decor team can help with that, page 16) or (gasp) considering wallpaper – maybe just on one wall, a closet door, or a pantry (page 19).
If you’re like me and still have one foot outside, now might be a good time to assess your garden structures and plan for better rabbit protection next year (page 13).
Or forget home improvement altogether and challenge yourself to a different Vineyard walk every week (page 22). I’ll see you out there!
- Susie Middleton4 EDITOR’S NOTE
5 ON THE ROCK
8 Q&A
At Home on Main Street: An Interview with The Beach House's Jane Chandler
21 BY THE NUMBERS
House Hunting
22 INSTA ISLAND
The Trail Less Taken
EDITOR
Susie Middleton
ART DIRECTOR
Jared Maciel
CONTRIBUTORS
Elizabeth Bennett, Sissy Biggers, Chris Burrell, Ray Ewing, Louisa Hufstader, Thomas Humphrey, Jeanna Shepard
PUBLISHER
Jane Seagrave
GENERAL MANAGER
Sarah Gifford
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING
Skip Finley | sales@vineyardgazette.com
SALES TEAM
Frederica Carpenter, Carrie Blair, Serena Ward
MARKETING MANAGER
Alessandra Hagerty
AD PRODUCTION
Jane McTeigue, Jared Maciel, McKinley Sanders
Copyright 2023 by the Vineyard Gazette Media Group. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.
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Looking for a crafting project to do beside the fire this autumn? Look no further than Vineyard Knitworks in Vineyard Haven. “We’ve always got new yarn,” said Dawn Combra, who works at Knitworks and is an enthusiastic hobby knitter. Among the store's most popular options are the colorful selections from the Feederbrook Farm and Trendsetter brands, with most yarn costing between $12 and $25 per skein. Knitworks also has knitting patterns; Dawn recommends the mohair and cashmere fine eyelet wrap for those looking for a new challenge this off-season.
As temperatures drop and the risk of frost increases, the season of outdoor gardening is coming to its end. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have something green and leafy inside to cheer us on those gray winter days. If you’re interested in starting a houseplant collection, visit Middletown Nursery. Along with a host of plant options — pothos, spider plants and ferns to name a few — Middletown has a broad selection of pots and containers to accent your botanical display. Just about any plant looks good in one of their rustic, weathered terra cotta pots, starting at $18.95.
Start practicing your pumpkin carving and pie-eating skills, because the annual Harvest Festival will return to the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society on Saturday, October 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. In addition to traditional fall activities such as wagon rides and a hay bale maze, the event will feature demos from local nonprofits, an open house at the society’s deer cooler and a show from the Amity Island Horse Archers. Food will be available from local vendors, and the festival will run concurrently with the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market.
Now is the time to start prepping your home for the Vineyard winter ahead, as Island plumber Alan Fortes explains:
“Right off the bat, you gotta have a good caretaker [if you leave your Vineyard home in the winter]. And number two, don’t procrastinate. You want to get your house drained by the middle of October. Have a good relationship with the plumber, and give them ample time to do what they need to do.”
The slower days of autumn always feel like a reward for making it through a busy summer. Still, it’s easy to fantasize about slowing down even more, and simplifying the pace of our lives. Two recent books capture that feeling, offering romantic and practical glimpses into what could be.
Dune Shacks of Provincetown ($34.99), a book by the aptly named photographer Jane Paradise, presents nearly 100 color photos of 19 of the famous shacks and the stunning windswept dunes and ocean surrounding them. Alas, we missed the July deadline to submit an application for a 10-year lease for one of these weatherworn beauties,
Brioche French toast. The Five Corners frittata. Ginger sugar and strawberry crepes. Spicy chicken hash. Are you ready for some ArtCliff?
