In 2007 the town of Chilmark, the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank and the Howard Hillman family announced a three-way land swap that was designed to save a historic house, open up a new conservation corridor and create more affordable housing up-Island.
The historic Mayhew-Hancock-Mitchell House at Quansoo Farm is the topic of a presentation by Adam Moore of the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation at an August 14 talk beginning at 5 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library. The historic house, dating back to the 17th century, is one of a handful of homes in the U.S. that contain original wattle and daub construction.
The foundation is currently raising funds to preserve the house.
Unlike most houses that undergo basement reconstruction, the house on 8 Planting Field Way in Edgartown has a foundation that has kept the building upright for 163 years.
“With a lot of old homes the foundation collapses entirely,” said Scott Decker, the general supervisor. “We end up having to literally raise up the house, rip out the old foundation and put in new footings.
I have a fondness for yellow houses. They are not very common in Edgartown right now. Years ago they were more prevalent. If you can imagine it, the Doctor Daniel Fisher house was once painted yellow! Hard to believe its wedding cake splendor was covered in yellow icing.
Is it really the Warren House? I see in the Gazette that the Warren House is back in the news. I have to smile. The house had a sign on it, “The Captain Warren House” for as many years as I have been coming to the Vineyard.
One of the Island's most historic mansions, the Corbin-Norton house on Ocean Park burned to the ground in the midst of a heavy gale Monday night.
By the time firemen arrived, the house was fully involved, fanned by northeast winds as high as 40 miles per hour. Oak Bluffs fire chief Dennis P. Alley said it took firemen from three towns more than four hours to gain control of the fire and prevent it from spreading into the neighborhood. Mr. Alley said he determined the cause of the fire to be electrical wiring in an outlet behind the wall in the first-floor living room.
East Chop residents mourned the end of an era this week, reacting to news that an old Victorian in the heart of Oak Bluffs' Highlands district may fall to a wrecking ball in the coming months.
More and more ghosts are being drawn to Oak Bluffs’ attractive summer housing. “Some spirits have a sliver of their psyche attached to some place where they were happy,” explains Holly Nadler, Haunted Island author, bookstore owner and part-time ghost-hunter. As these properties change owners more frequently, some are becoming crowded. “This place is gooey with ghosts,” said Ms. Nadler, conducting a tour of the Camp Ground last weekend.
None of the houses on North Water street in Edgartown are small. But tucked among the old whaling captains’ homes, with their broad lawns stretching down to private docks on the outer harbor is a comparatively diminutive Greek revival building known as the library. The fate of this home has hung in the balance since September, when plans for its demolition were first presented to the Edgartown historic district commission in the wake of strong neighborhood opposition to the project.
