As I sit at breakfast, I can hear a chainsaw next door.
As I sit at breakfast, I can hear a chainsaw next door. It turns out that a magnificent shade tree is being cut down. The trees over our houses in this neighborhood, combined with the breezes that come across the cemetery, have allowed us to live without air conditioning in the summer. We’ll probably have to endure the noise from the air conditioning next door now, and have to close our windows and install our own air conditioning in order to have any peace.
The L.A. investors have hired a prominent local architect to design the house to replace the one they’ll tear down. It will have all the requisite features that L.A. investors expect, including a pool and cabana. I’m sure the kitchen will have two dishwashers and a built in espresso maker, and all the other things on the McMansion checklist. It will occupy most of the lot, eliminating any open space save for the pool. When the work is done, they’ll sell for a pretty penny, as they have elsewhere in town.
The architect is a known quantity, very much in fashion now. He has a formula that pretends to remember Edgartown’s past, but adds preciousness that it never had. The vernacular of old town, that juxtaposed Captain’s houses with sailor’s houses and simple sail lofts like the Old Sculpin Gallery, is lost to him and, by extension, to all of us.
Oh well. His work is kind of like McDonalds. It’s all the same, but you know exactly what you are getting.
James B. Riley
Edgartown
Comments
Don't tell me - let me guess.
Jane Norton ChilmarkDon't tell me - let me guess...the foundation planting will feature hydrangea, arborvitae, boxwood, a Kousa dogwood and/or a Magnolia, all planted far too close together.
"[his work] is all the same".
Claire Liret"[his work] is all the same".
So very true. In earlier years,I used to fantasize from afar at his beautiful expensive houses depicted in the Vineyard Style magazine,with a narrative of "build your family heirloom for generations to come".
As time went by, and they kept multiplying, they began to look to me like overdone and oversized Marriott hotels, cold, corporate,all the same. And the "family heirloom for generations", started displaying more often in the Real Estate listings, barely ten years later....
Today, I would not want to live in one if it were given to me; but I might turn it into several units of affordable living...
I'm so sorry to read about
Vasha Brunelle Vineyard HavenI'm so sorry to read about the loss of the tree, as well as the other changes. You can likely expect to endure leaf blowers(they usually seem to have two or three going together) and other noisy polluting gas powered lawn care equipment.
“Preciousness” is just the
Gregory Palermo Edgartown“Preciousness” is just the right word. Why settle for historic when you can have twee? Edgartown is being replaced by a Disney-fied simulacrum.
I'd also add that these folks
Rena Vine Oak BluffsI'd also add that these folks are unlikely to become summer residents that you get to know for a generation or two. Most likely they will use it for 3-5 years and see it as an investment they can enjoy and brag about. That means the only time you'll likely interact is when there's a conflict (light, noise, renters, etc.) which is also unfortunate. It's loss of land, trees and most likely, real neighbors.
This is a tragedy for the
Katherine Putnam EdgartownThis is a tragedy for the sense of community that living in a village offers. I too have heard the chain saws all week on some lovely mature trees.. More importantly I know this architect has no sense of scale or historicity, so what he presents will be a pale imitation of what historical Edgartown architectural style is all about. It is too bad that the commissions who regulate this fall for his ploys. While good fences make good neighbors, this is likely to b a travesty fo what this town used to be in variety and true architectural style.
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