27 Main Street Siasconset House History

Atlantic House 2 7 MAIN

STREET • SIASCONSET

A House History

Atlantic House

27 MAIN STREET • SIASCONSET

A House History Written by Betsy Tyler Designed by Kathleen Hay

nantucket preservation trust 11 Centre Street • Nantucket, Massachusetts www.nantucketpreservation.org

Copyright Š 2019 Nantucket Preservation Trust All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the Nantucket Preservation Trust.

The text of this book was set in Perpetua, Bickham Script, and Dear Sarah.

Researched and written by Betsy Tyler, Nantucket, Massachusetts Michael May and Mary Bergman, Project Coordinators Designed by Kathleen Hay Designs Printed in the USA

A View of Siasconset a Fishing Village on Nantucket, by David Augustus Leonard, 1797

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“Siasconset Watering Place,� illustration from Rip-raps: or, Drift Thoughts Wide Apart by William Furniss (under the pseudonym Will C. Kerr), 1871

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Siasconset

“Its air is pure, its water good; its name is Siasconset”

y the late eighteenth century, the village of Siasconset (hereinafter ’Sconset) at the east end of Nantucket Island had evolved from a fishing station to a playground for residents of the ­island. ’Sconset boasted a more casual, carefree lifestyle than the town of Nantucket for those who journeyed across seven miles of sandy, windswept, treeless moors to the popular outpost. One could escape the predominantly Quaker town and find a bowling alley and a rum shop or two amid the fishing shacks clustered along the bluff. Young schoolteacher David Augustus Leonard, a Brown University ­graduate (1792), provides us with the first view of the village, sketched in 1797, to accompany his poem “Laws of ­Siasconset: a Ballad.” Leonard prefaced his poem with the following description of the place:

Siasconset is a pleasant village at the East end of Nantucket. It was erected by Gentlemen in town for their ­temporary ­convenience, during the season of fishing; which happens twice a year, Spring and Autumn. At this time it is much ­frequented, not only by those who are employed in fishing, but also by a great number of visitants, who afford themselves, on the occasion, much innocent festivity, and true sociability – Hence, a remarkable simplicity, and friendly plain dealing distinguish the moral character of the place, inasmuch that it amounts to a political Phenomenon—the laconism, “Siasconset Laws,” has so much obtained as a Proverb (denoting an entire freedom given to a friend, in all things with decency) that it is frequently used at tea tables in Europe.

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“At Siasconset, a place famed the ­country round, which every visitor to the Island makes a point of seeing, and where many would ­delight to tarry for a while, there are no ­suitable accommodations for the traveler.”

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eonard’s poem praises not only freedom from lawyers and priests and other social constraints, but lauds chowder, the culinary masterpiece of the village. His illustration depicts a busy scene looking east across recently arrived carts and chaises with their occupants strolling about near the pump (1776), and gazing over the two dozen or so cottages clustered on the bluff to a fleet of fishing boats offshore. It’s a rare and charming scene, imparting a real sense of time and place.

Getting to ’Sconset by horseback or chaise took hours and no one wanted to make the trip back to town after dark along the ill-defined, unlit roadway. Many Nantucket families had their own small getaway cottages in the village, but those tiny domiciles had little room to spare for visitors; by 1845, the increasing popularity of the place created demands for accommodation. On August 23rd of that year, the editor of the NantucketWeekly Mirror suggested:

It is for the interest of the citizens of Nantucket, to provide good accommodations for strangers, that they may be induced to remain with us. In town we have three excellent public houses, at either of which the traveler can “preserve his gentility,” and find everything in good style. But at Siasconset, a place famed the country round, which every visitor to the Island makes a point of seeing, and where many would delight to tarry for a while, there are no suitable accommodations for the traveler.

A few years later, much talk of a railroad from town to ’Sconset generated movement towards that project, with estimates of cost and profits discussed in the local paper in early 1848. In April, a surveyor arrived on island to investigate the proposed route, and in August a group of citizens requested a charter for the railroad from the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives. The project failed to garner the necessary financial backing, however, and although rail service to ’Sconset did not materialize until decades later, the idea of easy travel for more visitors surely influenced those who proposed to build a hotel the same year that talk of a railroad excited local businessmen.

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Sketch of the Atlantic House, by Anne D. Swift, c. 1870

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The Atlantic House 1848–1865

ailroad or not, the demand for a ’Sconset hostelry did not abate. In 1848, the project was begun when twenty-seven co-partners purchased land on Main Street, east of Barker Burnell’s house at 29 Main Street, from Edward W. Gardner. The property had once belonged to Burnell, who died in 1843. Among the investors were several wealthy Nantucketers who owned ’Sconset cottages—Frederick W. Mitchell (20 Main); Matthew Crosby (28 Main); and Matthew Starbuck (19 Main). These men had made their fortunes from whale oil, as had William Hadwen, another partner. Hadwen’s nephew Joseph Barney, and Barney’s wife Sarah, both invested too, along with Hadwen’s brotherin-law William C. Swain. Other partners included hat-manufacturer Harry S. Crocker, silversmith Edward G. Kelley, and a selection of mariners, ship owners, and merchants. Nantucketers were accustomed to business arrangements where the costs and risks were shared; it was the whaleship investment model, and by 1848 it appeared prudent to make investments on land-based enterprises.

The Nantucket Inquirer reported on March 14, 1848:

The new hotel at Siasconset is to be called the “Atlantic House,” a very appropriate name, we think. We learn that the house has been let to Mr. Henry S. Crocker, and that it is intended to have it ready to receive company by the 10th of June next. Mr. Crocker, we think, will keep a first rate house; such an one, we doubt not, as will give satisfaction to all who visit it.

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Below and opposite: Views of the Atlantic House, from stereographs

by Josiah Freeman, c. 1860s–70s

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Henry S. Crocker, Proprietor

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ne of the twenty-seven investors in the property, Henry S. “Harry” Crocker was originally from Barnstable. By the 1830s, he was in business on the island selling hats, boots, and shoes in a shop on Centre Street. He moved to Main Street in 1837, at the sign of the “gilt boot” and manufactured his product locally. In 1846, he took Henry C.Worth as a partner, but their business failed and by June 1 they were in the process of liquidating their stock. Harry Crocker was declared an “insolvent debtor” just two weeks before the Great Fire of July 13, 1846, a catastrophe that would spread financial hardship throughout the town. Crocker left the boot and shoe business behind and became a hotelier in 1848. He was praised for his management of the Atlantic House, which opened on July 13, 1848. In August, he added two bowling alleys to the property, and built a bathing house for his guests on the edge of the bluff. Twelve new lodging rooms were added before the hotel opened for its second season. Although the railroad to ’Sconset did not materialize, coach service did, coordinated with the arrival and departure of the steamship to New Bedford. Crocker got the Atlantic House off to a good start, then continued his new career as a hotel manager on the mainland, relocating to Boston to manage the United States Hotel for proprietor William H. Spooner in 1851.

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Love Pollard Parker (1800–97), attributed to William Swain, c. 1830-35

Love Pollard Parker, Hostess

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hen Crocker moved on from the Atlantic House, Love Pollard Parker took over management of the hotel. She had managed the Ocean House (Jared Coffin House) in town from its opening in 1847 to 1850, and the Mitchell House (no longer standing on Union Street) in 1850, and was a much-admired hostess. Mrs. Parker embodied Nantucket gentility and she had a close association to the island’s famed whaling history. Her brother, George Pollard Jr., was captain of the whaleship Essex, sunk by a whale in 1820—a catastrophic encounter that inspired Melville’s Moby-Dick, published in 1851.

People of note known to have stayed at the Atlantic House in its first two decades of operation include Colonel John C. Fremont, a controversial figure in the history of the American west, who spent part of the summer of 1855 at the Atlantic House, where he was described as “modest, simple, and unpretending in his deportment.”

