Two brothers and two sisters, their children and their extended family witness the disappearance of a century of family memories when they must sell their parents’ magically beautiful 160 year old summer home in Cape Cod. It is the end of an era for this house and the family that’s occupied it. Does it also mark the end of the multi-generational American family home?
What has come to be known as the Starboard Light was built in Chatham, Massachusetts in 1860. In those years, the concept of a summer/weekend home was almost unheard of and there was certainly no interest in Cape Cod. In fact, by 1860 its population had begun to decline. A map of Cape Cod actually indicates individual dwellings by name! But thanks to train and then car travel, it quickly became possible to trade a refreshing sea breeze for the swelter of cities in summer before AC quickly enough to make second homes viable.
Cape Cod was a rough, undeveloped, simple and beautiful peninsula. Within striking distance of both Boston and New York by train, it became an attractive destination for those who wanted to escape city life and live simply in and around the beach and the sea. And Cape Cod farmers and sea captains were delighted to sell those Bostonians and New Yorkers what they considered to be worthless coastland for $30 an acre. The Forbes family literally bought Naushon Island. Secretary of State Richard Olney bought a place in Falmouth. And in 1890, ex-President Grover Cleveland settled in Wings Neck and others began to follow.
In 1925, William W. Fitzhugh bought what came to be known as the Starboard Light. It was built initially in 1860 along with two others on Stage Harbor by one of the founding fathers of Chatham for his three sons. Even by 1925 it was one of just three houses in eyesight.
Now there are fifteen houses and about fifty boats in view which parallels the sevenfold population increase on Cape Cod over the past hundred years. Tourists cram the towns, the beaches and the roads. Most newcomers love and embrace the old Cape Cod culture yet the many old Cape families, both blue collar and white, who established that culture, can’t afford to stay. They also can’t bear to leave. That old Cape Cod culture was about simplicity, modesty and stoicism. But with the natural fragmentation of familial wealth and the growing value of waterfront property, these families are increasingly forced to sell their multi-generational homes. New families with new money erect new homes whose size and cost emphasize a new value for luxury, excess that never before existed in Cape Cod.
And yet in the summer of 2010, the Starboard Light, at least, still remained as one of the few remaining icons of the previous century and its values and it was still owned by the Fitzhugh family. Particularly when compared to the newer and tremendously larger homes that increasingly surrounded it, the Starboard Light seemed unchanged. The evidence of age was everywhere and it was enchanting to family and guests alike. Moss-covered sea gray shingles. Impractically small beds full of bumpy springs. A permanent odor of moth balls. Yellowed and peeling wallpaper. Warped floors speckled by hand with paint. Shelves full of dusty hardcover books. Walls lined with family photographs that look as though they belong in an American History book. A wooden wheelchair. Spindly and creaky furniture. A porcelain wash basin. A workshop full of tools for a hundred years of projects. And small, storm-battered windows looking out over the harbor. As other old family homes disappeared or had such history sucked out of them in preparation for summer renters, the Starboard Light remained until 2010––the last summer as a five generation family museum and a symbol of a time gone by.
Be sure to visit the official Starboard Light website. For updates, visit the Starboard Light Facebook Page.
Director/Producer:
Nick Fitzhugh
Photography:
Nick Fitzhugh
Starring:
Brooke Andrews
Cornelia Atkins
Curtis Dozier
Deborah Ecker
Eliza Fitzhugh
Emily Dozier
Ernie Eldredge
Hoyt Ecker
Josh Fitzhugh
Joshua Fitzhugh
Laurie Andrews
Michael Westgate
Naina Fitzhugh
Nick Fitzhugh
Peter Andrews
Rebecca Andrews
Ryland Andrews