A Tour with a View

A Tour with a View!

EverythingWestport.com

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

First Time Ever House Tour at Westport Point.

There were more than just a few rooms with a view for the over 300 visitors who toured Westport Point homes on the first ever House Tour in the Historic District at Westport Point sponsored by the Friends of the Council of Aging.

For the first time ever, nine lovely and historically significant houses in the Historic District at Westport Point were opened to the public. In addition to the tour of nine houses, there was also a tour of the Paquachuck Inn, the Westport Point Methodist Church, and special exhibit at the Westport Art Group showing Westport scenes.

The tour ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants picked up their Guide Book/Ticket at the Methodist Church at 1912 Main Road.

“We had to go out a day early and pick up all the application forms and brochures,” said Selena Howard, ticket planner. “We were very much afraid the event would draw too many people to the area. We limited ticket sales to 300, and hired a Westport police officer to direct traffic.”

The cost of the tour and art exhibit was $25 with prior reservation, and $30 the day of the tour. Proceeds of this event will be used to enhance the services of the Westport Senior Center on Reed Road. The Senior Center has a friend indeed with the Friends of the Council of Aging.

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“The tour was extremely well organized and well planned,” said Nancy Burkholder (below center), WAG president. “It was very gracious of the owners to welcome strangers into their homes. The money received will provide much needed funding for the Council of Aging,” she said.

“We came for the view,” said Barbara A. Faria (above, left in photo) of Fairhaven. It’s a different world at the Point.” “It’s really fun to see historic homes and how the prosperous owners decorated them,” said Judy Lariviere (above, right in photo) of Fairhaven. The two women were accompanied by their friend Lee Bordas, also of Fairhaven. “Heavenly,” said Barbara A. Faria. “We love to go on tours!”

The Valentine House (pictured above right) was the busiest on the tour as the owners opened up the entire house with its small, winding passage ways and narrow, steep stairs, to all visitors. “There were a lot of bottlenecks,” said Wendy Goldberg, house minder. “We were kept very busy as it was a real challenge to organize the tours.” Each house on the tour had a captain and one or more docents per shift to conduct the tours. Docent Carolyn Cody of Westport Point (pictured right in the photo below left) is shown with a tour waiting entrance into the Valentine House.

“This Italianate Victorian was built in 1869 by William Valentine, a New York merchant, as the first “summer house’ in this whaling village. Built as a gift to his wife, the high ceilings, twin parlors, library, beautiful moldings and large windows lend a Victorian elegance to the property. A central tower provides 360 degree views of the harbor, ocean and East and West branches of the Westport River. In the corner of the enormous cellar is a root cellar said to have been a rum runners’ hideout.” – House tour brochure.

“Waterviews abound,” said Marcia Goulding (above photo, center) of New Bedford. “I love it!”

The 16 members of the Friends of the Council on Aging work very hard all year long to help insure the solvency of this vital institution. Judy Swan (pictured right in photo below left) and Linda Olsen (pictured left) - it was Judy’s brainstorm said Linda! - were joint chairwomen, and they did a great job considering the magnitude of this fund raiser.

Joan Fradley of Westport Point (pictured left in above photo center), a house captain, said “it’s going fine” when asked about the tour. She was very busy during her shift as the harbor views and gorgeous plantings (above photo, right) attracted many visitors.

The weather was sparkling with superb sunshine and near perfect conditions for taking a walking tour. And energy levels were restored with a delicious, $ 7 box lunch that was available at the Westport Point Methodist Church (two photos below, far left). Craig Masten (center photo), artist, was capturing his impressions of the point in front of Lees Wharf while the tour swirled around him. June Brownell Roche of Westport Point (photo below, second from right) ‘minding’ her assigned house. Charlotte Fitch (photo below, far right) stood in front of her beautifully restored livestock barn home on Cape Bial Lane welcoming visitors. “When we first got the barn,” Charlotte Fitch said, “the cow stanchions and stalls were still in the basement. The support beams were massive,” she recalled.

“The present dwelling built in 1853, is originally believed to have been a Macomber livestock barn. In 1923 the barn was purchased from Charles Robbins by Douglas Fitch, a New York architect. Over the next two years, Mr. Fitch transformed “The Barn” into a unique and comfortable summer house enjoyed by generations of the Fitch family over the years.” – House tour brochure.

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Westport Art Group to launch their Summer Community Show and Sale.

The Westport Art Group will open their Summer Community Show and Sale on Friday, July 25. They held a special preview exhibit in conjunction with the Point House Tour on local artists and their original work. Artists on display included among others: Sarah Desjardin, Madeline E. Ferraz, Varick Niles, Dennis Broadbent, Meredith W. Cornell, Sue W. Prideaux, Dora Milliken, Jeanne Cassidy, Dorothy E. Wall, Denise Zompa, Sachiko Morgan, and Doris Magovern. The Summer Community Show and Sale will run from July 25 through August 3, 2008. Weekdays: 1 to 5 p.m. Weekends: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1740 Main Road, Westport.

One can only hope that the House Tour at Westport Point will become an annual event so that all those who missed this wonderful event will have a chance to enjoy the beauty and charming character of these historic houses and Westport Point.

These beautiful, identical twin sisters Mary Anne E. Rousseau, Esq. and Dr. Constant M. Rousseau (pictured above), both of Westport (you can figure out which is which!), fell in love with a Greek Revival Cape built in 1854 by Captain Benjamin Gifford who at the age of seven sailed with his uncle Gideon Davis on the bark Hope and later captained the whaling ships, the Mattapoisett and the President.