It’s the best off-season food news we could possibly get: Gina Stanley’s ArtCliff Diner reopened (for its 80th year!) on September 21 after a crisp, reinvigorating renovation that includes new windows, a four-foot wider kitchen that’s now open to the dining room, an air handling system and a bigger bathroom. The famous counter (and its seven stools), Gina’s artwork and vintage collectibles, and that paper placemat menu are still the same. As is Gina’s vivacious food.
For now, hours are 7 a.m to 2 p.m. 39 Beach Road, Vineyard Haven. Ray Ewing
but another book may inspire you to homestead further inland instead.
Our Little Farm: Adventures in Sustainable Living ($24.95) by Miriam and Peter Wohlleben (German forester and author of the bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees) is the newly released English translation of the memoir by this husband and wife who left city life for a homestead in the forest. The book offers wisdom, insights, and practical steps about how we can all live more sustainably and harmoniously with the world around us.
For nearly 20 years in the everevolving story of Vineyard Haven’s downtown, The Beach House has been an anchor store on Main street, with a specially-curated collection of local and international home goods. On a late summer day, soft fabrics in delicate designs hang outside the open door like a Mediterranean bazaar. Picture windows are brimming with Italian ceramics and local pottery. While these wares and more certainly entice shoppers to cross the threshold, once inside it is owner Jane Chandler’s modest yet sparkling spirit and special commitment to community that make a visit to The Beach House a uniquely Island experience.
Q. Tell me about the inception of The Beach House.
A. This is the 40th year of the store! I opened my first location at the Tisbury Marketplace which Andrew Flake showed me when it was being built, and after six years I moved to the corner of Main and Cromwell to the wonderful George Silva building. Nineteen years ago I bought this spot, which is a condominium space at 30 Main street. The store has evolved over time and the merchandise has changed but what hasn’t changed is this small town and community. I love people and helping people and they’ve helped me. It feels good to me.
Q. What was your retail and housewares background?
A. When I was working in Boston in an entry-level job, I got a second job in a very small retail store to help
pay the rent. I loved the community connection in the retail store. It was owned by two women who were incredibly creative and kind, and one of them became a mentor to me. I soon realized I couldn’t wait to get to my second job! I found something in myself — working one on one with the customers — that really spoke to me.
Q. Where did you get your design sense and your eye for what to offer at The Beach House?
A. I grew up [in Mattapoisett] in a very loving, inviting home and no matter what was going on — good times, bad times — my mother always maintained a welcoming home. You see some of those influences in the Scandinavian designs and natural fibers in the store. And I think I’ve done that in my own family. So many people feel the same way, and that’s the common bond with my customers. Your home is your sacred space. It’s been a driving force in me and I see that in just about everybody else. I love helping people find things for their home. It’s a great match!
Q. Another driving force is your retail relationships with nonprofits. Tell me about your partnership with Aruna Designs, the Fair Trade organization that designs and produces Scrappies, the store’s popular collectible bunnies with a variety of matching outfits.
A. This is something I absolutely love doing. It’s a very intimate relationship because there are faces to the women in India who make them. It’s fun to see how excited the kids get with these, and it also feels great to use the store as a resource that both we and somebody else benefit from. Everybody wins, people feel good about supporting this and they get a super well-made, adorable product.
Q. Tell me about your wonderful collection of old-fashioned sleigh bells in so many shapes and colors that welcome shoppers at the front door.
A. We have been carrying these for a very long time from a company in New Hampshire [New England Bells] and
now we have bells specifically made for The Beach House. New this year is a bell in the shape of the Vineyard. We call it the Noepe bell with the profits going to the Aquinnah Cultural Center. The white dove peace bell was created in honor of Bill Stafursky, who used to be the veteran’s agent at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. When we sell those the profit goes right to MVCS.
Q. Is there one Island cause that’s most important to you?
A. I am so incredibly happy — shout it from the rooftops — to be helping with the veterans outreach on the Island.
Q. You have a large collection of April Cornell designs from dresses and nightgowns to tablecloths and napkins. It must be a popular brand with your customers.
