147 Lagoon Avenue, Vineyard Haven

Can you imagine living on the Lagoon at the water’s edge? You will have your own sandy beach, deep water dock with water and electricity, and two boat moorings. You can sit in your beautiful garden with roses growing on stone walls, and paint if you are an artist, read, or just sit and watch the tranquil water.

As I was driving by the Lagoon the other day, at one end there was a family of swans with new chicks gliding across the water. At this time of year, the Lagoon is surrounded by trees with all the vibrant fall colors, which contrast beautifully with the  blue color of the water and sky. It was “perfect” day.

This house is called The “Rose Covered Cottage. One of the building was an old fishing shack built-in 1850. In 1938 the fishing shack was renovated into a house, and the whole property was renovated again in 2000.

What was happening on Martha’s Vineyard in 1850? The 1850 census shows that all the island residents were white, Protestant, and of English ancestry, much as they had been for centuries except for the Native Americans who were here, long before the English arrived It couldn’t have been easy to be an immigrant, speaking another language to live on the Vineyard at that time.

As the rest of the nation was becoming more diverse, the island stayed the same, except for whaling-ships. There was much more diversity on whale-ships. Legend has it that they were the nation’s first racially integrated workplaces, and certainly did house a variety of nationalities.

In 1849 more than 200 Vineyard men left in the first nine months, surely the Island’s fastest exodus. More than ever the Vineyard suffered from a shortage of men. It was not only adventurous single men who left. Among those departing were heads of families who were eager to strike it rich in California and saw little chance of doing so at home.

Please take a look at this beautiful house. This could be the dream house that you’ve been looking for.