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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Volume 48. Number 1. (Winter 1999)

Ode to an Old Home: 32 West Chester Street

by Nancee Erickson

BEHIND A LONG UNDULATING HEDGE ON West Chester Street stands a proud old home, hidden from the cacophony of summer noises and buffeted somewhat from the winter winds. Certainly it is not only the most magical of the eight old homes in which our family has resided, from time to time, over more than twenty years — it is, quintessentially, the oldest and proudest of them all.

Built in 1722-24 for Richard Gardner III, a whaling captain who was lost at sea in 1725, the house stands on a parcel of land that was part of a huge tract acquired by j his grandfather in 1673 and referred to in town records I as the "Crooked Record" because of its irregular contours. Jessica Woodle gradually acquired additional parcels of contiguous land and the plot now borders much of the northern end of Lily Pond and a portion of Wesco Place—with privacy uncommon to most homes within the Historic District. Prior to her death, Mrs. Woodle placed her home and all of its surrounding land in a preservation easement with SPNEA (see previous j article). Concerned with the changing island landscape, Mrs. Woodle determined that her "retreat" must never be subdivided nor should her home's interior spaces and exterior lines be altered in any way.

As the house approaches its third centennial, one can only imagine the myriad stories it could tell of past inhabitants and their friends. The turned balusters and newel post and the molded handrail, gleaming from use, highlight the front entrance. The well-worn stairs bespeak memories of those who climbed them. And, as legend has it, one of the many broad floorboards in the present dining room has an old sail concealed beneath it. Who knows how many ghosts float through the house? But this writer insists that they are friendly and altogether interested in present-day activities, including the wanderings of box turtles, bunnies, pheasants, and myriad birds.

The house contains no recessed lights or dimmers, no fancy gadgetry, no silk-taffeta curtains. There is only one shower, and an old brass bell serves as the doorbell at the south-fronting entrance. Yet the house is thoroughly livable and practical in construction. As implausible as it may seem, 32 West Chester is perhaps even more thoughtfully configured than many of the newly constructed creations that dot so much of the island today.

The twelve-over-twelve windows, which allow light into most of the house, are plank framed, a term best known to architects, architectural scholars, architectural preservationists, and those who inhabit such old homes. One can simply slide out their very thin plank holders and easily remove each full window portion for washing: such eighteenth-century architectural sensibility precludes calling in a window washer!

Over the centuries few changes have been made to the home. Conversions of only two spaces, made more utilitarian for twentieth-century domesticity, occurred. The original kitchen became the dining room and the present library was created, as best as one can guess, from two rooms, one previously functioning as a kitchen. The library and dining room now abut the birthing room. The smallest room in the house, the dining room is still ample enough to comfortably seat six for meals and contains several notably large pieces of furniture. The only addition to the house was built in 1939-60. Designed by Kenneth Duprey, an L-shaped space now provides for the creation of culinary delights and necessary laundry chores, as well as for a powder room and bathroom. With a view either to West Chester Street or to the special ivy-enclosed "outside room," this only four-decade-old space functions well within the historic home itself. Similarly, its exterior facade replicates the existing eighteenth-century window treatment and other architectural elements.

Properties such as Mrs. Woodle's, left in the care of SPNEA or the Nantucket Preservation Trust, will continue to preserve Nantucket's architectural and domestic history. Indeed, such nurturing gifts also provide appropriate documentation of fine interiors for future generations of researchers and homeowners.

Nancee Erickson lives in San Francisco and vacations in Nantucket.