nantucket home tours

Shingle-Style Meets Scandinavia in This Well-Collected Nantucket Home by Bodron/Fruit

The Dallas-based firm gave a Nantucket home new life with interiors rooted in European antiques and abstract artwork.

This project came from a beloved repeat client who is based in the firm's hometown of Dallas. Svend Fruit, the architectural mind of the team, says she is an important modern art collector who was in need of a break from the social implications of big-city life, and she imagined this secondary home as a refuge to rest, enjoy the slow-paced Nantucket lifestyle, and be close to her daughter, who was preparing to move to Boston for her first year at Harvard.

The design duo had actually begun working on an entirely different house on another part of the island and was knee-deep in its strict building codes when the client realized she cared more about being able to have a home of her own to visit as soon as possible instead of continuing to rent on the island for several more summers. She and the firm fell in love with the spectacular sea views that this home allotted, and decided to sell the original property. Both Svend Fruit and Mil Bodron could imagine the potential this 1997 house could have with some creativity.

"It definitely looked like a '90s house with its curved walls, all kinds of niches, and shut-off rooms," says Fruit. "The whole back of the house lacked views all the way through because of the walls. When I do architecture, whether it's all-new or renovation, I always study the context. Here was this floor plan; how we could make it feel more comfortable? Most of the big ideas came from opening it up and maximizing the feel of the home because it just felt closed off."

Bodron, the interior-design brain of the operation, says they were inspired to focus more on creating spaces instead of rooms, allowing that notion, and the need for ocean views in as many spaces as possible, to guide the way. While wall after wall was knocked down to create a more open, livable, and light-drenched home, the pair utilized bronze and glass pocket doors to allow a given space to be closed off and assume its own identity when desired. Bodron says installing these pocket sliding doors was especially important in the home's library, which also houses a piano and a small office space, creating better acoustics along with peace and quiet as needed.

"A lot of our interiors inspiration came from a need to solve the problems of twisted spaces and how one should move through the house," says Bodron. "From a design aspect, the beginning of the interiors was addressing the rugs." An unlikely source of inspiration was found in a new rug collection from Tai Ping that featured soft, pastel colors with geometric compositions, one design, in particular, featuring an intersection of two rectangles.

"We used the rugs architecturally to solve our problem of curved spaces, beginning in the living room," says Bodron. "[Tai Ping] redid the rug for us; one of the rectangles was twisted the same way that the bay windows are to fill that space, and we ended up using the same rug in the library. Plus, the light peach, sandy, and turquoise colors lent themselves so well to Nantucket and the windows in the living room, being on the ocean. That really set the tone for how we approached furniture plans as well as the direction of the home."

Fruit notes that while it was important for the home to have a sense of place, it was equally as important to not decorate in a way to fit some local aesthetic. While the exterior remained close to its original design, the interiors of the home lean in to the client's discerning eye for collecting art and Nordic furniture, along with her desire for a calming and restful home—the dining room being a prime example.

"The dining room features a wonderful vintage Finn Juhl table and settee in the bay window, and the dining chairs were consciously not the typical wood or rush seating that fit the Nantucket look," says Bodron. "The client didn't want to do a traditional blue room or ceiling, but we took these Bruno Moinard chairs and lacquered them in a dark blue with matching seats as our nod to Nantucket."

While the home's interiors don't subscribe to the traditional aesthetic and could as easily feel right at home in the middle of Stockholm or Oslo, at the same time, it feels delightfully at home inside a shingle-style house on the sea. The home offers all the luxuries of a beachfront manse, and its interiors are soothing, inspiring, and welcoming, beckoning guests (and the owner) to kick up their feet and stay awhile in this chic, coastal abode that offers all the beloved comforts of home without the fast-paced lifestyle.

Nantucket Home Tour

"There's something really comfortable and special about relaxing in the kitchen and breakfast nook especially," says Bodron. "Everyone can hang out on the backside of the island or at the banquette with the bay windows and enjoy the light streaming in as you drink your coffee and read magazines." While the first floor is open and filled with generously sized rooms, the three-story home also has a guest suite above the garage, plenty of cozy sitting areas on the second floor, and a Thomas Jefferson–style alcove bedroom on the top floor for anyone seeking a quiet escape to catch up on a good book or take a catnap.

Fruit says landscape designer Michael van Valkenburgh did a fantastic job with all of the restraints of having a Nantucket house on the dunes. His work makes the home feel as if it's always been there, growing among the native flora. Fruit notes there is something so special about the quality of the light in this destination that flows into nearly every room (all thanks to his redesign), and it acts as a perfect finishing touch, bringing the most desirable part of Nantucket into each well-collected space.

Do you love Nantucket's architecture as much as we do? Join us on island for Nantucket by Design August 5–7, the Nantucket Historical Association’s premier summer fundraiser celebrating the island’s unique influence on American design and featuring engaging keynote speakers, including award-winning interior designer Nate Berkus, design pop-up shops, the Nantucket Summer Antiques Show, a design panel, and more! Purchase leadership tickets today .

Lauren Wicks is a freelance writer and editor based in Birmingham, Alabama. Before going on her own, Lauren worked for brands such as VERANDA, EatingWell, and Cooking Light , and she covers all things lifestyle from interior design and luxury travel to wine and wellness.

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2024 ANNUAL HOUSE AND GARDEN WALKING TOUR

August 7, 2024

Co-Chairs:  Anna Caspersen, Helen Lynch and Susan Gambee

TICKET SALES WILL BEGIN IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

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THE NANTUCKET GARDEN CLUB’S MUCH-ANTICIPATED ANNUAL EVENT AND FUNDRAISER Will RETURN ON AUGUST 7, 2024, 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Inside a Designer’s Absolutely Charming and Cozy Nantucket Cottage

D esigner Elizabeth Bauer has found her “happy place”—in a supercozy, undeniably cute cottage in Nantucket. The native New Yorker has long had a second home on the idyllic island. “As a child coming from the city, I had so much freedom here,” she says. “I could go get muffins in the morning, when I was about six, and bring them back home because our house was right in town.” And now that she owns the classic shingled cottage that adjoins her parents’ property, she’ll get to pass on that legacy—and those carefree memories—to her daughter, Mary Jane. “We usually get up and out early,” Elizabeth says, “maybe go down to the water and get hermit crabs and stroll home.”