A. A lot of people know and love her company. It is one of our amazing relationships; we work together closely
and when you’ve been buying from people for so long you become family.
Q. Something else we all associate with The Beach House are the colorful Italian ceramics with animal designs that grace the shelves in the window and, of course, many kitchen tables on the Vineyard.
A. These ceramics from Vietri Campagna really are our signature line. I’ve been buying them since I first opened the store. Locally we source Vineyard potter Debbie Hale, Island artists Liza Coogan and Barbara Reynolds, Barney Zeitz’s work in pen and ink and Alexander Campbell’s special cards — which I am especially passionate about!
Q. How does the change of seasons and the holidays affect your inventory?
A. I love all the seasons and I like
it when summer wanes so you can collect yourself and get ready for fall.
Christmas is my favorite at The Beach House and not because the store is full of holiday items, but because people are just kinder to each other. Christmas
at The Beach House is very full of love and happiness and kindness.
Sissy Biggers is a frequent contributor to Martha’s Vineyard magazine and a regular contributor to The Vine.
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Sadly, having bunnies in your garden will not bring you good luck. But there are ways to co-exist with these hungry critters.
BY THOMAS HUMPHREYWhen it comes to garden pests, the cottontail rabbit is hard to hate. With its innocent glassy eyes, bushy tail and energetic personality, the cuteness factor can sometimes overwhelm an otherwise guarded gardener.
But once your lettuce crop or zinnia patch is devoured by one (or more) of these fluffy creatures, that goodwill is quick to fade. While perhaps not the most pernicious of the Vineyard’s pests, Island rabbits are decidedly persistent, with the ability to challenge even the most experienced local gardener.
“I call them the monster rabbits,” said Roxanne Kapitan, garden manager for Oakleaf Landscape, who has spent
decades gardening on the Island. Her home garden in Oak Bluffs, Roxanne said, is “filled with rabbits.”
It’s no surprise that rabbits are so prevalent on-Island, just as they are abundantly present in many suburban environments in the U.S. As Luanne Johnson, Island naturalist and executive director of BiodiversityWorks, explained, cottontails are a “human commensal” species whose adaptations allow them to thrive in human yards and gardens.
“They get subsidized by what we provide,” she said. “If you build it, they will come.”
But it hasn’t always been this way,
Luanne explained. The kind of rabbit that enjoys our human environment, the eastern cottontail (sylvilagus floridanus), is not a native species on-Island. The eastern cottontail, she said, displaced the native New England cottontail (sylvilagus transitionalis), beginning in the 1920s.
“In the early part of the 1900s, it was the practice of fish and game departments in many states to promote hunting and release hunting species,” she said. The eastern cottontail, native to the Midwest, was one of the species departments favored, and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife released them in the
thousands on-Island.
While it’s difficult to tell the two species apart with a passing glance, you are most likely seeing the eastern cottontail near your garden. Luanne explained that the two species differ greatly in their dietary habits: while the New England cottontail thrives in dense forest thickets, the eastern cottontail prefers open grassland environments.
That ecological difference was, in fact, one of the reasons that the eastern cottontail was chosen to be released on-Island. “They wanted an open country game animal,” Luanne said, and with the eastern cottontail
The unfortunate side effect of that selection, though, was that the vegetable and flower gardens that abound on Martha’s Vineyard are the perfect habitat for the invasive mammal, and eastern cottontail have since proliferated.
Seldom have the New England cottontail been sighted on-Island since the 1920s, ever since a rabbit disease introduced by the eastern cottontail interloper decimated the native species. In his 1969 book The Mammals of Martha’s Vineyard, naturalist Allen R. Keith lamented the loss.
“This is an almost classic example of the folly of most introductions,” he wrote. “It not only caused the extermination of one species on the Island but also destroyed one of the truly unique characteristics of the Vineyard’s mammal fauna.”
It is a folly whose ramifications all Island gardeners must contend with.
“There is a reason that ‘breeding like rabbits,’ is a colloquial term,” Luanne said.
