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HomeMy WebLinkAbout170 Pleasant -OHGP134 Yarmouth: Old Homes and Gathering Places 162B Pleasant Street Georgian In 1902, Freeman Goodnow purchased a tract of land on the bank of Bass River from the widow, Naomi Lawton Davis, and to it he moved the family house which appears on Main Street on the 1880 map, but not the 1907 atlas. So typical of the houses in this area is the fact that this was probably the second move for this house, as it is believed it was originally built in the Weir Village section of Yarmouth in the 18th century and later moved to South Yarmouth. The main part of the house was set down facing the river, divided from the beach by masses of wild flowers. At the rear, a long ell was added at the time of the move. The whole house has the typical random width pine floor boards secured by hand -made nails that mark early Cape houses. The last Goodnow to own and occupy the house was Wallace E Goodnow. Born in 1876, he graduated in 1899 from M.I.T. with a degree in engineering. His principal residence was in New York, but he spent summers at Bass River and was a member of South Yarmouth Friends' Meeting. The house today is still filled with many Goodnow family heirlooms, and a 19th century addition, the generous Victorian porch, affords an excellent view of the river. 170 Pleasant Street c. 1833 In 1914, Mabel Kittredge, the great-aunt of the present owner, wanting to acquire a summer home near that of her sister, Margaret Kittredge Spencer (see No. 222 Pleasant Street), persuaded her friends the Taylors (see No. 5 Aunt Edith's Way) to sell her a piece of property next to them on Bass River. Miss Kittredge, or "Mitty" as she was known to young and old, was for many years a social worker at the Henry Street Settlement in New York City's Lower East Side. She later became inter- nationally known as a humanitarian, sociologist and author. Among her many accomplishments were founding the school lunch program in New York City and assisting Herbert Hoover in the post -World War I feeding program in Europe. Mitty found the house she wanted to buy in West Dennis, and in January, 1905, she received an estimate from Nelson Eldredge to flake, move, and reassemble the house on her land in South Yarmouth for $300! The house as it stood in West Dennis was described by Mary Northend in Remodeled Houses as a "simple little building, dilapidated and weather beaten" It was a frshermarfs cottage, measuring 20 feet by 30 feet, not counting the kitchen wing or shed. In any case, it arrived on the river bank, reassembled, enlarged and remodeled. Mitty added shutters from a Washington Square house in New York City that was being demolished and used them as paneling in her living room. The stair- case also came from Washington Square. Mitty was a generous hostess, and relatives and friends filled the house for many summers. In 1915, the house was moved yet again, this time just a little farther up river, and again by Nelson Eldredge. At this time, a separate guest house was also built, or rather rebuilt out of a tiny garage, whose hand hewn beams were salvaged from an ancient barn. After many happy summers in her cottage by the river, Mitty retired and moved into it for good where she continued to be active in village life well into her eighties. 5 Aunt Edith's Way 1901 Vernacular This wonderful large, rambling summer home, situated originally on a large tract of land on Bass River that extended back past Old Main Street and over to James Pond, was built during 1902 and 1903 by Irving Kurtz Taylor, an importer who made his headquarters in New York City. In 1898, Mr. Taylor married Edith Howes, whose mother, Mary Hinckley Nickerson Howes, lived along Bass River (see No. 228 and No. 232 Pleasant Street). The "Big House, as it came to be called, was truly a wondrous place, for Irving Taylor and his son, Bill, returned from an African safari with many trophies that were displayed within this house. Over a walk-in sized fireplace was a huge head of a water buffalo, and the walls were hung with crossed spears and the heads of smaller animals. Over the tiled floor were laid various exotic rugs, many of them animal skins. Under the large windows of the main room, elephant tusks lay curved like half moons lying down. No wonder Ann Maxtone Graham, who was the Taylor's eldest child, has such wonderful memories of her childhood summers here! After Irving Taylor's death in 1939, his widow, Edith, spent most of the winters in "Crooked House;' which she also owned on Old Main Street (No. 188), but she always returned to the Big House for the summers. After World War II ended, Ann Maxtone Graham returned to the Cape and the scene of her childhood memories and ran the "Big House" as a guest house, under the name River House. One of the first guests was Basil Rathbone, who was acting in a play at the Cape Playhouse.