She took a similarly easy, breezy approach to designing the family’s cottage. “We don’t need a formal space here. Everything is really user-friendly and fit for a quick weekend,” says the decorator and force behind Elizabeth Bauer Designs, her Old World-meets-New World design firm. And her distinctive point of view is on full display in the space, which is packed with pieces that are a mix of the antique and the modern and represent both local and personal history. For instance, a framed bunny print that delights Mary Jane was chosen because the designer’s mother, who is also a decorator (and whom MJ has dubbed “Coco”) is especially fond of them. “Whenever there are bunnies in our garden, Mary Jane will say, ‘Can we go see Coco’s bunnies?’” Meanwhile a painting of sailboats by the late Nantucket artist Robert Stark rests under the staircase, and an anchor is hung just off the front entrance.

Elizabeth and the family’s Norwich terrier, Lily Bear, strike a welcoming pose at the cottage, which was once a turn-of-the-century butcher shop.

One thing is for sure: The cottage is a labor of love. “Really, it’s filled with things I’ve collected over the years,” Elizabeth says. “The coffee table, the rug, the vintage chair—which I had redone in a Josef Frank pattern—are all things I found over time for myself or for my clients and was able to use here.”

But the story of the home is deeper than the lovingly curated objects that fill it. Not only are Elizabeth’s roots in Nantucket, but so are those of her husband, Jon, who works in marketing. “Believe it or not, my husband also grew up coming here in the summers,” she says. “His house was around the corner. I could literally throw a tennis ball at it. But though we knew each other casually, we never dated until we were both in New York, and I didn’t know he lived there.” Some things are just meant to be.

The dark floors contrast perfectly with Elizabeth’s more upbeat choices (“I do love color, and I do love pattern,” she admits). Overall the decorator took her design cues from the seaside location, making sure to nail that “old Nantucket spirit” without being overly reverential. “These are the original floors,” she notes. “We were going to rip them out but instead decided to sand them down and paint them a historical gray.” Find a similar garden stool here .

In New York I have a Stark antelope rug in my living room. It’s more beiges… everything is much more muted. It’s not as funky or eclectic as the cottage. — Elizabeth Bauer

Elizabeth’s pro touch is evidenced in her ability to make a Josef Frank butterfly-print chair coexist peacefully with an equally lively kilim rug  and a striped sofa. That this is a vacation home allowed her to really up the color and pattern ante plus let her more eclectic side play out. Cue the letters spelling out “Ack,” which is actually a nickname for Nantucket, not an expression of annoyance.

The handsome dining nook suits the family’s casual summer style—and doubles as a place for Elizabeth to pull out her laptop for work when need be. Vintage elements, in the form of a Knoll Petal table, Wegner chairs, and a classical settee—which the designer scored at one of the Paris flea markets and had reupholstered in an evergreen blue-and-orange stripe—up the charm factor.

“It’s a real mix of high-low,” says Elizabeth of the space, pointing out the bar cart from Paris, a Hunt Slonem framed bunny print, and the sinuous midcentury-style table. But the most meaningful piece here is undoubtedly a Nantucket “lightship basket” passed down from her grandmother. Baskets like this one were originally made by the crewmen of lightships as a way to pass time while away at sea.

My husband, Jon, is the bartender in the house. His signature drink that everyone loves is a Southside. He makes the mix in batches from scratch... it’s quite a production, but a batch usually gets us through a couple of weeks! — Elizabeth Bauer

In keeping with the home’s loosely nautical theme, Elizabeth chose to use all brass fixtures: plumbing, lighting, hardware—everything. Not that she’s cooking up five-course dinners in the kitchen. “It’s small, so we do easy suppers and cocktails and breakfasts. We’re out a lot, honestly. We’re on our boat all the time.”

Surprise—these door handles are actually brass boat cleats, repurposed for everyday function. They’re just one more example of how the designer subtly nodded to Nantucket’s rich heritage.

The most minimalist space in the home is the master bedroom. Because of the angular ceiling lines (“The architecture is the architecture”), Elizabeth chose not to dress the window, and the room couldn’t accommodate a headboard. “Besides, we’re up and out here and off to the beach, so I just kept it simple,” she says. She fell head over heels for the muted Liberty of London peacock-feather bedding, however. “It’s actually an odd choice for me, because I don’t do a lot of dark colors. But with the gray floor and white walls, it works.” The Graves Pivoting Sconces are similar to those above.

Cheery D. Porthault linens give daughter Mary Jane’s room its fanciful flair. To make the most of the print, Elizabeth had balloon shades made to match. The ceiling fixture (almost identical to the Sophia Flush Mount ) and the powder-blue walls keep the space from feeling excessively frilly. “The fixture is almost like something that could be in a ’50s diner,” notes the designer. “But when you take it out of that context, it becomes almost nautical.”

A small bathroom space provides the perfect opportunity to go a little wild—and Katie Ridder’s Betelecat wallpaper is as fun as its name. The nautical motif is in full force here, but as usual, Elizabeth put her own spin on it. “I didn’t want to just do the traditional blue and white—sometimes I feel like that’s all I see here. I needed something a little different!”

A lovely vintage garden bench provides the busy mom with a place to take a breather. “When I’m here, I’ll pick flowers and make arrangements and place them throughout both [ours and my parents’] houses,” Elizabeth says. “I enjoy flower arranging, but I can’t say that I’m a great gardener—my mom’s the one with the green thumb.”

The flower-filled garden connects Elizabeth’s abode to her parents’ main house. And it’s her parents, at least partially, she has to thank for her career. “I worked for an interior designer here in the summers when I was growing up,” she recalls. “My parents said, ‘You have to get a job!’ and my mom helped find it for me. At first I hated it, but when the next summer came around, I went back. I stayed with it, and I ended up really loving it.”

