A significant portion of new residents who are drawn to Nantucket are destroying the character of the island that brought them there in the first place, according to a national preservation group.
Recently, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the entire island of Nantucket, along with ten other locations across the Unites States, to its list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places. Nantucket is one of a few regional areas to make the list, which usually pinpoints specific locations including battlefields or homes with historic significance.
Though being named to the list does not mean the island is subject to new historical restrictions when it comes to building, officials at the trust say they hope the attention brought to the sites on the list will prompt the proper authorities to take action to ensure the sites are preserved.
Local real estate agents familiar with the list say they don’t think the designation will negatively affect the hot property market on the pricey island, and may cause new homeowners to think twice before forging ahead with major renovation or rehabilitation projects.
Although the island has a long history of commitment to preservation, NTHP officials when naming Nantucket to the list said an upsurge in teardowns – the demolition of smaller homes to make room for larger ones – and gut rehabilitations are changing the cultural landscape and historic heritage of the island. Also, the trust says inappropriate siting and sizing of new homes, such as large-scale homes on small lots, are contributing to the problem.
“Nantucket is not a theme park, and it’s more than just a vacation playground,” Richard Moe, president of the trust, said in a statement. “It’s a living community where change is inevitable.
“But change doesn’t have to be catastrophic,” he continued. “Good planning and a strong commitment to preservation can save the historic character that draws people to Nantucket – and enhance the quality of life for its residents as well.”
“It’s pretty big news here,” said Hamilton Heard of word of the designation spreading across the island. Heard, broker/owner of Hamilton Heard Real Estate in Nantucket, said he views the island’s being named to the list as a positive step.
“I think it will assist us in the world of real estate,” Heard said. Because of the historic trust’s emphasis on gut rehabilitations – where most of the inside of a house is renovated while leaving the exterior largely intact – he said that people will most likely be more mindful of what is done inside the house as equally as the outside.
“I think it will help people become more aware that the inside is just as important as the outside,” he said. “For example, if someone is doing the inside of a house, they might save the paneling because it’s historically significant and make good use of it in their new plans. It’s a wonderful way to historically preserve a house.”
However, Heard said preservationists need to be aware that some buildings are beyond repair.
“It’s a shame when they take a historic house and just completely gut it,” he said. “But at the same time, some of these house are pretty far gone on the inside.
“Nobody can object to them bringing everyone’s attention to the island’s assets that have been wasted,” Heard said. “Why should we waste any more than we have to?”
As an example of an island home that the organization felt should have been preserved, officials at NTHP pointed to the Absalom Boston house, which they said is historically significant because it was once owned by Nantucket’s only known black whaling ship captain. Boston, a free black man born in 1785, headed an all-black crew aboard the whaling schooner Industry and amassed substantial real estate holdings during his life. The house is undergoing a gut rehab that will significantly change the interior of the home.
‘Living Museum’
Because of a temporary cap that has been placed on new building permits issued in Nantucket, residents are looking into more extensive renovations and expansions of existing historical properties, which also is contributing to the problem.
“The building cap is in place until a new comprehensive plan for the town is passed,” said Penny Dey of Congdon & Coleman Real Estate in Nantucket. “But the people who do renovations are exempt from the cap, so they’re doing really extensive hybrids of renovations combined with new construction.
“What’s really tragic is if someone completely guts a historic home and makes a new home out of a shell,” she added.
“Our goal was to bring the issue of gut rehabs and teardowns to Nantucket,” said Patricia O’Connell, assistant director of communications for NTHP. “We want to educate people that there are better ways to build a house.”
While gut rehabs result in the loss of historical significance, O’Connell said teardowns are doing even more to change the character of Nantucket.
“The houses that they’re building now in these lots are really out of scale,” she said. “I can understand why they want to build these grand houses because from what I can tell the land out there is very expensive, but they’re changing the landscape that was the reason they came there in the first place.
“They’re altering the history and heritage of the island.”
While he supports efforts to preserve the history of the island, Heard said it should be kept in mind that Nantucket is a living and working community, and communities are sometimes subject to change.
“We’re proud of the fact that we’re a living museum. We have more historic houses on the island than any other place in the world. The whole bloody island is historic,” Heard said. “But we’re not a remake, like Plimoth [Plantation] or [Old] Sturbridge Village. We’ve got real houses here, and that’s kind of special.”
As for potential homebuyers entering the Nantucket market, “I think this puts them on notice, that if they think they want to redo a house, there’s a lot of help available for them to do it historically,” Heard said. “And there are not just resources available for the exterior, but the interior as well.
“This makes people better buyers. It makes them think more about why they’re coming to such a beautiful and historic place,” he said.
O’Connell said her organization is not looking to stop all development on Nantucket, but to suggest development be done in a way that helps to preserve the island.
“If you’re building a house, we would hope you would keep it in scale with the site,” she said. “If you have to do a teardown, we would hope the new house would keep with the cultural landscape of the area. With renovations or rehabs, you should preserve as much as possible.
“We understand people want to make changes, that would only make sense,” she said.
The real estate agents interviewed said they try to encourage historic preservation, which usually proves to be advantageous for the industry.
“Measures that are protective are ultimately proven to be the best for the community,” Dey said, “and what’s good for the community is good for the real estate market.”
