Old Village Streetscape At Risk? Commission Sends Historic Home Move To Cape Cod Commission

CHATHAM – When the Old Village National Historic District was established in 2001, one of the main purposes was to preserve the neighborhood’s eclectic streetscape, which evolved over the last two centuries. A proposal to relocate one of the area’s most iconic homes is being referred to the Cape Cod Commission out of concern for the impact the change could have on the district.

 Known as the Arthur Crosby House, the two-story dwelling at 45 School St. isn’t particularly old by Old Village standards — town assessing records date it to 1902, while the town’s historic inventory form for the property lists the construction date at 1912 — but its location on a slight rise at one of the entrances to the Old Village gives it a prominent place in the neighborhood, say historic officials. 

 Property owner Edge Investment LLC is proposing to move the existing house to the east on the same lot and replace it with a large one-and-a-half-story gambrel-style home located slightly farther back from the road. As today, a hedge would obscure much of the new house, which would sit at the top of the hill while the original house will be at a lower elevation, according to plans filed with the historical commission. An old garage will also be preserved and moved elsewhere on the property.

 All of the elements that make the home historic will be preserved, attorney William Litchfield told the commission July 14. The owners are making a considerable investment in relocating and preserving the house rather than demolishing it, he said. 

Moving houses is part of the Old Village’s heritage, he said.

 “A great many of the houses in the Old Village have been moved from other places,” he said. “Relocating the Crosby House to the lower level of this property…is something that should be commended, rather than be subject to what would at least be arguably a punitive delay.” 

 While the commission voted against invoking a demolition delay on the project, it declared that the relocation would constitute a “substantial alteration” of a contributing structure to the historic district. It voted 4-3 to refer the proposal to the Cape Cod Commission, which has greater power than the historical commission to impose binding conditions, said chair Frank Messina.

 “They have more authority and they can get better assurances than we can, or maybe encourage the applicant not to do it,” he said.

 Both the Old Village Association and Preserve Our Past (POP), a Chatham-based nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic buildings, oppose the proposal. 

 “We encourage the property owner, the architect and the Cape Cod Commission to work together to avoid this substantial alteration of the property,” Winnie Lear, Old Village Association president, wrote, “and to maintain both the historic setting of the structure and the character of the streetscape. It is our hope that a collaborative effort will ensure that characteristics of the neighborhood we all value are sustained.”

 Ellen Briggs, president of POP, urged the owners to go back to the drawing board and maintain the original house in its current location. While moving the house will preserve the structure, “a proposed newly constructed structure will take this original house’s place, altering the streetscape. Once that is gone, it is lost forever.”

 Fred Miller, who lives two houses away, noted that the original house is quirky in that the front door faces away from the street. At the time it was built, he surmised, there was likely an ocean view from the front door, while the back of the house likely had a view of Little Mill Pond. Plans call for placing the front door facing the street; that reorientation and the relocation of the house will change the streetscape, he said.

 “If you walk up School Street, you experience our historic culture, our architecture, the eccentric people who lived here,” Miller said. 

 While some commission members felt that moving the old house was the best way to preserve it, others were concerned about the impact to the streetscape and the Old Village Historic District as a whole. Its location is “a defining spot” in the district, said commission member Janet Toenniessen.

 “It’s going to be entirely different,” she said. “The relationship to the other houses in the neighborhood is going to be changed.”

 The relocated house will be in line with neighboring homes, said architect William Masiello. All of its architectural elements will be preserved. “Nothing is going to change about it at all,” he said. The owners wanted a new home with one-floor living, he added, and like the existing house, the new structure will be largely obscured behind a hedge. The new home will be oriented toward the street to take advantage of views of Mill Pond.

 Friends of Trees member Eunice Burley noted that a historic elm tree on the property, which was planted sometime in the 1800s, is recognized by the Elm Research Institute as a historic landmark.

 “It’s the only Dutch elm existing in town from the original plantings done years ago that did not fall prey to disease,” she said, requesting that care be taken to preserve it.

 Litchfield said the owners intend to preserve the tree as well as others on the property.

 A Cape Cod Commission hearing on the referral has not yet been scheduled, according to spokesperson Sarah Colvin.