Elizabeth uses the yard for intimate family gatherings and casual get-togethers with friends. “We entertain a lot outside. We barbecue, we have lobsters—there’s a great lobster place where you can call them in, pick them up, and get them already steamed. The backyard is the perfect spot, because you don’t have to worry about it getting dirty.”

We don’t need a formal space here. Everything is really user-friendly and fit for a quick weekend. — Elizabeth Bauer

Related: Learn How Our Editor Rediscovered the Joys of Entertaining on Nantucket →

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Jane Ellsworth’s Exquisite Nantucket Home

Three years ago, I had the privilege of featuring a tour of designer Jane Ellsworth ‘s beautiful Darien, Connecticut home … It is hands-down one of my all time favorites, and over the years Jane’s Instagram account has become a daily source of inspiration.  From decorating to gardening to floral arrangements, her taste is impeccable.  Today, Jane is giving us a very special treat… an exclusive tour of her storied Nantucket home, and oh my goodness, it is stunning!  The attention to detail is spectacular, and every single inch was meticulously curated and customized to her family’s lifestyle. Jane’s prized collections and antiques are full of stories and memories, and the garden is a little slice of heaven.  Let’s take a virtual vacation to Nantucket, with Jane as our guide! Photography by Richard Mandelkorn was provided exclusively to The Glam Pad and may not be reproduced without permission. 

TGP:  Please tell me about your Nantucket home’s history.

JE:  There is quite a storied history about our house dating back to 1847, when William Chadwick, a cashier for the Pacific Bank was charged with embezzling money to build our home. His original plan was to build a men’s resort on the eastern side of the island in an area called Squam. Once convicted he ended up in the local ” Old Gaol”, where he was visited by his family daily, bringing him gifts to improve his life. One of his favorite pursuits was lightship basketry. Being a model prisoner, Chadwick had his sentenced reduced to three years by order of President Grover Cleveland. Our home ultimately was named “Chadwick’s Folly” by the locals. The house became a landmark for many map makers for it was one of the tallest buildings seen from the shore, and used as a guide for sea fairing vessels. The notation on the map is, “Folly Cupola”.

Over the years, the house now called “The Folly” had become a series of layered renovations and once we purchased the property in 2013, we knew this was a complete tear down and a new home was in our future. We instinctively reached out to the architectural design team of Lisa Botticelli and Ray Pohl of Botticelli of Botticelli and Pohl. My husband and I have collaborated with them on two other projects and knew they were a perfect fit for designing our home because of their strong aesthetic sensibilities and penchant for detail. Plus we liked their sense of humor which is key for a long project as we cannot take ourselves too seriously.

TGP:  What was your inspiration for the design of the home?

JE:  There were a number of inspirations guiding us for this project based on years of thinking ” if we were ever to build another home”. The main element was the desire to have a Gambrel Style home. The Gambrel is one of the prettiest and most varied vernacular house styles and we knew this was exactly what fit the site. No doubt helped by Ray saying, ” it’s his favorite style too!”

With this in mind, I always wanted to create an entrance which made you feel like you were on a large sailing ship of years past (much of like the Marine art we collect), with paneling from floor to ceiling or at least to the second story. Throughout the entrance the millwork highlights many details especially noting the arches and the jib doors. I simply love the idea of providing a “camouflage” for an entrance or a secret room. In this case, it is the powder room off the main foyer, and entrance to our bar.

One final thought, based on a previous home designed by Ray and Lisa (a design request by me) to create an enfilade from one side of the house to another allowing a series of arches to draw you from room to room effortlessly. This design element creates such fabulous light, texture, and effectively gives you an infinitely long vista.

TGP:  What are some of your favorite things to collect?

JE:  My husband and I are avid collectors of Marine Art, both old masters and contemporary artists. Over the year, our collections have grown and once we moved into this house, we consolidated our art to be housed under one roof. Many of the wall colors in our public rooms were selected to enhance the art. I found myself gravitating to Donald Kaufman paints, which are so layered and subtle. My husband and I like to support local artists, so many of the contemporary art and folk art is from the island either purchased at galleries or at auction. In addition, we collect ship models, all built on the island starting from the mid 1860’s, and they are displayed throughout the house each with it’s own stand and custom glass to protect their delicate nature. On a smaller scale, I am completely in love with the art and craftsmanship of the lightship baskets which are such a part of the history of this island. They are prominently displayed throughout the house and happy to know they are all from local craftsmen.

TGP:  Your gardens are exquisite! Did you design them too, and what was your inspiration?

JE:  My husband and I are garden enthusiasts! He has such a fabulous design aesthetic for planning outdoor spaces. I am passionate about the selection of species and color palette. With the collaboration of our landscape architect, Ben Champoux, we put our heads together and plotted the placement of key elements like our pool and some of our layered gardens which I wanted surrounding the house. I especially love surprises when it comes to gardening, with little secret vistas as you walk the property. While the ocean is the guiding focal point, a true seaside garden is filled with multi layers of color, texture and aromas. We are constantly tweaking the gardens, as we learn what is working and what areas need enhancement. In addition, we have a pair of beehives and with the nature of cross-pollination it essentially allows the bees to produce more seeds. It’s a win win for us, as the bee gets the nutrients they need, and our garden ends up with more flowers and plants! Our name has a copyright so it makes the most wonderful gifts!

TGP:  How did you learn to create such beautiful flower arrangements?

JE:  My love of gardening and flower arranging came from my mother. Over much of my childhood and into my late teens, I watched her cultivating our gardens ( my sister and I always got weeding duty). She would bring baskets full of flowers to arrange and scatter them around the house. Always the perfect vessel for the flower of the week, especially putting scented flowers in bedrooms and side tables to enjoy. There was always something fresh and visually enticing. While her arrangements were not fancy, they always caught your eye. Her famous line, is to always make sure, ” a bird or butterfly” can fly through your arrangement.

TGP:  What are your favorite things to do in Nantucket?