Longtime Island gardener Tom Hodgson is no stranger to this fight.
At 75, Tom is a seasoned veteran of the war between gardeners and rabbits, having spent the last six decades developing a playbook to protect his garden from their insatiable appetites. The strategy he has settled on is to physically fortify his garden from pests.
“Chicken wire is the first line of defense against rabbits,” he said on a recent tour of his West Tisbury garden. Around the perimeter of his primary vegetable-growing area, Tom has deer fencing stretching toward the sky. The rabbit-halting defenses, however, are closer to the ground.
Towards the bottom of the fence, the deer fencing material is stapled onto long wooden boards that run from one fence post to the next. Those boards run about 18 inches above the ground and the gap below them is securely covered with chicken wire, which is also buried several inches down into the dirt. (Rabbits can chew
through deer fencing.)
The chicken wire creates a mostly impenetrable barrier for rabbits, Tom said, though human fallibility means that a few rabbits can sometimes slip into the garden.
“They occasionally bust their way in if I leave the door open,” he said.
If rabbits do get into the garden, Tom has a redundant security measure: his Australian shepherd, Coquina. “She is an expert rabbit chaser,” he said. Though Coquina usually isn’t fast enough to catch the rabbits, chasing them is typically enough to get them out of the garden.
Roxanne Kapitan employs a slightly more varied approach to combat the rabbit problem, which extends throughout her yard. “There are two basic ways to stop rabbits — the physical and the chemical,” she said.
In terms of a chemical approach, Roxanne said she prefers her own homemade rabbit deterrent spray made from cloves, garlic and hot peppers. Not only does it smell better than the storebought stuff, but it’s way cheaper, too. Rabbits don’t like vinegar, either.
Tips for discouraging rascally rabbits in your garden.
1. Plan ahead. Accept that the rabbits are there and will do their best to eat your young plants, so be prepared.
2. Build physical barriers. A vegetable and cutting flower garden should have chicken wire 12 to 18 inches tall all the way around the base of your fencing, preferably with some buried in the soil below the fenceline. Young perennials like coneflowers and black-eyed Susans that aren’t in a fenced-in garden can be protected with makeshift chicken wire cages, a wire cloche (below) or a ring of pots until the plants get more than a foot tall.
3. Use a natural repellant. During the season, apply a homemade spray such as the one Roxanne Kapitan makes or an organic storebought rabbit repellant. Remember to reapply after rainfall.
4. Pick plants carefully. When planting a perennial garden on the Vineyard, keep in mind that many drought- and deer-resistant plants are also unpleasant to rabbits. Lamb’s ear, lavender, catmint, sedum, iris, daffodil, alliums and peonies are just a few good choices.
5. Be aware of nests. Rabbits are always looking for areas to nest. Hay or straw mulch in the vegetable garden is a favorite – another reason to keep the adult bunnies out in the first place. They’ll also look for overgrown grassy areas or protected areas between shrubs to have their litters, which can have as many as 10 kits.
For physical deterrents, Roxanne uses a range of materials and objects, from hardware cloth fencing to garden pots. “They are not aggressive, the bunnies, so that’s the thing to remember,” she said. Even cursory obstacles, like a pile of seaweed or a ring of plastic pots around the more appetizing plants can deter them.
“They might find these upsidedown pots in their way and say ‘eh, it’s too complicated,’” she said. With rabbit food so plentiful on Island, they often simply go for what’s easiest.
But despite their easy going attitude and penchant for laziness, rabbits are vigilant, always ready to take advantage of any hole in the defenses.
Just days after a rabbit-free tour of Tom Hodgson’s garden, the Vine received a follow-up email from Tom: “Guess who/what popped out of the kales this morning and went tearing around the garden?” he wrote. “A baby bunny … looks like I can’t put off rebuilding the fence any longer.”
Thomas Humphrey is a reporter at the Vineyard Gazette.
