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LIVING IN THE PAST
This year, the tour focuses on the area around India Street between Gardner and Centre streets. The dozen or so homes whose doors will be open include those of the Bepler, MacKenzie, Reade and Camalier residences, on 25, 35, 41 and 42 India, respectively.
The intent of the tour is to raise money and awareness for the NPT's mission, and to hopefully inspire people as Eleanor Weller Reade, of 41 India Street, was inspired when she was a young woman attending house tours. "When I was about 18, I started going on these house tours with my mother and became very interested in historic houses, then married a man who became interested in historic houses," said Reade. "As an interior designer, I have very much enjoyed seeing historic homes all over the world - so I feel like I owe something, to let anyone who wants to see mine, see it."
"He has some interesting touches, and our home was only the second one he renovated, as he got started and was ramping up, before East Brick or 141 Main. He hadn't even had it on the market yet, when my husband and I came in and made an offer. ...You never see homes for sale on India Street," Kim remembered. The home came with new cabinetry, floors and appliances, and the Beplers added the decorative touches. "We wanted people who came into this home to be surprised by the decorating style, but also see some important and yummy things to keep them interested," Kim said.
According to NPT, Nantucket housecarpenter John Jenkins and his brother Perez most likely built 25 India in 1794 for Mary Norris of Pennsylvania. In the early 19th century, it passed to the Coffin family. Rebecca Joy Coffin Nickerson lived there most of the time - with her first husband, John Coffin, and, later, her second, Joseph Nickerson, a trader, ship owner and captain. The Greek Revival portico and pilasters on the sides of the south-facing façade were probably added by the Nickersons, whose family owned the house for 80 years until 1918, according to NPT.
35 INDIA STREET Mariner and merchant George Lawrence acquired six parcels of land in the "Coffin Squadron" on North India Street after marrying two of Tristram Coffin's great-great granddaughters: Mary Coffin, who died in 1763, and Judith Coffin, who had four children. In 1786, he built the home at 35 India, then sold it, along with every parcel he owned on India Street (15 to 35) and moved his family to Virginia in 1801. Martha Swain, widow of David Swain, bought the house in 1795, and it remained in the Swain's possession for 85 years.
Carolyn and Ian MacKenzie have owned the home for 15 years, having bought it from Harvey and Barbara Jones. Under the MacKenzie's stewardship, the home has been featured in several glossy home publications, including, recently, Cape Cod Home. The MacKenzies moved the kitchen's original floors upstairs, converted a storage room into an open pantry and outfitted the kitchen with two dishwashers, a Thermador pro-range and French country cabinetry and accents. The MacKenzies also added a charming, wall-mounted ladder leading up through an overhead door into the attic bedrooms, so little visitors can get in and out of their rooms without disturbing the adult guests who are already upstairs. The kitchen opens up onto a breakfast nook. Beyond that, a sunken living room was added where a driveway once ran. Next door is the location of the former India House, where all of the MacKenzie daughters hosted in bygone summers. Carolyn remembers falling asleep to the sounds of the piano, and the gentle tinkling of glasses and silverware. 41 INDIA STREET Built around 1760, the house at 41 India may or may not have been moved to its location, but it was home to the Bunker family for about a century, beginning first with Silvanus Bunker. Eleanor "Ellie" Reade has occupied the home for roughly 20 years now. The Reades are only the third owners. When Eleanor and her first husband, Frank, bought the home, the kitchen still bore some of the accents from its 1920s renovation. Sometime after Frank died, Eleanor married attorney Arthur Reade, and the two renovated the kitchen (and also added an underground wine cellar). An interior designer and gardener, Eleanor used her signature sea-foam green for the kitchen cabinetry and imported Portuguese tiles for the backsplash. "I actually don't cook at all," Eleanor said. "So this is very funny that I'm on the kitchen tour. … My touches are the color, the design and the tiles." Eleanor sent the cabinetry to a color specialist in order to get it just right; the color has an organic cooling effect on the rest of the home, done in warmer colors. Color is a priority for Reade, who, as a garden historian, founded the archive of American Gardens, now under the provenance of the Smithsonian Museum. Reade's kitchen defers to a lush, linear garden with three distinct segments. It's so much a part of the kitchen, that Reade even connected the room to the garden with an outdoor sign: "Kitchen Open." 42 INDIA STREET It is believed that John B. Nicholson built 42 India Street around 1834, then sold it to Reuben Baxter, who willed it to his daughter, Mary (Baxter) Colburn in 1861. The two-and-a-half stories-high home, with three bays, is "in the typical Nantucket style," according to the NPT, "although number 42 is dressed up with a clapboard façade and Greek Revival pilasters at the front door." Charlie and Anne Camalier bought the home in 2000, and Anne added the kitchen as an addition in 2002. With a large island and peninsula, end-capped with a crisper and a beverage drawer, the room is designed to accommodate large numbers of people - specifically the six Camalier children, their spouses and children (six girls and 11 boys). Anne modeled the kitchen, with a light pine cabinetry and light granite countertops, after a layout she saw at a home expo outside Washington, D.C. The kitchen, which Anne accentuates with fresh flowers cut from the property, is buffered on either side by a small yard, garden or patio. The focal point of the kitchen, Anne laughs, is her "farm sink." by Kohler, which is the favorite of three sinks, located on separate islands with extra space between them, so family members can come and go. "I figured, the more the merrier," said Anne, who also had a pancake griddle added to the stove, so she could dote on her visiting family with big breakfasts. "The inspector was here," she said, "And he asked if I would adopt him." I OTHER HOMES ON THE TOUR: • 19 India: Zaccheus Hussey, merchant, 1808 • 20 India: Jonathan Rathbone, mariner, c. 1797 • 32 India: Peleg West, mariner, c.1807 • 37 India: Charles Fittenberry Hussey, rope maker, c.1804 • 7 India • 3 North Liberty • 22 Hussey • 12 Westminster When: Thurs., July 19 Cost: $40 Ticket sales can be made by contacting NPT (228-1387) or, on the day of the tour, on India St. |
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