JE:  What a difficult question when the island offers so much! Putting my family aside which is our all time favorite pastime whether it’s playing golf, water sports, sitting/playing on the beach, barbequing or watching our grandchildren experience the island delights! My most favorite pastime is playing golf at the best golfing spot in the world, Sankaty with family and friends, keeping up with my water color studies, photographing the island, reading a book on the beach, and spending time in my gardens.

TGP:  Is there anything else you would like to add?

JE:  Nantucket is truly an old soul with a storied architectural history some of which we tried to create when designing and building our house. While this is a relatively new home, much of the details with it’s antique floors, period hardware, antique delft tiles, millwork were essential to creating something timeless, “A new old home”. Much of the research I gathered over the years, culminated in this project. Many of the craftsmen working on this house are true masters of their craft and they were all locally sourced which made my husband and I very proud to say, we have “a home on a very far away island”.

Absolutely divine, I cannot imagine a more perfect Nantucket home! To learn more about Jane Ellsworth, please visit her website and follow @janeellsworthinteriors on Instagram… her beautiful floral arrangements always brighten my day! Also, you won’t want to miss this tour of her Connecticut home. And a huge thank you to Richard Mandelkorn for the photography!

Love the color scheme of this house and how it mimics the outside with its blues and greens. So pretty!

Oh, wow! My favorite home ever! Love the colors she used and the timeless style. Perfection.

Hydrangeas love the sea air. That gambrel shaped bedroom was so charming, and it was a clever way to arrange bunk beds in the other bedroom. I assume the steps are drawers. The blue is so calming, too.

This is truly a masterpiece. And of course, being right on the water makes it SPECTACULAR!!

Can you tell us what paint was used for that beautiful robin’s egg blue?

Quintessentially Nantucket!

A dream home!

If ever a home spoke ” Nantucket”, this is it! Exquisite from stem to stern.

Exquisite home! What is the living room color/ who makes it on the walls?

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This Nantucket Home Is Designed for Epic Family Hangouts

From the pool deck to the den, every room is relaxation ready.

Having persuaded his clients that it needed only aesthetic changes, Ellison set out to create what he calls the "New Nantucket." Skipping the expected coastal color palette of bright blues and crisp whites, he leaned on natural hues. "I think it's about letting the blue come from nature so your house can be grounded in earth tones," Ellison says. "When things are really tonal, texture and layering are a must." The home's main entertaining areas set the scene for this theme, with a rich mix of natural stone, distressed leather, rattan fixtures, jute rugs, and faux-vellum walls.

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While preserving the bones of this home was key, so was reusing a handful of pieces the family already owned. One of them was a 96-inch-long sofa that didn't work in the new space. Rather than selling it, Ellison had it reconfigured by cutting it in half and adding a middle piece to create a massive angled sectional . The effect was immediate: The modern shape allowed this conversation zone to accommodate four additional chairs (plus two ottomans for feet and seating)without affecting the flow or disrupting the outdoor views.

With the more "public" areas set, Ellison wanted to ensure the family had spaces that were solely for them to reconnect. He turned a tucked-away room on the main floor into a restful den, with a channel-tufted velvet sofa, barrel chairs, and a set of oversize table lamps from their previous home. This room, painted in the owners' favorite shade of gray , has become the go-to family spot for gathering. Though the exterior received a resort-style overhaul, with a stunning lap pool, double pergola, and garage-turned-pool-cabana, what the clients ultimately wanted was a home that brought them together. And that's exactly what they got.

Family Room

The reconfigured Egg Collective sofa (in Romo fabric ) takes in all the views and allows for conversational seating. Pendant: Balsamo . Chairs: Agnes Studio (barrel) and Scala Luxury (woven).

A nook off the family room is a prime spot for a rotating collection of favorite pieces. Table: Dovain Studio . Vase: Kravet . Stool: Christian Siriano .

Flanked by the boys' bedrooms, this space is primed for game nights as one of the only rooms in the house with a television. Sofa: CB2 . Rug: Beni Rugs . Coffee table: Teak Warehouse . Hanging chairs: clients' own.

Ellison partnered with Workshop/APD to create a larger island with a slotted sink, for chilling wine and Champagne, and enough seating for four. Calacatta Manhattan marble: BAS (island). Barstools: StudioTwentySeven .

Dining Room

Ellison designed the custom banquette and tables to feel easy and informal, with a nod to yacht life. The Ladies & Gentlemen Studio sconces resemble hats caught in the wind. Chairs: Morentz . Faux-vellum plaster walls and ceiling: Art Space NYC .

Primary Bedroom

A custom wood-paneled screen makes a "rogue window" behind the bed disappear. Lamps: Danny Kaplan Studio . Wallcovering: Romo . Chair: vintage. Rug: Doris Leslie Blau . Bed and nightstands: custom.

Suffused with natural light, this room serves as a screen-free catch-up zone. Chairs: StudioTwentySeven . Rug: JD Staron . Paint: Purbeck Stone, Farrow & Ball . Wallcovering: Phillip Jeffries (ceiling). Coffee table: Balsamo . Poufs: South Loop Loft . Table lamps and sofa: custom.

Pool Cabana

A Porter Teleo camouflage-inspired wallcovering wraps the walls. Custom sofas mimic swinging benches; they're upholstered in an indoor-outdoor JAB Anstoetz velvet fabric that's friendly to wet swimsuits. Coffee table: Galerista . Rug: Verdi .

A double pergola creates the perfect retreat on a new sundeck designed in collaboration with Workshop/APD. Sofa: Sutherland . Tables and ottomans: Teak Warehouse .

This intimate outdoor spot, located just behind the cabana and pool, is the ideal location for chats that extend well past sunset. Chairs: Stahl + Band . Firepit: Design Within Reach .

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THE 10 BEST Nantucket Tours & Excursions

Nantucket tours.

• Sightseeing Tours
• Fishing Charters & Tours
• Nature & Wildlife Tours
• 5.0 of 5 bubbles
• 4.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• Good for Kids
• Good for Couples
• Budget-friendly
• Honeymoon spot
• Good for Big Groups
• Good for Adrenaline Seekers
• Hidden Gems
• Adventurous
• Good for a Rainy Day
• Things to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, photos, and popularity.