The next year he would become the first Republican Party candidate for president, supported by Massachusetts Governor Henry Gardner, who also frequented the Atlantic House in 1856. It was quite the fashionable place to be, and Mrs. Parker made it so. Her last summer managing the establishment was 1859. No one stepped up to run the hotel during the Civil War years (1860–65), and owners of forty-eight shares of the property sold it to Reuben Chadwick in 1865.

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Cover of Atlantic House guestbook, 1874 16

Reuben and Eliza Chadwick

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1865–1901

euben (1813–71) and Eliza (1816–1903) Chadwick were apparently ready for a change of vocation in 1865. He was designated a carpenter in the 1850 U. S. Federal Census and a farmer in the 1860 census and was now prepared to undertake the hotel business.

The couple had recently lost three of their sons: George W. was killed in the Civil War in 1863; Josiah B., a mariner, was lost at sea about the same time; and Reuben C. died in March of 1865. Three younger children remained in the household: Martha (b. 1849), Frederick S. (b. 1857) and Sarah Eliza (b. 1862).

The Chadwicks held a ball at the Atlantic House in 1866. They advertised reduced rates for families staying a month or more and as an added incentive, “ice creams will be furnished for parties at short notice.” Reuben died in 1871, but Eliza kept the hotel going until the end of the century. She was “famous throughout the village” for her clam chowder and berry pies, specialties of the hotel dining room. On December 29, 1875, the Island Review erroneously reported that Eliza Chadwick had sold her hotel to Dr. F. A. Ellis and Charles H. Robinson, the developers of Sunset Heights, where the hotel would be moved to join the Ocean View House. In fact, Chadwick leased the hotel to Valentine O. Holmes for the 1876 and ’77 seasons.

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Recipes from Atlantic House guestbook, 1874 18

Advertisement from the Inquirer and Mirror, 1867

Advertisement from the Inquirer and Mirror, 1874 19

On August 5, 1876, a feature story on the ­Atlantic House ran in the Island Review, the third in a series of articles about island ­hotels:

This summer the management of the place has ­fallen into the experienced hands of Mr. Valentine O. Holmes and his amiable wife, who for many seasons gave such ­perfect satisfaction with the “Franklin House,” on the edge of the bluff. . . . Near the main building is the billiard-room, where lovers of the cue may find the only ­table in ’Sconset, and one which is in first-class ­condition. Croquet can also be joined in by those who take pleasure in this popular sport.

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Valentine Holmes (1814–84), c.1880s

The article continues with a description of surf-bathing and “­pleasant little dancing-parties. . . when the large ­dining hall is cleared for the occasion, and the house is merry with young couples from the village and from town.”

Valentine Holmes did not return the next year, so Chadwick leased the hotel to Mrs. W. S­ argent of Boston. In August, fifty guests filled all available rooms before Mrs. S­ argent closed the hotel on August 31 and sailed off to Europe to advance her ­musical education. A prolonged and d­ estructive windstorm blew two ­chimneys off the ­building that October.

Siasconset detail from Bird’s Eye View of the Town of Nantucket, by J. J. Stoner, 1881 21

View of ’Sconset by Reverend L. W. Bostwick, 1879

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Levi Starbuck, proprietor of the Ocean View House, ran the hotel in 1880, but Eliza Chadwick returned to manage her hotel again in 1881, after thoroughly renovating the building, and the property was improved with “additions” in 1885. On June 20, 1886, youngest Chadwick daughter, Sarah Eliza, married John C. Jones at the Atlantic House.

A writer for the Inquirer and Mirror discussed changes in the village during a ten-year period of growth in an article titled “’Sconset, Then and Now:Retrospective Glance at the “Patchwork Village,” comparing the village in 1877 and 1887.

The changes were striking:

Then, the village seemed dead, very dead. Not only did there seem no future for it, but the wonder was why it had a present or even a past. Now it is alive with a large summer population, and in winter it shows signs of activity that betoken permanent prosperity.

In 1887, old fisherman’s cottages were selling for $1,000 or more, when in 1877 they were available for $200 or less. In 1877, only a few new houses were built, but by 1887 a hundred new summer cottages had been constructed, thirty of those by Edward F. Underhill, whose replica fishermen’s cottages were clustered on Pochick, Evelyn, and Lily Streets. Two grocery stores, two butcher shops, daily ice delivery, and locally grown vegetables were all available to the summer visitor in 1887.

The Atlantic House in 1877 “was but an exaggerated boarding house, with a slim patronage” but a decade later “its attic has been utilized by the erection of dormer windows, and it prospers even with its enlargement.”

Sarah Eliza Chadwick, 1882

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Atlantic House with new dormers, c. 1887

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Eliza continued to run the hotel, but advertised it for sale in 1889, eventually leasing it to Mrs. Eliza M. Harrison of North Adams, Massachusetts for the season. Still for sale, the thirty-six-room hotel was leased to H. E. Burditt, of the Howland House, New Bedford, for the 1890 season. In 1895, Mr. William H. Harrison of New York ran the hotel and was injured when lightning struck on August 13:

About 2 p.m. a bolt struck the Atlantic House, Siasconset, and its freaks were marvelous. Not a portion of the entire structure escaped its demoralizing effects. The flag-staff was splintered and the pieces hurled about for rods; great bays of shingles were torn from the roofs, and immense holes made through to the attic, where havoc was wrought. On the second floor but one or two rooms escaped a visitation, and furniture and bedding were hurled about in the greatest confusion and in many instances thoroughly demoralized, a large bureau having the appearance of having succumbed to strokes from an axe. Window panes were knocked out, and the fluid appears to have spread and sought to have made its work of demolition complete, for on every side, viewed from the exterior, evidence of its presence is plainly to be seen, the torn wood-work and splinters being very much in evidence.

Mr.W. H. Harrison, the proprietor, who was busily engaged at his desk at the time, was rendered senseless and his face severely cut by the flying pieces of glass, wood and plaster, and he was at first thought to have been killed, but came to, and is on the road to recovery after his unenviable experience.

Strange to relate, of the forty guests in the hotel at the time, none suffered bodily harm, but a few suffered slight shocks. In several instances the escape from injury or death was miraculous. A waitress carrying a lot of plates was slightly shocked, and the crockery was chipped by the festive fluid.

A lady guest who was reading, suddenly found herself beneath a splintered bureau (the one above noted), and hurling the pieces from her, hurried with the children from the room.

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Although the building was insured for $2,000 and repairs presumably made, it remained unoccupied for a couple years, even though the number of summer visitors was on the rise. The village was just beginning to attract the theater crowd who would soon make it an Actors Colony, and the Ocean View House and Annex at Sunset Heights were popular with these new thespian visitors who tended to congregate there and at the Underhill cottages on Pochick, Lily, and Evelyn Streets. G. H. Brinton took on the Atlantic House in 1898 and ran it as a “first-class� boarding house, making interior renovations and improving the grounds. An Aermotor watermill was erected in 1899, and a shuffle-board court was added, but Brinton had grander plans and in 1901 built a large hotel called the Beach House on Ocean Avenue.

Detail of Sanborn Insurance Company map, 1898

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Atlantic House, with water mill, c. 1890s

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Rogers family, (l to r) Selma Rogers holding baby Warren Rogers, George Rogers Jr., Fredericka Rogers, George Rogers Sr. holding baby Blanche Rogers, Martha Rogers Holdgate, Imogene Rogers Orr, Bertha Holdgate Coffin holding child Francis Coffin 28

Imogene F. Orr 1853–1921

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fter ten years on the market, the Atlantic House was finally sold in 1901 to Imogene F. Orr, widow of Charles Orr. A native of ’Sconset, Imogene was the daughter of George W. Rogers and Fredericka Wilhelmina Toppe of 23 Main Street. In 1847, when she was eighteen years old, Fredericka, a German immigrant, was shipwrecked off Nantucket in the Louis Philippe. She was rescued and taken in by the Rogers family. George Rogers taught her to speak English, and they eventually married. Imogene was the younger of their two daughters. In the late nineteenth century, Imogene owned a house situated between 20 and 22 Main Street and ran it as a boarding house for a number of years; she had experience in the business and was well-known in ’Sconset. She spruced up the Atlantic House, ordered new furniture, and added a new feature to the rooms—closets.

