Friday, June 12, 2009

Oldest house

I know - you can't see the house - but this is the only photo I remembered to take - it was while we were waiting to get a tour of the oldest house on the island. The house was from the late 1600's and was built as a wedding gift for the marriage between a coffin and a gardner - those were their names. Their marriage marked the end of the half share revolt. Apparently, early in nantucket history only 10 (or 12?) families were full share owners and so they had more legal rights than those who came later for only half shares. Coffin was one of the big full share names. This house was a veritable mansion in its day and managed to survive even in 1987 when lightening hit and exploded the brick chimney knocking off the roof - the walls moved about a foot but that was all. It's 3 stories high. All very fancy.

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