At Tracker Home Decor, John Murphy’s design team brings experience, knowledge, style – and a sense of humor – to the work of helping you create beautiful spaces.
Entering Tracker Home Decor through a floor to ceiling display of colorful fabric and wallpaper books, it’s clear that veteran Edgartown interior designer John Murphy’s company means business. But rounding the corner into the workroom, the large, blue neon lettering advertising a fabric bar indicates that this is not business as usual — and not just because John’s associate Kalani Gonzalez offers a visitor a glass of champagne. A visit to Tracker Home Decor is an experience.
John is well known on the Island; he worked at Vineyard Decorators for more than 20 years, where his eye for style and his perennial boyish charm built a client base. In 2011 he established Tracker Home Decor on Pease’s Point Way South in the building many remember as the
BY SISSY BIGGERS • PHOTOS BY JEANNA SHEPARDIsland’s longtime lighting store, the Lamplighter Corner.
“I chose this place on purpose because it is off the beaten path, and I wanted to establish my business as a destination,” he said in a recent interview with The Vine.
At first, much of the floor space was dedicated to home furnishings and fine linens but the demand for interior design services, especially with the newly-established private residences at The Boathouse & Field Club in Katama, pivoted John’s company to a project-driven design firm. Today their portfolio includes homes from Abel’s Hill to Katama to downtown historic Edgartown.
John’s team of design associates at Tracker includes Kalani, Doriana Klumick and Nicole Curelli, all of
whom support projects that now extend beyond the Vineyard to addresses up and down the East Coast. In addition to the team’s expertise, the group shares an energetic, creative and good-humored vibe that has attracted a large family of clients.
The vibe makes for a welcoming atmosphere in the store as well. The fabric bar is designed for everyone — other designers, clients in need of a sofa or carpet refresh, someone embarking on a new interior project or anyone visiting the store looking to spend a little time perusing beautiful wallpapers and fabrics on a rainy day. Carefully sorted by fabric house, the bar is a sensory overload of color, texture and luxury that turns design lovers into the proverbial kids in the candy store.
With any full-room project, John directs clients to start from the ground up.
“We begin by choosing the floor coverings and then the style of the furniture frames and the soft goods before moving onto fabrics,” he said.
The last step is the choice of case goods — cocktail tables, end tables, chest of drawers and cabinetry.
While there is no exact Vineyard style, John describes today’s trend as transitional: “It’s not summery, it’s year-round livability.”
Though many clients want a beach house look with layers of neutrals and pops of color and pattern, John prefers a “hodgepodge of furniture in wacky fabrics.” He and Kalani urge clients to look for the addition of an “integrity piece — a vintage trunk, a one of a
kind piece — not something found in a catalogue but something that looks like it’s been in the family for generations.”
“We don’t have one look or one brand here at Tracker,” said John. “We favor a mix of contemporary and traditional pieces.”
In the store, that eclectic approach is fully on display in the eye-popping groupings of sofas and easy chairs clothed in a range of colors and textures, from soft neutral to bright animal prints. Many pieces were sourced at Island estate sales and Vineyard Haven’s thrift store, Chicken Alley. The meeting and workspace is anchored by a round table with lots of inspiration for home accessorizing. It includes a carefully vetted collection of oversized porcelain urns and colorful, chic cocktail books. But the real showstopper in the store is the Cole & Son wall covering that frames the large display windows creating one continuous, scenic mural — a contemporary take on a Flemish tapestry in a swirl of earthy yet vibrant shades of color. (For more on wallpaper, turn to page 19.)
While John professes “to follow but not to follow trends,” his firm is currently favoring the popular white on white on white scheme with the layering of color in throw pillows, accessories and wallpapers.
In addition to its home design work, Tracker does offer shoppers the opportunity to buy pieces off the floor that can then be covered in a pick from the fabric bar and sewn by the fine upholstery team at their off-Island workroom.
