"Eliza Starbuck Barney House" Historic Nantucket article from the Nantucket Historical Association

Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol 50, no. 3 (Summer 2001), p. 10-11

73 Main Street: The Eliza Starbuck Barney House
by Renny A. Stackpole and Julie Beinecke Stackpole

ELIZA STARBUCK BARNEY'S FAMILY MADE lasting contributions to Nantucket's Main Street. Her father, Joseph Starbuck, quite possibly the island's most successful businessman, oversaw the construction of the "Three Bricks" in 1835 for his sons George, Matthew, and William. After Eliza and her sister, Eunice Starbuck Hadwen, were married they moved with their husbands to a "double" house at 100 Main Street. Later, Eunice and her husband, William Hadwen, built the two Greek Revival houses at 94 and 96 Main Street. And in 1871, after the death of her husband, Nathaniel Barney, Eliza and her son Joseph built the Victorian house at 73 Main Street. The house, to this day, is still referred to as the Eliza Starbuck Barney House and reflects her nod to the architectural style of the time. But more than that, Eliza joined her family in leaving her mark on Main Street.

The house was built in what is termed the H style. The wide front steps lead to large decorative double doors that were carved by James Walter Folger. The doors open into a hall and a full stairway that leads to bedchambers (front and rear) on both sides of the second story. On the first floor, there is a formal parlor with a marble fireplace (which came from a demolished brownstone in Brooklyn), French doors, and a bay window facing east. It adjoins a large dining room. The west side of the first floor contains a library, butler's pantry, and a kitchen ell. Originally, what is now one large parlor was two much smaller rooms. The present dining room at center rear was the kitchen, and the ell was -a series of pantries and service rooms. The third story, originally once a large attic, has ample space for a studio bedroom, attic, and a stairway to the cupola, which provides views of the harbor and access to the central portion of the roof.

Eliza Barney made her own statement with the construction of 73 Main Street. One day Nantucket would experience its own revival, and this structure would again provide a break from the stately, more formal houses of Main Street. But in her day, Eliza entertained friends and guests in her new home. It was at 73 Main Street that she also provided new leadership for the women of Nantucket and recorded the genealogical information of generations of Nantucketers.

Following Eliza's death in 1889, the house passed on to her son, Joseph, who owned it until his death in 1905. In later years, new owners would eventually divide the home into two apartments, upper and lower. By the late 1930s, the house was owned by the Mendonca family and leased out. During World War II, the first floor of the house was occupied by one of Renny Stackpole's aunts, Marie Larson Thurston, and her husband Hartwell Thurston. Renny remembers the weddings of two other aunts in the house; Helen Larsen and Dorothy Larsen married servicemen in 1942 and 1943. In the postwar period, other island families continued to rent the apartment spaces. Unfortunately, the structure had experienced serious lack of repair over a period of a half century.

In about 1962, Julie Beinecke Stackpole's parents, Walter and Mary Ann Beinecke, bought the house at 69 Main Street — known as Church Haven — and restored the brick structure to the style and grace of the era of the 1830s. The Beineckes also removed the Tirrell house at 71 Main Street to provide more space for gardens. Because Julie loved the Victorian era, her parents asked if she would be interested in working with them to restore 73 Main Street. The house was purchased in 1965 and artfully restored by using the resources of the Nantucket Historical Association's manuscript and photograph collections and other local sources. Philip Graves was the architect, Daniel Ponton was the craftsman/contractor, and James Hendrix was hired as the interior designer.

As the cupola had been removed years earlier and the fences had also disappeared, the restoration attracted considerable community interest. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the restoration arose when permissions were being sought from the Historic District Commission, which had been formed ten years earlier. Many members of the commission objected to the proposed gray, white, and blue exterior paint colors, but Jim Hendrix successfully argued that, historically, a Victorian house required a paint treatment different from one of an earlier architectural style. After much thoughtful debate, the HDC eventually sanctioned the colors. Interestingly, the blue paint was inspired by the color of the slate slabs in the sidewalk in front of the house.

While Julie was in college and abroad pursuing her studies in bookbinding, the house was often used to entertain visiting artists, actors, and writers who came to the island to participate in cultural events. Architectural historians lecturing at the Preservation Institute: Nantucket stayed there, and among the well-known guests were actors Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy and Viveca Lindfors. Julie came back to live in the house in 1975. After Julie and Renny Stackpole were married in 1977, their daughter Jenny (born in 1979 and now a graduate of Bard College) was the first newborn to live at 73 Main Street for many years.

Renny and Julie Stackpole moved to Thomaston, Maine, in 1985. Renny is the director of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport and chair of the Maine State Museum Commission. Julie works as a fine hand book-restorer at her studio in Thomaston.