HomeMy WebLinkAboutS. Wheelwright Letter of OppositionBarnstable Historical Commission
367 Main St.
Hyannis, MA 02601
Dear Commissioners:
With regard to 49 Putnam Avenue, please consider carefully the historical and
environmental protections that forward-thinking residents of the Cotuit community
established under the national and state mechanisms available by law.
Both Harriet Ropes Cabot and James Gould, whom I appreciated as notable community
elders, were devoted to Cotuit Port and to the broader Cotuit community. Both worked
tirelessly to share the stories of the Ropes--Lowell--Hooper--Crocker house and farm and
to preserve its integrity as a part of Cotuit's historical and cultural landscape. With the
best of intentions, they and other local residents sought out and achieved National
Historic Register designations for the buildings at 49 Putnam Ave. and conservation
restrictions on the meadow. Both Harriet Ropes Cabot and James Gould considered the
historic farmscape and the viewscape from Cotuit Bay to be integral parts of the
historic narrative, as it had included ship captains, postmasters, and the many historical
uses of the landing, beach access, and Cotuit Bay. The documents included in the Notice
of Intent clearly illustrate the good-faith effort that these two history-minded individuals
put into preserving 49 Putnam Ave. and the narrative of its central role in the Cotuit
community. I hope that their faith was well founded and that you, along with the
administrators of the National Historic Register and the Cape Cod Commission, can honor
their intent.
The applicant's proposed Notice of Intent focuses on viewscapes that are already out-of-
date. If the applicant's goals are to improve their own recreational access to their
property, the mature trees added by their landscapers this summer (since the photos in
the Notice of Intent were taken and since their April letter to Historic Register Director
Haley) and other significant changes to their property should ensure that their stated goals
have been met. Additionally, all language in the Notice of Intent about questionable
existing sightlines should be struck from the record, as the owners' new landscaping has
changed the community's ability to view the house from both Putnam Ave. and Old Shore
Rd. Since the applicant's stated recreational goals have been met and their goals have
shifted with regard to community viewscapes, perhaps the applicant may wish to withdraw
this proposal.
Historical farmscapes are of clear value to preservation organizations on Cape Cod, as
Barnstable Land Trust has gone to great efforts to preserve Ropes Field, Bell Farm, and
Fuller Farm. The Ropes--Lowell--Hooper--Crocker farm was intended to be on the
National Historic Register as a complete farmscape of the ship captain's house with its
view of the bay, the barn, the ice house, and the workshop/professor's office. If the house
were moved so as to sever its view of the bay, it would cease to represent its original
purpose as a ship captain's house and its relationship with its rural outbuildings would no
longer make historical sense and it would lose its historic ells (post office, shop, sail
loft). Moving the structure would result in its removal from the National Historic Register,
as I understand it. The applicant or any future owners could then choose to demolish
the house, as there would be no restrictions requiring them to preserve any part of that
building. This seems like the worst possible outcome, the very antithesis of what Harriet
Ropes Cabot and James Gould intended.
Sincerely,
Susannah Wheelwright
Robert Johnson
616 Main St.
Cotuit, MA 02635