Tracker clients have a wide range of styles and taste. “It’s very personal,” Kalani said. “We don’t force a look on anybody, and John is really great at walking into a house and seeing a family’s personality as the starting point for the process.”
One recommendation they generally make to clients is to use a neutral color in base upholstery, and to go with fabrics in a blend of synthetic and natural fibers. John was using indoor-outdoor materials long before they were known as high performance. Tracker favors Crypton, a leader in the technology and offered by many
of the fabric houses. Another favorite is polyester velvet fabrics; these offer durability and a plush, luxury finish.
The Tracker team builds on these high-performance neutrals, layering in color and texture with the addition of pillows, artwork and accessories — all of which are offered in the retail space. The design associates’ style is evident in every offering, from something as simple as a cocktail napkin to unique home goods and fine linens. Chances are a shopper on a mission for napkins will come home with more once they peruse the piles of cocktail books, scented candles, ceramics, one of a kind lamps and throws, all styled on the custom furniture and carefully curated coffee and occasional tables. Also prominent in the retail space is an extensive offering of Matouk bed linens. As one of the Fall River manufacturer’s longest partnerships and the brand’s top performer, Tracker is consistently awarded Matouk’s Gold Linen Leader
Another important partnership is Tracker’s long time commitment to Vineyard Preservation Trust, where John has served as a trustee for nearly 10 years. His expertise is a natural
fit for the nonprofit that maintains 20 of the Island’s oldest landmarked buildings. Next spring, John and his team will unveil a long overdue restoration of the grand entrance hall at the Dr. Daniel Fisher House, the popular wedding venue on Main street in Edgartown. The swatches and drawings exude a timeless elegance befitting the property’s gracious, carved staircase.
“Imagine the bride coming down the stairs!” he shares excitedly. “It’s going to be magnificent!”
Tracker Home Decor’s long track record of success meeting the demands and wide tastes of Island clients has built a parallel universe of projects on other islands from Manhattan to Palm Beach to Bermuda. And now these strong relationships extend to the next generation’s apartments and first homes.
“There are some clients you just fall in love with and when you are asked to do their kid’s apartment or first home, you know you’ve done a good job,” John said with a smile.
Consider this: It doesn’t have to be the main event or cover every room. Using wallpaper as an accent can add character and personality to any design project.
From a single accent wall to rooms that are worlds of their own, well-chosen wallpaper can transform even the most humdrum interior into a vibrant, one-of-a-kind environment.
Papering may take more effort and expense than a paint job, but wallpaper aficionados say the results are more than worth it, adding warmth and delight to any room.
“I just love wallpaper, so I hope it’s coming back,” the author, artist and designer Susan Branch told The Vine.
“I have had wallpaper in practically every room on my house since I moved to the Island,” said Susan, who lives in Vineyard Haven with her husband Joe Hall.
She has chosen old-fashioned wallpapers for their historic home,
BY LOUISA HUFSTADERwhich was built for a whaling captain in 1849 and has its own personality, Susan said.
“We haven’t changed it very much [because] it wants to stay the way it is,” she said.
An Edgartown house has had the same effect on its seasonal owners, who cherished a gull-patterned 1930s wallpaper for generations until it became too moldy to preserve.
The family then commissioned Island muralist Linda Carnegie to reproduce the long-discontinued design in paint.
“I took a piece of tracing paper, traced the [pattern] and I repainted all of it,” said Linda, who’s often been hired to paint decorative walls in humid Island spaces where wallpaper
tends to peel and mildew.
“I did a lot of inn showers and bathrooms,” she recalled.
Widespread air-conditioning has made wallpapering more accessible on the Vineyard than it was in days gone by, added Linda, who also custom paints switchplates and other accessories to match her clients’ papered walls.
She’s still not a fan of wallpapered bathrooms, though.
“If you have a shower in there, it’s a whole different ball game. It’ll pull [the paper] down,” Linda said.
A powder room, on the other hand, can showcase wallpaper elegantly without the wear and tear of steamy bathroom use.