1. Discover Nantucket Tours

2. Capt. Tom's Charters

3. Capture Nantucket

4. Nantucket Walkabout

5. Tall Ship Lynx

6. Ara's Tours

7. Endeavor Sailing Excursions

8. Secret Spot Nantucket

9. Topspin Fishing

10. Gail's Tours of Nantucket

11. Jetties Sailing Center

12. Steve Tuna's Beach Fishing Adventures

13. Raven's Walk

14. Nantucket Historical Association Walking Tours

15. Barrett's Tours

16. ACK Surf School

17. Just Do It Too

18. Ack Sail

19. Albacore Charters

20. Shearwater Excursions

21. Monomoy Charters

22. Paddle Nantucket

23. Althea K Sportfishing

24. Next Level Watersports

25. World Sailing Adventures

26. Nantucket Island Tours

27. Absolute Sport Fishing

28. You're Up! Watersports

29. Island Boat Rental

30. Lisa Lynn Charters

What travelers are saying

• Nutty Nantucket Scavenger Hunt
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• Capt. Tom's Charters
• Shearwater Excursions
• Endeavor Sailing Excursions
• Ara's Tours
• Gail's Tours of Nantucket
• Tall Ship Lynx
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Compare Listings

Nantucket holiday house tour.

Listing Updates

It’s a wonderful time of year on Nantucket. We trade in our bathing suits and flip flops for our winter coats and boots and start to appreciate all that a Nantucket winter has to offer.  One of the biggest joys of the off-season and especially Christmas time are the island’s events that have a really big impact on our local community.  This weekend, a wonderful team of volunteers is putting together a great event that benefits the Friends of the Public School- the Holiday House Tour . In fact, this is their biggest fundraiser of the year!  If you are looking for a festive activity this weekend, we hope you will  consider supporting them as every dollar raised helps those who benefit from our school system.

Here are the details : The event on Friday night is a house tour that starts at the Whaling Museum and takes you down Union Street (the house tour takes a different route each year).  The cost is $45 and with this ticket you will visit 5-6 homes, all decorated for the holidays, and also see the amazing Festival of Trees at the Whaling Museum . Three of Fisher’s favorite listings will be featured on the tour so we hope you enjoy soaking in the warmth of the Holidays while looking across Nantucket Harbor, a at 57 Washington Street , or enjoying the newly listed 42 Union Street and 13 Fayette Street .  Spoiler alert… You may also get to see a few other listings that are coming onto the market in the next couple of days!

This exceptionally festive time of year allows us all to see a different side of Nantucket.  This history of our wonderful Island really comes out during the holidays, enjoy!

Cam Gammill

In 2009, Cam started in Nantucket real estate and quickly established himself as one of the top brokers on the Island.

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Nantucket Island Tours

Nantucket's Premiere Transportation Provider

For all your island transportation needs

Whether this is your first visit, or you have lived here your whole life Nantucket Island Tours has something to offer. Not only do we offer the best bus tour on Nantucket, covering over 60% of the island in a little over an hour; we also are the premiere transportation company, offering bus charters, wedding transportation, custom group tours, and much more! 

See all the services we offer here . 

When you think about getting around Nantucket, think Nantucket Island Tours!  

Your Connection to our island

In just over an hour, become acquainted with the "Little Grey Lady," famous as the world's foremost whaling port in the 18th century. Enjoy your tour of our breathtaking island in the comfort of our new, climate controlled busses. Our local tour guides will whisk you away from downtown and allow you to enjoy the natural beauty Nantucket has to offer! On our tour you will enjoy:

• The Old Mill
• "Sconset" Village with its rose-covered cottages
• Sankaty Head Lighthouse
• Cranberry bogs 
• Nantucket moors, and much more!

Signature Bus Tour

Operates daily may 24 - october 11, 2024,  departing at: 11:15 am 1:00 pm 2:45 pm, $45 per passenger.

If you would like to book your bus tour tickets with your Hy-Line ferry tickets please make your reservation by clicking here  or call our toll-free number for separate reservations and more information: 800-492-8082.

Discover Nantucket Tours & Discover Nantucket Bike Tours

Let's Have A Whale Of A Time!

Rated # 1 Private Tour by TripAdvisor

Welcome to Discover Nantucket Tours & Discover Nantucket Bike Tours!

Whether this will be your first time to Nantucket Island, a return trip, or if you have been coming to Nantucket for years, booking a tour with Discover Nantucket Tours and/or Nantucket Bike Tours will give you an in-depth, surprisingly interesting, and absolutely fun tour of Nantucket Island. Whether your tour is by bike , on foot , or by scenic drive , we will show you the rich and unique history, along with the breath-taking nature and scenery of the island. Let us show you all the hidden history, intrinsic nature, and scenic gems that Nantucket has to offer. At the end of the tour you will be able to impress and amaze everyone with your newfound knowledge and appreciation of Nantucket island, it’s history, and it’s unique culture and people.

Discover Nantucket Tours and Discover Nantucket Bike Tours are also a mix of fun trivia as well as local insights on the island. The tours are great for visitors of all ages and interests and are family and dog friendly too!

Hugh Lloyd-Thomas, Owner/Operator

Hugh visited Nantucket in 1986 while on vacation from Australia, to meet for just the second time his soon to be parents-in -law, and immediately fell in love with the island.

When Hugh and Beth moved to the US in 1991, the tradition of regular visits to the Nantucket began. If you ask Hugh’s children where they grew up, they will say Nantucket from all the summers they spent on the island.

After living in Connecticut and Virginia and travelling to Nantucket every summer, and at other times during the year, Hugh and Beth moved to Nantucket in 2018. Hugh started Discover Nantucket Tours in 2020 and purchased Nantucket Bike Tours in 2022.

Hugh has been referred to as “Mr. Nantucket.” “He knows EVERYTHING about Nantucket – quite incredible!!! ”  A “walking encyclopedia”. “Very professional, knowledgeable and fun”. “…(and the) best vacation tour we’ve ever experienced” by tour guests.