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Atlantic House, stereograph by Alanson S. Barney, 1904

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Imogene Orr’s house, situated between 20 and 22 Main Street

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Sanborn Insurance Company map details, 1904 and 1909

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Orr Cottage (heretofore known as the Atlantic House) is open for the season. The interior has undergone a decided ­transformation, and is most decidedly improved. Not only has the house been supplied with new f­urniture, but it has been thoroughly papered and painted, and is r­ emarkably ­attractive. The dining room would do credit to a hotel, and there is a private dining room and fine toilets. Mrs. I. F. Orr has a ­splendidly appointed house, in which she justly takes pride, and the demand for rooms assures a successful season.

Mrs. I. F. Orr has a splendidly ­appointed house, in which she ­justly takes pride, and the demand for rooms assures a successful season.

Sanborn Insurance Company maps from 1904 and 1909 show that a two-story barn evident on the 1898 map had been ­removed from the property, as had a one-story ell on the north side of the ­building.

Continuing a tradition established early on, Orr held dances at the Atlantic House in the summer, and ­locals ­occasionally utilized the space in the off-season for meetings, balls, hops, and socials. ­Celebrated guests at the hostelry included star of the American and English stage Nanette Comstock and ­well-known Canadian poet Bliss Carman, who penned ­several poems about ’Sconset during his stay there.

Orr mortgaged the Atlantic House property to ­previous owner Eliza Chadwick in 1901, but failed to ­comply with the terms of that agreement in 1909, and the property was put on the auction block. When the day of the auction rolled around, there were no b­ idders. Although the village was bursting at the seams during the summer season, no one seemed ­willing to take a risk on the Atlantic House. It sat empty in 1910, advertised for sale “at a bargain.”

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’Sconset, by Bliss Carman, c. 1910s

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Louise Streeter Warren 1911–1922

amilies from Detroit had long been coming to Nantucket. In fact, the compound now known as Wade Cottages was early on called “Detroitville” after Henry K. White, a Detroit capitalist who built the original cottages at that location in the 1880s. The first of several Detroiters to own 27 Main Street, Louise Streeter Warren was a somewhat controversial figure in ’Sconset, where she purchased a house on Shell Street in 1905, and named it Waldorf Astoria Jr. She appeared in court in Nantucket a number of times, most famously when three of her chickens were stolen and served up in a chowder by some local carpenters. She was also sued by creditors, including a private detective she hired to look into the chicken incident and other perceived transgressions.

Warren acquired the Atlantic House in early 1911, with plans to “redecorate and refurnish the entire house.” She had difficulties due to bad management and was liable for unpaid taxes and debts. Her brother attempted to have her declared insane and himself appointed her guardian (she was heir to a large fortune left by their father, a self-described Detroit capitalist) but she was eventually adjudged to be sane.

The precipitous decline of the Atlantic House was due in part to neglect, poor management, and the advent of World War I, which put a damper on travel to Nantucket. On top of that, the railroad to ’Sconset ceased service at the end of the 1917 season. A Sheriff’s Sale of the Atlantic House occurred in 1922 and well-known ’Sconset benefactor David Gray purchased the property.

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David Gray, 1928 36

Martha and David Gray

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1922–1929

avid Gray (1870–1928) first visited ’Sconset in 1912.The resort village may have been recommended to him by family friends in Detroit, where he grew up. He soon bought property in the village and became its most generous and best-loved benefactor.

David and Martha Gray rented Milestone Cottage at 22 Main Street from playwright Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland for two years before purchasing the property in 1914. Each year they made the long trek across the country from their winter home in Santa Barbara, arriving in July for the season and immersing themselves in the life of the village. In 1918, they bought from Imogene Orr the house next door to them, removed it, and expanded their garden to McKinley Avenue. Gray contributed funds to improve McKinley Avenue, enabling the creation of a much-admired, shell-lined roadway, which prompted more Gray-funded shell roadways—including Broadway—in ’Sconset. In 1921, Gray purchased 285 acres of land for the development of Sankaty Head Golf Course and built the clubhouse. His generosity was backed by a large inheritance from his father, John S. Gray, an early investor in, and first president of, the Ford Motor Company. In 1923, the Grays donated funds for alterations to the Siasconset Casino and hired Frederick P. Hill, formerly of the architectural firm McKim, Meade & White, to undertake structural work and improve the interior, where latticework was added to the main hall. Not only did Gray fund thoughtful projects to improve his adopted summer village, he also donated property to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital on West Chester Street in Nantucket, and contributed to his winter community in Santa Barbara.

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The Gray’s Milestone Cottage at 22 Main Street (right), before 1923

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Resituated and renovated, the Atlantic House as a residence, c. 1925 39

Postcard by H. Marshall Gardiner, c.1920s

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One feature new to the building in the 1920s was the fieldstone fireplace in the living room, similar to one at the Sankaty Head Golf Club clubhouse that was c­reated from stones selected

by Gray as he walked the golf course during its construction.

Louise Streeter Warren’s tenure at the Atlantic House had not been beneficial to the property—it was ­described in the Inquirer and Mirror as “somewhat of an eyesore” when the Grays acquired it. ­­Architect Hill agreed, inspecting the house with Gray and noting the “awful condition,” which ­presented a challenge and an opportunity. The ­Inquirer and ­Mirror reported in September 1923 that the Atlantic House would be turned broadside to the street, but further notice of improvements to the property do not appear in local newspapers. Hill took charge of the project, however, recording brief remarks about the work in notebooks found now in the collection of Rutgers University. One feature new to the building in the 1920s was the fieldstone fireplace in the living room, similar to one at the Sankaty Head Golf Club clubhouse that was created from stones selected by Gray as he walked the golf course during its construction. It seems likely that Gray used some of his stockpile of stones for the fireplace at 27 Main Street.

Town of Nantucket tax and valuation reports ­reveal that in 1922, 1923, and 1924 the old hotel was v­alued at $4,000. In 1925, however, the structure is classified as a dwelling valued at $15,000 with a garage, lighting plant, and watering system valued at $1,500. In 1926, the ­assessment on the Main Street dwelling was $16,000, and remained so for the remainder of the decade, ­indicating that the r­ enovations were complete.

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David Gray memorial, c. 1930s

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It appears that the Grays continued to summer at Milestone Cottage (22 Main Street) even after the work at 27 Main Street was finished, and in 1926 Gray moved an old cottage from ’Sconset to his land in the Hidden Forest in Polpis and built a little retreat there that is still family property today. Although planning to return to the island for the summer of 1928, David Gray developed pneumonia and died on May 18. The loss to the island, and to Santa Barbara, of a friend and benefactor was significant. The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Nantucket unanimously adopted a resolution that included the following laudatory statement: “That in the death of Mr. Gray this Town loses a friend who was always active and zealous in furthering the interest of Nantucket and Siasconset and who was always prompt to advance the interest of the same devoted to its welfare and prosperity; one who was wise in counsel and fearless in action; an honest and upright man, whose virtues endeared him to all his fellow citizens.” In further appreciation of his contributions to ’Sconset, friends of David Gray raised funds and engaged architect Frederick P. Hill to design a memorial. At what was previously a triangle of roads at the east end of Main Street, Hill envisioned a concrete circle surrounding a pedestal upon which a tall flagpole, with port and starboard lights on the crossbar, would daily fly the American flag.

Martha Gray sold both 22 and 27 Main Street soon after David died. His probate inventory listed the value of the two properties: Milestone Cottage, $12,000 dwelling and $15,000 land; and Atlantic House Property, $20,000 dwelling and $11,000 land. Each property ­included a garage and a lighting plant.

