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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
July 21 - July 27, 2005 Edition
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Vanderhoop
homestead bash will aid revitalization July 21, 2005 By Bryan Joiner
The Vanderhoop Homestead restoration project began last year when the house, which is the Vineyard's westernmost residential tract, was sold by the Vanderhoop family to the town of Aquinnah, with help from the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank, which bought the surrounding property. The Vanderhoop family used the house as a seasonal and year-round home since it was built by Edwin DeVries Vanderhoop in the 19th Century, but by June 2006 it will become the home of the Aquinnah Cultural Center (ACC). It is planned that the homestead will be a living museum of Wampanoag culture and Island history, and will “really have a presence” in Aquinnah, according to ACC Chairwoman Berta Welch. Right now, the only presence at the site is that of the numerous volunteers who are working to restore the century-old building - while others are planning a party on the homestead's rear lawn. Next Wednesday, July 27, the Vanderhoop Homestead Restoration Committee will host “Rockin' At The Homestead,” a combination concert and auction to raise money for the project. Kate and Ben Taylor will perform, as will the Wampanoag Black Brook singers. Special guests will include regular Vineyard vacationers Jim Belushi and the actor Tony Shalhoub of the television show “Monk,” who will serve as auctioneer. There will also be a silent auction and a raffle. The big-ticket items on the live auction slate include two tickets to the Rolling Stones' August 21 concert at Fenway Park, which kicks off their latest world tour. The tickets include passes to the pre-concert reception, one night at the band hotel - the Four Seasons - and Stones merchandise. There is also an Allen Whiting oil painting of the homestead, a package of tickets to a Jerry Seinfeld performance in Las Vegas, and an apartment in Paris available for one week in June 2006. There will be plenty of kid-themed activities including face-painting and a bean toss. The restoration committee is working to put the finishing touches on the Homestead before the event. A new roof and granite wall were recently built, and the interior on the home will be open to the public during the concert and auction. The latest cosmetic touches at the building mesh with the overall concept of the restoration. The house, with its rustic ceilings and open, flowing interior, will not be significantly changed, but it will receive a long-overdue fix-up. Over the last 100 years, the exterior has withstood the elements, not to mention the occasional stopovers of squirrels and birds, which have chipped away at the walls. But the finished product will look much as it does now. “The idea is to keep what's here here,” said restoration committee cochairman Derrill Bazzy. “It will be a clean but old building.” Helping the project, said cochairman Mitzi Pratt, is a long list of Island-wide tradesmen who are either working pro bono or at a discount. She rattled off the names: Gary Stead; Ken Lane; Ken Mickler; Warren Mead; Mark Harding of Wamp Works; Donald Cronig, who donated a house inspection; and Steve Jaffe, among others. The next project for the group, which will begin within the next two weeks, will be the restoration of the lower roof and expanding the doorways to three feet in width. The restoration work will continue on a Community Shingling Day in mid-August, when members of the public will work to restore the exterior of the home. The Restoration Committee is asking anyone who wants to help to call Aquinnah town hall at 645-2300 and sign up. Pratt said that volunteers could do anything from re-shingling the house to bringing coffee for the other volunteers. The first order of business, though, is the party, and the final preparations that need to be made for the hundreds of expected guests on the Homestead lawn. On a recent Sunday afternoon, as word continued at the Homestead, those crowds - and the large daily crowds at the nearby Cliffs overlook - were still an abstract thought to those happily working at a place so solidly rooted in the past. “When you're here,” Pratt said, “it's hard to imagine the hustle and bustle over there.”Tickets $25 for adults, children under 12 free. Advance tickets at Jim's Package Store in Oak Bluffs, Alley's General Store in West Tisbury, Stoney Creek Gifts in Aquinnah, Above Ground Records in Edgartown, Midnight Farm in Vineyard Haven or at the door. Free parking. For information call 508-645-3035 |
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