When Hugh is not taking guests on tours he can be found walking his dog Bogart on the beaches and the moors of the island, volunteering for the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket, and riding his bike around the beautiful island of Nantucket.

The beginning of the walking, biking and scenic driving tours includes a brief introduction to how the island was first formed, the history of the Wampanoag Native Americans, early European settlement, the development and decline of the whaling industry, island culture and heritage and the decline and rebirth of the island.

NOTE: Please understand that all bookings are tentative until confirmed, after a reservation review. All tour times are subject to availability. Please call: 917-716-5973 to confirm if you do not get a confirmation call or email. Thank you for your understanding.

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This Nantucket seaside home gives beach house style a very pretty makeover

With its refreshing coastal colors and pretty chintz prints, this Nantucket home has got us all dreaming of ocean views

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Light, bright and breathtakingly pretty, this island home just outside of Nantucket, Massachusetts, is every bit the classic beach house retreat. With its stunning views and outside spaces from which to enjoy the expanse of water, and its calm interiors, it truly is one of  the world's best homes . It embraces a traditional coastal palette of blues and whites in a way that suggests its been like this for decades, but there's a contemporary freshness to the interiors, too, that brings it right up to date. 

It hasn't always looked this good. The shingle-style home was built in the early 2000s and its interiors were full of natural and dark stained wood paneling and heavy iron fixtures. Its new owner envisaged more of a seaside retreat and in just six months, Boston-based interior designer Gary McBournie transformed the interiors from wintery mountain lodge-style into the uplifting seaside home we see today. 

'Without doing construction, the easiest solution was to use a lot of white paint and to infuse the décor with soothing ocean-inspired colors and textures,' explains McBournie. 'The client wanted to incorporate elements reflecting the rich history of the island but to keep it comfortable and not turn it into a museum.'

True beach house décor always starts with the views of the water, so outside spaces are important here. 'The patio is all about the view, so we made sure we incorporated plenty of seating from Janus et Cie with side tables for the requisite sunset cocktails,' says designer McBournie. 

Staying with the views, this sunroom provides a cozy sheltered space to appreciate the seascape on cooler days. Sunroom ideas embrace basket and rattan furniture, with ocean blue upholstery and scatter pillows. 

'The client and I referred to this space as a bonus room as it had been used as a very large mudroom cum storage room,' says designer McBournie. 'The drapery treatment at the doorways helps to maintain a sense of balance and also serves to make the sunroom feel like more of a nook where one can escape to read a few pages of a favorite book. The locally-produced woven rag rug by Hillary Anepole not only adds some charm but is also a nod to the island’s weaving history.'

The Bielecky Brothers sofa is from Todd Hase Furniture. 

The kitchen required quite some transformation to bring it in line with the new coastal look in the rest of the home. Painting the vaulted ceiling white to cover up the oppressive dark wood paneling was the first task. The working section of the kitchen had a very commercial feel, so the key kitchen ideas involved rebuilding the island and adding 'feet' to give it the appearance of freestanding residential furniture before painting it a cheery seaside blue (Blue Jean, Benjamin Moore). 'We also replaced the counters with sparkling white quartz, evocative of sand and ocean foam,' says McBournie.  The sconces are from Soane Britain and the pendant is from Guinevere. The Roman shades are in blue and white cotton from Peter Fasano, and, says McBournie, 'add some softness without being too sweet'.  The counter stools are Chevron Riviera from Serena & Lily. 

One of the main design considerations for McBournie's living room ideas was the imposing stone fireplace which dominated the space. 'It presented a challenge as it strongly read as “mountain house”,' he explains. 'We found our solution in a pair of Scabetti fish chandeliers in glazed and unglazed bone china, and used them to fill the space in front of the fireplace. We then hung a large round mirror on the stones to reflect the shimmering fish and the light.'

The living room is open plan, simply separated from the kitchen and dining area by an antique English oak sideboard, bought at a local auction house. 'To help define the sense of place, we topped it with an oversized glass cylinder filled with native grasses and a large whale vertebra,' says McBournie. It's the simple, atmospheric touches like these that make this redesign so successful. 

Designer Gary McBournie decided the living room furnishings needed to be 'gutsy' but also 'light enough in spirit to evoke the desired seaside feel'. His solution was to upholster a large sofa in a light blue tweed, and add a pair of smaller sofas in a deep blue to reinforce the overall color scheme. 'The Bielecky Brothers lounge chairs, upholstered in the same fabric as the window treatments, not only keep things light but also play to the summer house vibe,' McBournie explains. 

Of all the rooms in the property, none says coastal style quite so clearly as the dining room. The jaunty chair cushions ensure that the dining room ideas are fresh and contemporary, all the while referencing traditional nautical colors and themes. 

The large custom white dining table and blue and white upholstered bamboo chairs, provide a sense of a beach house, and a pair of mid-century consoles reinforce the theme, with a hand-painted shell motif and wave detail added by local artist Diedre Mannix around the top edges. 

The Anglo-Indian lanterns were sourced in London and are grouped at staggered heights to add interest. 

The primary bedroom has commanding views of the harbor, and designer Gary McBournie explains that his bedroom ideas for this second-floor room were all about keeping it light and breezy. 'We wrapped the room in Lockhart wallpaper from Peter Fasano and used a pale blue linen for the window treatments,' he says. The checked fabric on the chair, accent pillows and window seat is from Schumacher. The desk is from Oomph Home; glass lamp, Nantucket Looms; and Roman shade fabric from Norbar. 

As McBournie considered guest bedroom ideas for this second bedroom, he felt it was important to mark a change in mood. 'The views from this bedroom are pastoral and I decided to bring various shades of green into the room,' he says. 'The room seemed to have an English feel to me so the antique campaign chest was a nice addition. A series of nautical engravings, all in simple white frames, adorn the walls.' The walls were painted in Fresh Dew by Benjamin Moore and Soane Britain’s Scrolling Fern Frond fabric was custom-colored for use on the headboard and window treatments.  