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Advertisement for Duncan School of Dance featuring Anita Zahn, New York City, October, 1940 44

Caroline B. Sarmiento

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1929–1936

rom Farmington, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Caroline Sarmiento (1859–1941) was sixty-nine when she purchased the recently renovated Atlantic House, now reconfigured as a private residence. The 1930 U. S. Federal Census indicates that she was a widow residing in Farmington with a live-in cook, chauffeur, and French maid; no other family members were listed, although sources reveal that her husband, Francis J. Sarmiento, lived until 1946. He had worked as auditor and assistant secretary of the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway Company, along with Caroline’s father, Charles Clark Bowen, who was secretary and treasurer of the company.

It appears that the couple separated, and Francis was living in California. Caroline’s brother, Lemuel Warner Bowen, was one of the early financial backers of Henry Ford, but left the company to become president of the new Cadillac Automobile Company. Sarmiento may have known David Gray through the automobile industry connection.

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Caroline Sarmiento owned the property at 27 Main Street for six years, during which time the Duncan Summer School of the Arts occupied the building for several summers. Throughout this period, Sarmiento is not mentioned in ’Sconset Notes, the village social column in the Inquirer and Mirror, so it appears that, like the Grays, she may not have been in residence at the property during her ownership.

The Duncan School was founded by Elizabeth Duncan, sister of famous dancer Isadora Duncan, who had tragically died in 1927. The school taught natural movement and interpretive dancing, free from the constraints of formal ballet training. Anita Zahn, the lead dancer-educator, first brought her ideas and classes to the ’Sconset School of Opinion which was held in the Tavern on the Moors, on School Street, in 1924, and operated a branch of her world-renowned school (other Duncan schools were in France, Germany, Austria, and New York) there for a number of years. By 1932, she had moved the school to the former Atlantic House, where it continued for several more summers. Children ages four to sixteen danced, studied music and rhythm, were instructed in painting, drawing, and wood-carving, and they swam and played sports. Recitals and performances were often held, and the lawn of the old hostelry was filled with little girls in dirndl dresses singing folk-songs and dancing.

Caroline Sarmiento owned the property at 27 Main Street for six years, during which time the Duncan Summer School of the Arts occupied the building for several summers.

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Excerpt from Anita Zahn Memorial Celebration program, 1995

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Larsen family photo, courtesy of Chris Larsen

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Margaret and Roy Larsen

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1936–1969

argaret and Roy Larsen were well-known ’Sconseters, who at one time or another owned three houses on Main Street in the village. In 1936, they purchased 27 Main Street; in 1947, they purchased Milestone Cottage at 22 Main Street, the former home of David and Martha Gray; and in 1982, Margaret Larsen bought Rosemary, the cottage at 29 Main Street, formerly the home of actors George Fawcett and Percy Haswell, key figures in the ’Sconset Actors Colony of the early twentieth century. Both nineteenth-century cottages at 22 and 29 Main were transformed by the addition of similar two-story Federal-style facades during Larsen’s ownership.

Margaret Larsen began remodeling what had become known as the “Duncan School” in March 1936, hiring Ernest Coffin to begin the work, which included creating a second-floor apartment with two bedrooms and a kitchen. Coffin also built a “six-room house” for Larsen on School Street in 1937.

Referred to in the Inquirer and Mirror as a craftsman and artisan, Coffin was a well-known ’Sconset carpenter, who in addition to building and remodeling houses reconstructed the bridge over the gulley in 1928 and restored the old pump in 1943. The Larsens were the first family to settle into the house and make it a vacation home, one they appreciated and enjoyed for decades. Margaret and children came to ’Sconset for the season, and Roy joined them in ’Sconset each weekend, often sailing his yacht The Karen from their home in Connecticut, to Nantucket. It was sailor Larsen who installed the red and green port and starboard lights at the front door of the Main Street house.

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The Larsens were noted for their local philanthropy.

Margaret, who lived to be a hundred years old, was a passionate conservationist and avid birder. She and Roy, one of the founders of the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, donated more than 1,600 acres of land to the foundation and also established the Connecticut Audubon Society’s Margot and Roy Larsen Sanctuary, as well as an arboretum in the Bahamas and another sanctuary in Texas.

1923 Sanborn Insurance Company map

Roy Larsen was one of the first employees of Time magazine, where he was circulation manager in 1922, before the premier issue of the magazine was published.

He became vice-president of Time Inc. in 1927, and president in 1939, a position he held for twenty-one years. He retired in 1979 and died the same year; Margaret survived him by twenty-five years, eventually spending her summers at Rosemary, 29 Main Street, next door to her former summer home.

1949 Sanborn Insurance Company map

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27 Main Street, 1960s, courtesy of Chris Larsen 51

27 Main Street, 1970s, courtesy of Sharon Lourie 52

Sharon J. and Donold K. Lourie

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1969–2009

on and Sharon “Sherry” Lourie purchased 27 Main Street from Margaret Larsen in 1969, after vacationing the previous summer in ’Sconset, their first season on the island. The former hotel with its gracious rooms and grounds reminded Don of a family farm in Peru, Illinois. It was perfect for a large family that included their two daughters, plus Don’s three children from a previous marriage. The building was in good repair after the Larsens’ long ownership, as were the furniture and furnishings sold with the house. According to Sherry Lourie, they were in mint condition and suited her taste, so it was a turn-key property.

The Louries liked the farmhouse feel of the rambling old house with the spacious lawn in front and sought to preserve that characteristic of the property by placing a preservation easement on the south façade and the front lawn, in recognition of the possibility of future owners subdividing the property and dramatically altering the streetscape. Recorded in 2001, the easement held by ’Sconset Trust Inc. protects the “significant gardens and open space, including mature vegetation, that contribute to the setting, context, and the historic streetscape of Main Street, Siasconset.”

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An essential element of preservation easement is the façade that faces Main Street:

The relationship of the south façade of the Residence to the Property is an integral part of the Village of Siasconset’s historic settlement pattern with the transition from the comparatively sparsely vegetated and settled Milestone Road area into the densely settled Village of Siasconset being characterized by a scattering of large houses with open lawns, informal gardens, picket fences and privet hedges on large lots set back behind Main Street’s row of mature deciduous trees that are planted on a wide apron of grass, evoking a traditional rural village green.

During their ownership of 27 Main, the Louries made no structural changes to the house, but in 1982 they renovated the cottage/garage situated at the north end of the property, adding a small greenhouse to the west end of the structure and creating a onebedroom residence with a kitchen, dining room, and living room.

Don and Sherry Lourie each assumed a one-half interest in the house in 1985. Don Lourie, an attorney, businessman, and novelist died in 2008.

Sherry continued to own a half-interest until 2009, when the property was sold to her daughter and sonin-law Samantha and Matthew Fremont-Smith.

Entry gate, courtesy of Sharon Lourie 54

27 Main Street, courtesy of Sharon Lourie

55

Winter view, courtesy of Sharon Lourie 56

Thanksgiving celebration, courtesy of Sharon Lourie

Summer dining, courtesy of Sharon Lourie

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East side entrance, courtesy of Sharon Lourie

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Ready for the Next Century

S

2009–

amantha (Lourie) and Matt Fremont-Smith assumed ownership and stewardship of the family beach home in 2009, with plans to maintain and stabilize the well-loved dwelling while incorporating modern amenities. All repairs required disassembling and reassembling so the house looked untouched. The Fremont-Smiths engaged Chris Dallmus of the Architectural firm Design Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to design and oversee the multi-stage project conducted by Mark Godfrey of Godfrey Construction, Inc. of Nantucket.

