At the end of a long dirt road in Chilmark, a huge white tent arches above the meadows at Quansoo Farm. Inside the tent is the historic Mayhew-Hancock-Mitchell House, under renovation since last year.
The house sits at the far end of Quansoo Road in Chilmark, through a meadow of goldenrod and tall grasses overlooking Tisbury Great Pond. It is perhaps the oldest house on Martha’s Vineyard, more than three centuries old, and one of the finest existing examples of multi-century architecture on the Island.
The historic Mayhew-Hancock-Mitchell House at Quansoo Farm is the topic of a presentation by Adam Moore of the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation at an August 14 talk beginning at 5 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library. The historic house, dating back to the 17th century, is one of a handful of homes in the U.S. that contain original wattle and daub construction.
The foundation is currently raising funds to preserve the house.
Up in the attic of the old house at Quansoo, you can read its somewhat haphazard growth over 300 odd years. You see where the several additions were made to the original structure. You see ancient roof timbers, reinforced with temporary framing and juxtaposed with a concrete block chimney.
Downstairs, too, there is something of an historical jumble. In the cracked wall evidence of wattle and daub construction but on the floor, linoleum. And outside, a new temporary roof over the old one to protect the building from further deterioration.
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation has been awarded a $3,000 matching grant from the National Trust to create a site plan for the Mayhew-Hancock-Mitchell House at Quansoo Farm in Chilmark.
This grant will enable Sheriff’s Meadow to create a plan for the house, its surroundings and the nearby structures that is coordinated, attractive and appropriate. The site plan will also enable Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation to create a document to be used in filings with the Chilmark Historical Commission and other town boards, as needed.