The third bedroom has both harbor and pastoral views and so presented the perfect opportunity for the client and McBournie to come up with a scheme based on their mutual love of old summer houses and vintage floral prints. 

'The impressionist beach scene depicted in the painting over the bed, became our color inspiration,' explains McBournie. 'I wanted the background to be very soft so I wallpapered the room in a pink strie from Farrow & Ball and paired it with a vintage Brunschwig & Fils floral.' 

Crisp white sheeting from Leontine Linens embroidered with a fanciful pink vine and leaf pattern, and a pink single gourd lamp from Christopher Spitzmiller, with a lamp shade from Blanche Field, complete the look. 

The painting that inspired the colors is entitled Playing on the Beach, by Dutch artist Niek van der Plas, and was bought from Doyle’s Auctions 

Back outside, to the true focus of this redesigned ocean-front home. The large terrace includes a lounge space and a dining area, and a porch lawn with lounge chairs facing the ocean. Basket chairs from Janus et Cie's Arbor collection with ocean blue cushion fabrics are the perfect choices for the island setting.

Gary McBournie's transformation of this special property has been remarkable. All trace of mountain-lodge style has disappeared, and in its wake fresh, calm and uplifting coastal interiors have given the home a stunning new lease of life. While the interiors reference traditional old island hotels, particularly in the bedrooms, there are sensitive touches of contemporary seaside themes mixed in, ensuring that with all the comforts of familiarity there is just the right mix of refreshingly new design. 

Interior design: Gary McBournie Photographs: Annie Schlechter

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Karen is the houses editor for homesandgardens.com and homes editor for the brand’s sister titles, Period Living and Country Homes & Interiors, and an experienced writer on interiors and gardens. She loves visiting historic houses for Period Living and writing about rural properties for Country Homes & Interiors, and working with photographers to capture all shapes and sizes of properties. Karen began her career as a sub editor at Hi-Fi News and Record Review magazine. Her move to women’s magazines came soon after, in the shape of Living magazine, which covered cookery, fashion, beauty, homes and gardening. From Living Karen moved to Ideal Home magazine, where as deputy chief sub, then chief sub, she started to really take an interest in properties, architecture, interior design and gardening. 

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Discover Nantucket Tour The District

Enjoy the Nantucket Cultural District from a different perspective. A variety of island tours are offered in passenger vans or buses, along with walking and biking tours. Different tours are available to make the most out of your Nantucket experience; birding, cycling, brewery, clamming, ice cream, whaling history, photo safaris, sightseeing, seal and whale watching, and more.

Tour Options…

Self-Guided Tours

Frederick Douglass Self-Guided Tour

Self-Guided Tour Map (PDF)

Herman Melville Self-Guided Tour

Historic Self-Guided Walking Tour

Maria Mitchell Self-Guided Tour

More biking self-guided tour.

NPT: A Stroll in the Union Street Area

Npt: vestal street & its notable residents.

NPT: A Walk Down Broadway

Guided tours.

Barrett's Tours

Phone: (508) 228-0174

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://barretts-tours.business.site/

Capture Nantucket

Phone: (770) 881-4566

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.capturenantucket.com/

Endeavor Sailing Excursions

Phone: (508) 228-5585

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://endeavorsailing.com/

Gail's Tours

Phone: (508) 257-6557

Nantucket Bike Tours

Phone: (508) 825-5362

Nantucket Island Tours

Phone: (508) 228-0334

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.nantucketbustours.com/

NPT: A Walk Down Mainstreet

An overview of Nantucket in its heyday and focuses on the portion of Main Street between the Pacific National Bank and the Civil War Monument. Learn about the street’s development and the area’s early residents and architectural styles, as well as how the houses have come to symbolize the island’s whaling era.

75 minute tour | Tuesdays at 3 PM

Meet at 11 Centre St | May 31, 2022, to Oct 6, 2022.

Website: nantucketpreservation.org/events/walking-tour/

Register Here

NPT: 'Sconset Tour

Join NPT Executive Director Mary Bergman, who shares her knowledge of this unique fishing settlement at the eastern edge of the island. The tour focuses on the early “whalehouses” as well as the village’s boom as a seaside resort and actors colony at the end of the 1800s.

75 min tour | Thursdays at 3 PM

Meet at 1 New Street, Siasconset | May 31, 2022, to Oct 6, 2022.

NPT: Codefish Park Tour

Join us for a tour of the unique ‘Sconset neighborhood Codfish Park. In Codfish Park, little houses tell big stories. Learn about the evolution of Codfish Park and its important role in Nantucket’s Black history and labor history. 

45 min tour | 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month

Meet at 1 New Street, Siasconset | July 7, 2022, to Oct 6, 2022.

Nantucket Walkabout

Phone: (508) 422-7466

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://walknantucket.com/

NHA Walking Tours

Phone: (508) 228-1894

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://nha.org/visit/museums-and-tours/walking-tours/

Nantucket Walking Tours

Phone: 508-332-0953

Sea Nantucket Paddle Sports

Phone: (508) 228-7499

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.seanantucketkayak.com/

Shearwater Excursions

Phone: (508) 228-7037

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://shearwaterexcursions.com/

Val's Cab & Tours

Phone: (508) 228-9410

© 2024 - Nantucket Cultural District - All Rights Reserved.

Historic Properties

When visiting Nantucket, be sure to discover NHA’s historic sites. Browse the sites listed below for more information and to learn what you will experience at these unique, historic properties.

And don’t forget to plan lots of time at the Whaling Museum .

Hadwen House

Greater Light

Oldest House

Friends meeting house, fire hose cart house.

The NHA preserves, interprets, and shares the diverse stories of Nantucket with all audiences through its collections, properties, programs, and research.

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Former Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc Lists Her Glorious Nantucket Getaway for $15.2M

Nancy Dubuc , who served five years as CEO of the digital media and entertainment company Vice, put her palatial Nantucket property on the market. And if it strikes your fancy, prepare to pony up $15,250,000.

Perhaps Dubuc has other plans this coming summer and won’t need to retreat to this six-bedroom, 6.5-bath mansion.