Some cosmetic changes—patching and painting floors, walls, and ceilings—readied the house for occupancy in the summer of 2009 and allowed time to plan for additional restoration and refurbishment over the winter. In December 2009, a building permit was issued for renovating the dining, living, and family rooms on the first floor, as well as four baths, a laundry room and eight bedrooms on the second floor. This phase of the project was followed by transforming the attic to a cedar-walled playroom for the younger members of the Fremont-Smith family. The final and most significant change to the house was the renovation of the kitchen and the cluster of small rooms on the north side of the first floor that were reconfigured as a guest suite with bedroom, bath, and sitting room. A large entry deck was added to the east side of the house, leading to the newly expanded, light-filled kitchen.

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60

The Fremont-Smiths were careful to retain the charm of the house that had been in the family for more than forty years. On the first floor, floorboards were lifted, repaired, and repainted, with decorative stenciling by Audrey Sterk added to the front hall entry. Failed flooring in the living room was replaced and painted to match the dining room floor. A coffered ceiling and built-in cabinetry were added to the living room and made a noticeable but sensitive alteration to the room. Many of the changes and upgrades to the house were far more subtle—all windows were removed and reglazed, white paint was removed from the cobbled fireplace, new wiring and plumbing were installed and every detail was carefully considered, from door hardware to a new front gate that matches the second-floor balustrade.

According to Mark Godfrey, the most challenging project area of the house, and the one that made the most dramatic difference, was the new kitchen. Venting the range required some creative problem solving, resulting in a soffit that extends through the butler’s pantry to the north end of the house. A wall separating the old kitchen from a warren of small bedrooms on the north side of the house was removed to expand the kitchen space, allowing for a breakfast area that opens onto a west-facing terrace.

As with most carefully considered renovations of historic dwellings, kitchens and bathrooms were modernized and upgraded to contemporary tastes and standards, while living rooms, dining rooms, and bed chambers retain much of their original integrity. The fine craftsmanship evident in the restoration and renovation of the old hotel was recognized by a Craftsman Award presented to Mark Godfrey by the ‘Sconset Trust. The Nantucket Preservation Trust awarded the John A. and Katherine Steward Lodge Stewardship Award to the Fremont-Smith family in 2011.

Renovation progress photos, 2009, courtesy of Mark Godfrey

A summer day at 27 Main Street features constant activity as children rush off to tennis lessons at the Casino and adults gather at the breakfast table to plan their day.

Bicycles and swimsuits are available for sunny days, board games and movies in the attic for stormy ones, and a fire in the fireplace as the nights turn chilly. Encompassing all is the continuity passed down through the generations of a love of ’Sconset and the family retreat on Main Street. � 61

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The fine craftsmanship evident in the restoration and renovation of the old hotel was recognized by the Nantucket Preservation Trust, which presented the John A. and Katherine Steward Lodge Stewardship Award to the FremontSmith family in 2011.

Renovation progress photos, 2010, courtesy of Mark Godfrey 63

Stenciled entry hall by Audrey Sterk, courtesy of Betsy Tyler Renovation progress photos, 2010, courtesy of Mark Godfrey 64

Renovation progress photos, 2011, courtesy of Mark Godfrey 65

Renovation progress photos, 2010–11, courtesy of Mark Godfrey 66

Living room, 2018, courtesy of Betsy Tyler

Dining room, 2018, courtesy of Betsy Tyler

Kitchen and breakfast area, 2012, courtesy of Mark Godfrey 67

Game room, 2018, courtesy of Betsy Tyler

Greenhouse renovation, courtesy of Mark Godfrey

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Greenhouse renovation, courtesy of Mark Godfrey 69

Seasonal views, 2011, courtesy of Mark Godfrey

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71 75

Land Court Plan, 1923, omitting the building, due to reorientation project

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Appendix A: Architectural History

by Michael May, Executive Director

The Atlantic House, completed in 1848 as a hotel, was larger than the current residence and rivaled massive timber-framed structures built in town in the first half of the nineteenth century. In form, it is similar to the main block of the 1830s Hicksite Friends Meeting House that once stood on Main Street in Nantucket and was later moved –– first to Brant Point to serve as a hotel and then to Washington Street as the Dreamland Theatre. Few other structures of this size and type remain, due in part to the Great Fire of 1846 that destroyed many framed buildings in town.

Although a utilitarian form, the Atlantic House hotel contained architectural elements not commonly found in commercial buildings or meeting houses on island. Early photographs suggest these elements were decorative features associated with the Federal style popular on island in the 1830s, and the new Greek Revival style that predominated new Nantucket buildings by the late 1840s. The use of Federal and Greek Revival elements echoed the decorative features found on the cottages constructed during the previous decade along Main Street in ’Sconset. The Atlantic House became the centerpiece of this planned village street and, although larger in scale, it complemented the streetscape and surrounding cottages. In addition to being compatible in design, the hotel –– like nearby cottages –– was set back from the roadway, with ample front and side yards. In addition, it adopted symmetrical fenestration and its exterior included a touch of classical elements, including columns for a two-tiered porch with balustrade, a heavily molded cornice forming a tympanum, and a tripartite window with lunette in the gable end, which was popular in Federal buildings. A nod to the Greek Revival style is largely represented in the hotel’s original placement, with its gable end facing the street and its shingles painted white –– both reminiscent of a Greek temple. Overall, the structure was restrained in its use of decorative elements, a pattern common to island architecture.

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Site plan by Charles W. Hart & Assoc., Inc., 2001, showing restricted area 74

In the 1920s, the structure underwent a major transformation. The old hotel was remodeled into a residence, reduced in height and turned ninety degrees on the lot. Architect Frederick P. Hill (1862–1957), known as “the architect of Nantucket,” had a passion for old buildings and worked with neighbor and Atlantic House owner David Gray to sensitively convert the hotel into a comfortable home. Hill was more than capable of completing the project for the Gray family.

He had studied under Charles McKim of the leading architectural firm of the era, McKim, Mead & White. McKim was Hill’s mentor and introduced him to artisans as well as sent him to Europe to study classical design and to source building materials. Hill remained at McKim, Mead & White for seventeen years, serving as McKim’s right-hand man before forming his own firm with engineer Edmund C. Stout. Known as Hill & Stout, the firm remained active in the New York City region and in Bermuda — Hill’s winter home –– until 1917. Hill & Stout worked on major commissions, from city skyscrapers to elegant seaside villas.

It is unknown when Hill first came to Nantucket, but in 1890 he married Florence Maria Merriam — the granddaughter of Matthew Starbuck of Middle Brick mansion in Nantucket town. Florence inherited Starbuck Cottage at 19 Main Street in ’Sconset and Frederick soon began a 30-plus year practice on island. His Nantucket commissions were more modest than his previous work, in keeping with the island traditions. Among his best-known Nantucket projects are the design for the Sankaty Head Clubhouse; improvements to the ’Sconset Casino, including the front porch additions and the installation of the interior’s lattice ceiling; and alterations to the ’Sconset Chapel such as its buttresses.

Today, Atlantic House is a rare example of mid-1800s commercial architecture and is also significant for the Colonial Revival updates introduced by Hill for the Gray family. In keeping with Hill’s classical training and attention to detail, he incorporated simple classical elements such as the end pilasters, reintroduced a roof walk that had graced the original design, and added new, sensitive elements such as the stone chimneys that are now part of the house’s architectural history and charm.

Since its construction, the Atlantic House has been a ’Sconset landmark, and is now beautifully preserved and protected for future generations.