John Murphy, of Tracker HomeDecor in Edgartown, likes to paper over the powder room ceiling as well as the walls.
“It turns it into a little jewel box,” said John, whose showroom shelves are lined with books of wallpaper samples in every imaginable style from vintage to modern.
A Ralph Lauren design of constellations, with stars that glow in the dark, is perfect for a child’s bedroom ceiling, John said. A modernist pattern of birch trees and red birds is destined for a home in Vermont, while a 17thcentury Flemish tapestry of woodlands and castles inspired the British Cole & Son paper in Tracker’s front room.
“We love paper. I try to put it in every project we do,” said John, who also carries a pattern called Martha’s
Vineyard toile as well, available from spoonflower.com as both fabric by the yard and wallpaper in pasted, nonpasted and peel-and-stick formats.
Both artists’ patterns come in different colors and show Island landmarks such as the Tabernacle, Flying Horses and various lighthouses, with Joan’s rendered in a sketch-like style and Susan’s the style of her wellknown book illustrations.
The very newest Island-themed wallpaper can’t be found in a sample book or online store. Created for the new Jubilee boutique in Oak Bluffs, it’s a toile that uses vintage photographs instead of drawings to celebrate the history of Black families summering
names,” said owner Beth Colt, who worked with a Canadian company to design and produce the paper.
Of course, you don’t need a bespoke design to make your wallpaper unique. One Edgartown hostess chose a clockface pattern for her powder room, then hung a selection of clocks and watches
it, but it makes a very good design statement in the right place,” Nancy said. “It creates a space.”
Designer Annie Parr of Annie Parr Interiors likes to use wallpaper to define and accentuate spaces within and between rooms, such as passthroughs and pantry doors.
“I generally like to use wallpaper as an accent. It adds so much depth and texture that you can’t get from painting, wood or other surfaces.”
Annie thinks of wallpaper as something that can bring character to a room – or tone it down. “I treat it like jewelry,” she said. “Sometimes it’s fun to go big, other times it’s good to edit.”
If you look at a space, Annie advises, it will almost talk to you. The right spot for a bit of wallpaper — on a closet door, on one wall, on the back of bookshelves, on a child’s ceiling, or along a hallway – can be just the thing to add character and personality to your design project.
$272,400,000
ON MAIN STREET: The value of commercial real estate on the main streets of the three down-Island towns now totals $272.4 million, according to recent (2023) Gazette reporting.
442
COOLING OFF: During the 12 months of 2022, 442 real estate transactions took place on Martha’s Vineyard — a marked drop from the 670 transactions recorded in 2021.
$1,399,000
STILL EXPENSIVE: The median price for single and multi-family homes dropped to $1,399,000 this year, down from a 2022 high of $1,480,000.
$3M
THE OTHER ISLAND: On Nantucket, housing prices are twice as high as those on the Vineyard, with the average home now coming with a $3 million price tag.
$2,242,818 was the average price of a singlefamily home in 2022.
16.5 per cent of residential homes sold above asking price in 2022.
33 per cent of land on the Island is developed, with 24 per cent either available or potentially available.
$877,946,761 in real estate transactions occurred in 2022.
Here's an idea for the fall: challenge yourself to walk eight or ten Vineyard trails that you've never been on.
First, download the TrailsMV app to plot your walks. (Find it at sheriffsmeadow.org.) Then be sure to take your smartphone with you; since the app works through GPS, not WiFi, it can always pinpoint exactly where you are. Use your phone camera to record the best views — on top of that dune, underneath a cathedral of pines,
along a boardwalk, on the shore of a pond, beneath that soaring osprey.
When you get home, tag your favorite photos with the location and the people who've come along with you on your walk. Organize the photos by album on your phone and post them on Instagram, with tags. You'll be creating your own photo diary, something you can look back on and impress yourself with. Next year — a dozen trails? Twenty? Who knows!