The Massachusetts island is a dreamy location and has long been known as an exclusive beachfront for the rich and famous—think Ben Stiller , Kathie Lee Gifford , and Kourtney Kardashian , who was a notable renter on the island a few years ago.

Check out these swoon-worthy details of Dubuc’s fab 8,552-square-foot pad near the cool Atlantic waters.

(Realtor.com)

Set on more than an acre of lush lawns, this gray-weathered, shingled home is quintessential Nantucket style.

Lofty ceilings, lots of windows, a quiet white palette, and blond-wood floors embody the area’s trademark seaside charm. The listing is actually two homes in one—the main house offers three bedrooms and 4.5 baths, while the guest cottage (nearly as large) has three bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

There’s also a pool, hot tub, and a cabana with a half-bath. Meanwhile, the two-car garage has a studio apartment.

In 2018, Dubuc replaced Shane Smith , Vice’s co-founder , and worked to reposition the troubled company.

Before she took the helm at Vice, Dubuc was president and CEO of A+E Networks, home to such channels as Lifetime and History.

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The exclusive island where people keep giving away homes for free — even though the typical house costs $3.6 million

• Nantucket, an island off Massachusetts, is a popular vacation spot for the wealthy.
• Each year, several homes are offered for free — but buyers must move them to new locations first.
• Some free houses are moved to create rentals, while others get turned into housing for local workers.

The crescent-shaped island of Nantucket, 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has long been the home of idyllic summer getaways for the rich and famous.

Nantucket's median sales price is $3.6 million , according to Realtor.com, though many homes cost much more.

In 2021, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman was rumored to be the buyer of a $32.5 million waterfront estate, according to the Nantucket Current, a local paper. The Barstool Sports cofounder Dave Portnoy set a Massachusetts record when he paid $42 million for a six-bedroom home on the island in 2023, outlets including The Wall Street Journal reported.

But in stark contrast to the eight-figure homes is another common Nantucket practice: giving away homes.

Or technically free. Free, but with some caveats. The big one: You have to move them — and pay sometimes hefty sums to do so.

Many wealthy summer residents buy Nantucket properties intending to construct dream homes, which means whatever structure is standing on the land is effectively a teardown, said Anne Kuszpa, the executive director of Housing Nantucket, a nonprofit that creates affordable housing for the island's year-round community.

"Sometimes when someone buys a property, the land is worth a lot more than the dwelling that's on it," she told Business Insider.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by NANTUCKET CURRENT 🌊 (@nantucketcurrent)

Because of Nantucket's "demolition delay" rule , any home with "reuse potential" must be advertised in the town paper for 30 days. It's not required to be offered for free, but doing so has become common practice because most owners would rather not pay for the cost of removal, Kuszpa said.

The real-estate attorney Steven Cohen is representing a "free" home in the Miacomet neighborhood, known for its public golf course and freshwater pond, with a tax-assessed value of nearly $800,000. He said he'd already received 25 emails from interested parties. (Mansion Global first reported the listing .)

The "buyer" must pay to move the home, which usually involves lifting it off its foundation and putting it on a trailer, which is driven slowly to another spot on the island. A 2,500-square-foot home can cost at least $100,000 to move, Cohen said. The bigger the house, the higher the price to move it.

It's much cheaper, however, to move a "free" house onto a property than to construct a new dwelling. Cohen said it cost about $800 a square foot to build a home on Nantucket, making the cost to build that 2,500-square-foot home from scratch about $2 million.

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"When you live on an island, your resources are scarce," Cohen told Business Insider. "You reuse them."

House moves are so common in Nantucket that they hold up traffic

House moves in Nantucket have increased in popularity. About a decade ago, Nantucket issued only 19 permits for homes or units to be transported across the island, according to the Nantucket Current. In 2022, the report said, 91 permits were issued by October — and since many house moves happen later in the year, the annual figure was likely even higher.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Housing Nantucket (@housingnantucket)

"Free" houses can range in size from small cottages to megamansions, Cohen said, and some residents will even split houses into smaller parts and move them to new properties to serve as garages or pool houses.

The fire and police departments need to sign off on the permits to move a house, and road closures need to be issued for the 14-mile-long island, as the trailer carrying the home moves at a walking pace.

House moves occur in the fall, winter, and spring. In the summer they're halted because of the increased tourist traffic on the island.

But for year-rounders, the sight of a house being carted across the island is so common that it might just be part of their morning commute.

"If you get to work late and you tell your boss, 'Oh, there's a house move,' people just understand," Kuszpa said.

Some of the 'free' homes do good for the community

Cohen said buyers of the "free" homes fall into three main categories.

The first group is homeowners on Nantucket looking for a small property to turn into a rental for additional income.

The second pool, which Cohen said is larger, consists of individuals or young families who, through their families or other connections, already have land on the island but not enough wealth for a new-construction house.

The third category is housing nonprofits that take the homes as a donation — giving a tax break to the sellers — and turn the structures into affordable housing for the local workforce and low-income families.

"It's the cheapest way to create housing," Kuszpa said.

Kuszpa said the new homes are open only to families making less than 110% of the area's median income, which the census pegs at $135,590. Kuszpa said a typical beneficiary is a family of four making under $100,000, who'd then be able to rent a three-bedroom house for $2,500; the market rent for the same property would be $4,700.

Teachers, landscapers, cleaners, bank tellers, and other members of the Nantucket workforce have benefited from the program and are living in rental homes that were moved to new locations. Kuszpa said that over 600 families were on the waitlist.

Since 1994, Housing Nantucket has repurposed 39 "free" homes into income-capped rentals on the island.

The organization is preparing to move a 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom home from a plot of land near the center of town, which new buyers purchased earlier this year for $5 million.

Kuszpa said the nonprofit was budgeting $400,000 to move the structure nearly 4 miles to the Atlantic Ocean coast of Nantucket, where it will get a new life as a home for a Nantucket family.

"When you're on an island, materials are just harder to come by," Kuszpa said. "It's about using what you have."

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