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Timeline

1602 1620 1630–48 1641 1659

1660

1663

Bartholomew Gosnold sights Nantucket from the Concord Plimoth Plantation Taj Mahal, Agra, India Nantucket deeded to Thomas Mayhew and Son by Lord Sterling Nantucket deeded by Mayhew for thirty pounds and two beaver hats to the original purchasers First group of settlers arrive West end of island bought from the Indians Peter Foulger and other tradesmen move to the island; fishing and farming are main occupations 1673 Whaling commenced in boats from the shore 1675 Auld Lang Syne, 6 Broadway, Siasconset 1686 Jethro Coffin House (lean-to house) 1 Sunset Hill 1690 Christopher Starbuck House (lean-to house) 105 Main Street 1693 Nantucket transferred from New York to Massachusetts 1696–1708 St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Sir Christopher Wren 1704 Society of Friends formally organized on Nantucket 1719 White population, 721 1722 Rotch Counting House (Georgian style) foot of Main Street 1722–24 Captain Richard Gardner 111 House (lean-to style) 34 West Chester Street 1723 Straight Wharf built

Old North Church, Boston, William Price 1725 North Shore Meeting House, later moved to 62 Centre Street 1726 Thomas Starbuck House (typical Nantucket house) 11 Milk Street

White population, 917 1730 Quanaty Bank dug away to make land from Union Street to the present shore 1746 Windmill, built by Nathan Wilbur, South Mill Street 1763–64 White population, 3,220

Indian population, 358 (Indian plague results in 222 deaths, leaving only 136 Indians) 1765 Shore whaling ceased

North Shore Meeting House moved from site near No Bottom Pond to present site at 62 Centre Street (Old North Vestry of First Congregational Church) 1767 Silas Paddock House (gambrel-roof house) 18 India Street 1770–1800 Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson 77

1774 1775–81 1784

1790

Population, 4,545, including one clergyman, two doctors, and one lawyer Approximately 1,600 Nantucketers lost their lives during the American Revolution Population, 4,269 Lighthouse erected at Great Point Hezekiah Swain House (typical Nantucket house) also known as Maria Mitchell House, 1 Vestal Street 1791 First whaling ship sails from Nantucket to the Pacific Ocean 1792 Capital of United States, Washington, D.C., Thornton, Bulfinch, Latrobe, Mills,

and Walter 1800 Population, 5,617 1809 Joseph Starbuck House (federal style) 4 New Dollar Lane

Second Congregational Meeting House, 11 Orange Street 1815–23 Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England, John Nash 1818 Pacific National Bank (federal style) 61 Main Street c.1820s The African Meeting House (Greek Revival style) 29 York Street 1821 Nantucket Inquirer begins publication 1822–23 Methodist Church (Greek Revival style) 2 Centre Street, modified in 1840 1829–34 Moors End, built for Jared Coffin (Federal style) 19 Pleasant Street 1830 State House, Boston, Bulfinch and Upjohn 1834 First Congregational Church (Gothic Revival style) 62 Centre Street

Atheneum incorporated 1837 Capt. Levi Starbuck House (Greek Revival style) 14 Orange Street 1836–38 The Three Bricks (Federal-Greek Revival style) 93, 95, and 97 Main Street 1837 William H. Crosby House (Greek Revival style) 1 Pleasant Street 1838 Quaker Meeting House, 7 Fair Street

Atheneum acquires Universalist Church building (1825) Lower India Street 1840 Population, 9,712

Baptist Church (Greek Revival style) 1 Summer Street 1841 Frederick Douglass speaks at the Atheneum 1844 William Hadwen Houses (Greek Revival style) 94 and 96 Main Street 1846 Great Fire, July 13 and 14 1847 E. F. Easton House (Easton-Joy House) (Gothic style) 4 North Water Street

Maria Mitchell discovers the first telescopic comet, named after her

Atheneum (Greek Revival style) rebuilt after Great Fire, Lower India Street 78

1849–61 Population declines due to California Gold Rush and the Civil War 1851 Crystal Palace, Great Exhibition, Hyde Park, London, J. Paxton 1852–54 Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin Lancasterian School (Greek Revival style)

4 Winter Street 1855 Abram Quary, reputed last Indian, dies 1865 Population, 4,748 Nantucket Inquirer and Nantucket Weekly Mirror merge to form Inquirer and Mirror 1872 Nantucket economy begins to revive with tourist trade

Eliza Starbuck Barney House (Victorian style) 73 Main Street 1875 Population, 3,201

Innishail (Shingle style) 11 Cliff Road 1881 Nantucket Railroad constructed to Surfside 1882 Union Chapel, 18 New Street, Siasconset 1884 Nantucket Railroad extended to Siasconset 1888 Eiffel Tower, Paris, Gustav Eiffel 1889 Electric lighting introduced to Nantucket 1894 Nantucket Historical Association established

The Mayflower (American Shingle style) Baxter Road, Siasconset 1897 St. Mary’s Church (Queen Anne style) Federal Street 1900 Siasconset Casino (Shingle style) New Street, Siasconset 1901 St. Paul’s Church (Richardsonian Romanesque) 16 Fair Street 1904 Nantucket Historical Association (poured concrete) 7 Fair Street 1909 Robie House, Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright 1916 First telephone transmission from Nantucket to mainland 1931 Empire State Building, New York City, Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon 1955 Historic District Commission created 1957 Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, Jorn Utzon 1964 Sherburne Associates formed 1966 Island of Nantucket designated a National Historic Landmark 1984 Nantucket Island Land Bank established 1997 Nantucket Preservation Trust established 2000 Nantucket Island on National Trust for Historic Preservation’s List of Most Endangered Places 79

Illustrations

p. 3 A View of Siasconset a Fishing Village on Nantucket, by David Augustus Leonard, 1797, courtesy of the NHA, 1933.22.1 p. 4 “Siasconset Watering Place,” illustration from Rip-raps: or, Drift Thoughts Wide Apart by William Furniss (under the

pseudonym Will C. Kerr), 1871, courtesy of the NHA, 917.3 F989r p. 8 Sketch of the Atlantic House, by Anne D. Swift, c. 1870, courtesy of the NHA, 1985.5.1 p. 10 Stereograph by Josiah Freeman, c. 1860s–70s, courtesy of the NHA, GPN692 p. 11 Stereograph by Josiah Freeman, c. 1860s–70s, courtesy of the NHA, GPN926 p. 12 Advertisement from the Inquirer and Mirror, June 10, 1848 p. 14 Love Pollard Parker (1800–97), attributed to William Swain, c. 1830–35, courtesy of the NHA, 1927.1.1 p. 15 Advertisement from the Inquirer and Mirror, June 3, 1853 pp. 16, 18 Atlantic House guestbook, courtesy of the NHA, MS 434, folder 1 p. 19 Advertisements from the Inquirer and Mirror, July 27, 1867; June 13, 1874 p. 20 Photographic portrait of Valentine Holmes, c. 1880s, courtesy of the NHA, GPN85 p. 21 Detail from Bird’s Eye View of the Town of Nantucket by J. J. Stoner, 1881, courtesy of the NHA, MS1000.6.1.21 p. 22 View of ’Sconset by Reverend L. W. Bostwick, 1879, courtesy of the NHA, 1979.18.1 p. 23 Photographic portrait of Sarah Eliza Chadwick, 1882, courtesy of the NHA P18477 p. 24 Atlantic House with new dormers, c. 1887, courtesy of the NHA A44-62 p. 26 Insurance Maps of Nantucket and Siasconset Massachusetts, Nantucket Co., July 1898. New York: Sanborn-Perris Map Co.

