Nantucket mansion sells for .8 million, a near record for homes away from the waterfront

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The sellers of the home "leaned into" its historical heritage while refurbishing it, according to the realtor who sold the property.Jack Vatcher

A grand home on Nantucket’s historic Main Street has sold for .8 million, a near record for a property located away from the shoreline on this island favored by the ultra-wealthy, according to the broker and sales records.

The Greek Revival-style home, located at 72 Main St., was originally built around 1820 by John Coleman, an island craftsman, for John Wendell Barrett, a whaling ship captain and merchant, and his wife, Lydia, according to the Library of Congress. The home went on the market last October.

Related: Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy buys Nantucket estate for million, a record price

Listing agent Bernadette Meyer said in a telephone interview that one of the key issues she focused on while marketing the property was how the sellers had updated the home to 21st-century standards while preserving its 19th-century character.

“The house doesn’t have a preservation restriction on the interior.... Someone else could have gone in and really just stripped the house of its history,” said Meyer, of The Maury People Sotheby’s International Realty brokerage on the island. “And these sellers did not do that. They leaned into it.”

A photo of the interior of the home at 72 Main St., Nantucket.Jack Vatcher

The sellers refurbished the fireplaces throughout the home, updated the main staircase with period-appropriate railings, carefully restored the iron railings on the front porch, redid the brick front steps, and made sure one of the signature architectural features — a massive cupola — was readied for another long stretch atop the roof.

“They gave it a modern look, but they kept all the historic features, and that is really what I believe was the attracting feature for the buyers who came in and and paid the asking price, essentially,” Meyer said. “It’s a rarity that it’s the first house on Main Street where it changes over from commercial stores into residences. So you really can’t get any closer to the core of downtown than this property.”

The 6,804-square-foot mansion features six bedrooms, six and a half baths, and three elegant parlors to the east, west, and rear of the home, according to the listing.

The sellers refurbished the fireplaces throughout the home. Jack Vatcher

Meyer reviewed top sales prices for the past two years and all but one were for homes with direct waterfront, including the million estate purchased by David Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports. A home on Grant Avenue with water views — but not on the waterfront — sold for million, Meyer said, citing sales records.

And the name of the new owner is? It’s a blind trust called Seventy-Two Main Nominee Trust, according to the Nantucket Current, which first reported the sale.

Related: Nantucket waterfront estate sells for .1 million

Though it is now known for its lofty sale price, the home almost didn’t made it to the 20th century, let alone the 21st, according to the book “Nantucket Doorways” co-authored by Edouard A. Stackpole.

And Lydia Barrett is the reason why.

During the Great Fire of 1846, residents were dynamiting buildings to prevent the further spread of devouring flames, according to the authors.

An aerial view of 72 Main St. on Nantucket. Jack Vatcher

“When the Great Fire of 1846 was raging up through the business section of Main Street on that fateful July night, it appeared that nothing could prevent it from engulfing the Barrett mansion. Despite the pleas of family and friends, Lydia Mitchell Barrett refused to leave her home, saying in her Quaker manner that if the house was to be burned she wished to go with it,” the authors wrote.

She may have been calm, but the rest of the town was not.

“While the flames leaped high in the night sky, and the cries of the fire-fighters rang out, and the boom of bursting powder kegs, which were used to blow up buildings in the path of the fire, added terror to the scene, Mrs. Barrett sat in her front room — a silent watcher.”

The kitchen of 72 Main St. on Nantucket. Jack Vatcher

But the night’s drama was not yet over.

“Then suddenly, as though by miraculous intervention, the wind shifted and the flames veered to the north, along Centre Street, and the Barrett mansion was saved,” the authors wrote. “The successive owners of this fine old house have maintained it with true regard for its representation as a period piece in the historical study of the island.”

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