Limited, c. 1898, courtesy of the NHA (online research database) p. 27 Atlantic House with water mill, c. 1890s, courtesy of the NHA, SC282 p. 28 Rogers family photograph, courtesy of the NHA, SC880-1 p. 30 Atlantic House, stereograph by Alanson S. Barney, 1904, courtesy of the NHA, SG14166 p. 31 Orr house, courtesy of the NHA, GPN711 p. 32 Insurance Maps of Nantucket, Nantucket County Massachusetts, Oct. 1904. New York: Sanborn Map Company, c.1904; Insurance Maps of Nantucket, Nantucket County Massachusetts, Aug. 1909. New York: Sanborn Map Company, c.1909,

courtesy of the NHA (online research database) p. 34 Bliss Carmen poem, courtesy of the NHA, MS 43, folder 1.5 p. 36 David Gray, 1928, courtesy of the NHA, SC707 p. 38 22 Main Street, before 1923, courtesy of the NHA, GPN4433 p. 39 27 Main Street, c. 1925, courtesy of the NHA, F797 p. 40 Postcard by H. Marshall Gardiner, c. 1920s, PC-Clubs-29 81

Door hardware detail, courtesy of Mark Godfrey 82

p. 42 David Gray memorial, c. 1930s, courtesy of the NHA, SC689-20 p. 44 Advertisement for Duncan School of Dance featuring Anita Zahn, New York City, October, 1940, isadoraduncanarchive.org p. 47 Excerpt from Anita Zahn Memorial Celebration program, November 5, 1995, collection of Barbara Kane, isadoraduncanarchive.org p. 48 Larsen family photo, courtesy of Chris Larsen p. 50 Nantucket, Including Siasconset and Wauwinet, Nantucket County, Oct. 1923. New York: Sanborn Map Co., c. 1924; Nantucket, Including Siasconset and Wauwinet, Nantucket County, Oct. 1923. New Report, October, 1936. Revision No. 3

corrected 8/42, attached 5/45; Revision No. 4 corrected 8/49, attached 7/50, courtesy of the NHA (online research database) p. 51 27 Main Street, 1960s, courtesy of Chris Larsen pp. 52–58 Photographs courtesy of Sharon Lourie pp. 60–71, 78 Construction photographs, courtesy of Mark Godfrey p. 64 (left) Stenciled floor by Audrey Sterk, courtesy of Betsy Tyler p. 67 (top) Living room, dining room, game room, courtesy of Betsy Tyler p. 72 Land Court Plan, 1923 p. 74 Site plan by Charles W. Hart & Assoc., Inc., 2001 p. 82 Door hardware detail, courtesy of Mark Godfrey

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Notes and Sources

Abbreviations AH Atlantic House NHARL HN Historic Nantucket NI I&M Inquirer & Mirror NRD MS Manuscript Collection PIN

Siasconset

Nantucket Historical Association Research Library Nantucket Inquirer Nantucket Registry of Deeds Preservation Institute Nantucket

See ’Sconset: A History (NHA, 2008) for an overview of the development of the village.

Following are sources relating to David Augustus Leonard: NI January 16, 1844; typed letter signed Georgia B. Bumgardner, Curator of Graphics, American Antiquarian Society, October 29, 1975, to Mrs. Harding Greene of Siasconset, concerning attribution of poem and engraving, in NHARL “Siasconset” subject file. See also Edward F. Underhill’s discussion of Leonard’s engraving in issue VII of “The Old Houses on ’Sconset Bank,” originally published in the ’Sconset Pump in 1888, and reprinted by Henry Chandlee Forman in Underhill’s The Old Houses on ’Sconset Bank:The First History of Siasconset, Nantucket Island, America’s Most UniqueVillage (Nantucket: Myacomet Press, 1961).

Notices about the proposed railroad are in NI 4/7/1848 and 8/5/1848.

Atlantic House

All deeds related to 27 Main Street, Siasconset, can be found in the Title Trail appendix.

A note on Nantucket newspapers: The Nantucket Inquirer merged with the Nantucket Mirror in 1865, creating the Inquirer and Mirror.

The Island Review was a short-lived (1874–78) bi-weekly paper edited by Isaac H. Folger.

See Main Street,‘Sconset:The Houses and Their Histories by Betsy Tyler and Michael May (NPT, 2012), for a discussion of the evolution of Main Street and histories of individual houses.

An advertisement for Crocker’s boot and shoe manufactory is in NI 8/29/1840; liquidation of stock NI 6/29/1846. See NI 6/4/1849 “The Atlantic House” for mention of new rooms; also NI 8/3/1848 for bowling alleys and bath house; 8/14/1849 for coach service.

An advertisement for the United States Hotel is in NI 10/4/1854.

An announcement of Parker’s position is in NI 5/19/1851. Colonel Fremont is mentioned in the NI 7/25/56.

Reuben and Eliza Chadwick

Genealogical data for the Chadwick family is found in the following sources: the Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record, at www.nha.org; Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts, to theYear 1850 (Boston: NEHGS, 1925); MassachusettsVital Records, 1841–1910, from Original Records held by the Massachusetts Archives; and ancestry.com.

Chadwick’s fame noted in I&M 8/4/1868.

See I&M 12/6/1879 for Mrs. Sargent; 10/17/1879 for loss of chimneys; 8/6/1881 for mention of renovations; and 10/31/1885 for recent additions. “’Sconset Then and Now: Retrospective Glance at the Patchwork Village” is in the I&M 8/20/1887. The date of the construction of dormers assists in the dating of nineteenth-century photographs of the building.

See I&M 4/20/1889 for notice of lease to Mrs. Harrison; 6/4/92 for ad stating that the hotel had thirty-six rooms; 5/17/1890 notice of lease to H. E, Burditt; 5/25/1895 for lease to William H. Harrison; and 8/17/1895 for lightning strike.

See author’s ‘Sconset Actors Colony: Broadway Offshore (NHA, 2011) for a discussion of the life of the village during the Actors Colony era.

See I&M 6/18/1898 for notice of Brinton’s management of the Atlantic House; for Aermotor water mill, 5/6/1899 (the Aermotor windmill company is still in business, see aermotorwindmill.com); shuffleboard 5/13/1899.

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Imogene F. Orr

See Main Street,‘Sconset:The Houses and Their Histories by Betsy Tyler and Michael May (NPT, 2012), for details about Wilhelmina Toppe and the Rogers family.

Orr’s changes to the AH are in the I&M 4/12/1902 and 5/3/1902. Celebrity guests 9/8/1906 and 8/10/1907.

Orr’s obituary notice is in the I&M 11/5/1921.

Louise Streeter Warren

For chicken incident, see I&M 4/13, 4/20, and 5/25/1912; creditors 10/11/1913; plans to redecorate 1/7/1911; sanity 11/22/1919. There are more than ninety references to Louise Streeter Warren in the I&M, mostly for her financial, legal, and real estate transactions, but it is interesting that the first notice of her visiting ’Sconset in 1905 was as the guest of Mrs. R. B. Hussey (Arietta, whose husband was editor of the I&M), and in 1906 it was noted that she was working on some magazine and art sketches. She was a member of the Pen and Brush Club, the women’s literary and art club in New York, where she gave a talk about Nantucket in 1916; see I&M 5/27/1916. Four pieces of art were copyrighted by her in 1909: Building the Porch, Little Serving Maid, My Old Dining Room, and My Siasconset Home. The location of originals and/or published copies of these works has not been discovered.

Martha and David Gray

The first mention of David Gray is in the I&M is 7/6/1912: “Mr. and Mrs. David Gray of Detroit here for the summer.” It’s possible he visited before 1912.

See author’s 22 Main Street, Siasconset: A House History (NPT, 2007) for information on that property.

Road improvements funded by Gray resulted in a town resolution of appreciation, I&M 2/18/1922; announcement of purchase of 285 acres for a golf course is in the I&M 11/26/1921; property an eyesore, I&M 9/8/1923.

Thanks to Michael May for notes from Frederick P. Hill notebooks archived at Rutgers University.

See A Photo Essay: Frederick P. Hill, Architect by Robert B. Ficks (Preservation Institute Nantucket, University of Florida, 1984) PIN 1984–108 at NHARL for photo of fireplace at Sankaty Head Golf Club.

Tax and valuation reports for the Town of Nantucket are available on microfilm in the Town Assessor’s Office.

Hidden Forest cottage is mentioned in the I&M 10/30/19 For selectmen’s resolution and obituary notice of David Gray, see I&M 5/12 and 5/19/1928; for memorial see I&M 2/23/1929.

Caroline B. Sarmiento

Biographical information about Caroline Clark Bowen Sarmiento and her husband Francis Joseph Sarmiento is available at www.findagrave.com.

For more information on the Duncan schools see the Isadora Duncan Archive at www.isadoraduncanarchive.org and “The Duncan Summer School” in the I&M 7/22/1933.

Margaret and Roy Larsen

See Main Street,‘Sconset:The Houses and Their Histories by Betsy Tyler and Michael May (NPT, 2012), for a discussion of the evolution of Main Street and histories of individual houses.

See I&M 8/25/1928 for Ernest Coffin and gulley bridge; 9/18/1937 for house on School St.; 10/9/1943 for pump restoration; 7/15/1944 “one of the island’s craftsmen;” 5/17/1947 prominent artisan “fixers”.

See I&M 9/16/1939 for Larsen’s weekly sailing to Nantucket. Current owner of 27 Main Street, Matthew Fremont-Smith, stated that Larsen installed the port and starboard lights at the front door.

For biographical information on the Larsens, see “Publisher of ‘Life’ Has Summer Home at ‘Sconset;” I&M 4/1/1939; “He Made Things Happen: Roy Larsen, 1899-1979,” Time, September 24, 1979; “Margaret Zerbe Larsen, Lifelong Conservationist, Gone at 100,” I&M 1/15/2004.

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Sharon and Donold K. Lourie

Thanks to Sharon Lourie and Matthew Fremont-Smith for a conversation and tour of the house in August 2018.

The preservation easement is recorded at the NRD, Document 93288, noted on Certificate of Title 11,926, July 3, 2001.

See Nantucket Building Department, file 73.4.2/25, for all approved projects relating to the property since the establishment of the department in the 1970s.

Samantha and Matthew Fremont-Smith

See Nantucket Building Department, file 73.4.2/25 for applications for work dated 6/3/2009, 12/31/2009, 3/25/2010, and 9/20/2010.

Thanks to Mark Godfrey for a conversation and tour of the house in October 2018.

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Deed Trail

27 Main Street, Siasconset

NRD Book 47/Pages 390–91 1848

Edward W. Gardner, merchant to Frederick W. Mitchell, Edward G. Kelley, William C. Swain, Thomas Potter, Edward Field, Reuben Hallett, Morris A. Richter, Henry A. Kelley, Matthew Crosby, Andrew J. Morton, Charles Wyer & Co., George Alley, Joseph S. Barney, Sarah Barney, Fisher & Holmes (copartners), Harry Crocker, Henry H. Jones, Christopher Wyer, Isaiah Folger, Matthew Starbuck, Samuel B. Swain, Freeman E. Adams, Charles B. Swain, Peleg Macy, William Hadwen, John Cook Jr. Co., Allen Hallett (copartners)

Forty forty-fifths of a piece of land at that part of the island of Nantucket called Siasconset, which I bought of Barker Burnell…bounded

north by land of Samuel B. Swain, south by the road, east by land of Daniel Jones, west by land now or formerly of Barker Burnell

NRD Book 58/Pages 340–41 1865

Alfred Macy (20 shares); John Gardner (5 shares); Frederick W. Mitchell (3 shares); Edward Field (2 shares); Matthew Crosby (4 shares); Joseph S. Barney (1 share); Alanson Swain and Sarah S. Swain, in the right of Sarah (1 share); Nathaniel Barney and Eliza, in the right of Eliza (1 share); Matthew Starbuck (4 shares); Andrew M. Myrick (1 share); George H. Folger (2 shares); Philander Fisher (1 share); H.G.O. Dunham (formerly C. Wyer & Co.) (2 shares); Matthew Starbuck, executor of the will of William Hadwen (1 share), to Reuben Chadwick

A certain tract of land with the buildings thereon standing, situated in that part of the Island of Nantucket known as Siasconset … the

whole being known as the Atlantic House Property

NRD Book 83/Pages 459–60 1901

Eliza Chadwick, widow of Reuben Chadwick, to Imogene F. Orr

A certain tract of land with the dwelling-house and all other buildings thereon, situated in that part of said Nantucket called Siasconset,

and being known as the Atlantic House Property

NRD Book 83/Page 460–62 (mortgage deed) 1901

Imogene F. Orr to Eliza Chadwick

A certain tract of land, with the dwelling-house and all other buildings thereon, situated in that part of said Nantucket called Siasconset,

and being known as the Atlantic House Property

NRD Book 89/Pages 520–22 1909 Estate of Eliza Chadwick to Frederick S. Chadwick, Martha W. Coffin, and Sarah E. Jones

A certain lot of land with the dwelling-house and all other buildings thereon, situated in that part of said Nantucket called Siasconset,

and being known as the Atlantic House Property

NRD Book 92/Page 142 1910

Martha W. Coffin; Frederick S. Chadwick; Sarah E. Jones and John C. Jones, to Louise Streeter Warren

A certain tract of land with the dwelling-house and all other buildings thereon, situated in that part of said Nantucket called Siasconset,

and being known as the Atlantic House Property

NRD Book 99/Pages 70–72 1921 Estate of Louise Streeter Warren, by Arthur H. Gardner, Collector of Taxes for the Town of Nantucket, to Luman W. Goodenough

One undivided fortieth part of the following-described land, being the land taxed as aforesaid, to wit: Land, Main Street, Siasconset,

with the hotel and other buildings thereon, known as the Atlantic House Property 89

NRD Book 99/Pages 540–41 1922 Louise Streeter Warren (alias Mrs. J. A. Martin), at public auction, to David Gray

Parcel 4: A certain tract of land with the dwelling house and all other buildings thereon standing, situated in that part of said

Nantucket called Siasconset, and being known as the Atlantic House Property

Deed Book 100/Pages 275–76 1922 Luman W. Goodenough to David Gray

All the right, title and interest which I may have acquired by or under a deed made to me by Arthur H. Gardner, the Collector of

Taxes for the Town of Nantucket…in and to the following parcel of Real Estate in said Nantucket, viz: Land, Main Street, Siasconset,

with the hotel and other buildings thereon known as the Atlantic House Property

Original Certificate of Title 1251

1925

Transfer Certificate of Title 1602

1929

Transfer Certificate of Title 2163

1935

Transfer Certificate of Title 5857

1969

Transfer Certificate of Title 11926

1985

Transfer Certificate of Title 23235

2009

Transfer Certificate of Title 24153

2012

Transfer Certificate of Title 24154

2012

David Gray

Land Court Plan 9588-A Caroline B. Sarmiento

Land Court Plan 9588-A Margaret Z. Larsen

Land Court Plan 9588-A Donold K. Lourie

Land Court Plan 9588-A

Donold K. Lourie (1/2 interest) and Sharon Johnson Lourie (1/2 interest)

Land Court Plan 9588-A Matthew Fremont-Smith and Samantha Fremont-Smith

Land Court Plan 9588-A Matthew Fremont-Smith and Samantha Fremont-Smith

Land Court Plan 9588-A MALIMA, LLC

Land Court Plan 9588-A

91

Acknowledgments With special thanks to

Susan Boardman, Director Emerita of the Nantucket Preservation Trust, for her inspiration in intiating the House History Program and her dedication to its ongoing success. and Marie Henke, Nantucket Historical Association Photo Archivist, for her assistance with historic images and maps.

Nantucket Preservation Trust Advocates, Educates, and Celebrates the Preservation of Nantucket’s Historic Architecture

T

his comprehensive history is an important contribution to the island’s architectural record.

Documentation is one of the ways the Nantucket Preservation Trust celebrates the more than 2,400 historic homes, farms, and workplaces that contributed to the island’s designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. By providing owners of historic houses, island residents, schoolchildren, and visitors a broad spectrum of programs and projects, we encourage the preservation of irreplaceable structures, architectural features, and cultural landscapes. Lectures, walking tours, house markers, special events, and publications—including the house histories and neighborhood histories— define our unique work on Nantucket. We hope you enjoy the history of this house, its past owners, and its place in Nantucket’s remarkable architectural heritage.

Nantucket Preservation Trust 11 Centre Street • Nantucket, MA 02554 www.nantucketpreservation.org Copyright © 2019 Nantucket Preservation Trust