Nantucket Preservation Trust Announces 20th Annual Preservation Awards Recipients

The Nantucket Preservation Trust celebrated its 20th annual Preservation Awards last Thursday at its office at 11 Centre Street.

Since the awards began, the ceremony has highlighted homeowners, stewards, craftspeople, designers, and building professionals whose work helps Nantucket’s historic places endure. The Preservation Awards celebrate careful and sensitive renovation, along with long-term stewardship and thoughtful landscape design.

“For 20 years, the Preservation Awards have given us an opportunity to celebrate the people who make preservation possible on Nantucket,” said Rita Carr, executive director of Nantucket Preservation Trust. “Preserving the island’s sense of place takes many forms, from restoring historic buildings and caring for them over generations to maintaining the landscapes and details that make Nantucket distinctive. This year’s recipients reflect the care, skill, and long-term commitment that preservation requires.”

This year, NPT honored four properties and the people whose work demonstrates a continued commitment to preservation on Nantucket:

Michelle Elzay Architectural Preservation Award: Sarah Noelle McLane | 6 Gull Island Lane

Sarah Noelle McLane received the Michelle Elzay Architectural Preservation Award for the preservation of the Hannah Gardner House. Built circa 1794, the Nantucket-style four-bay residence had experienced years of serious neglect by the time McLane acquired it in 2019. Its foundation had failed, structural timbers were deteriorating, windows were broken, water intrusion had caused significant rot, and the house had no utilities.

The restoration centered on a simple question: how much of the original house could be saved? The answer was quite a lot. Original floorboards were lifted, tagged, mapped, and reinstalled, while stairs, windows, doors, mantels, hardware, wall lath, and the central chimney mass with its six fireplaces were retained and restored wherever possible. Traditional materials and methods, including mortise-and-tenon construction, hand-glazed restoration glass, lime plaster, and historically appropriate masonry, were incorporated throughout the project. Modern systems were carefully tucked into unobtrusive areas to make the house functional for contemporary life without sacrificing its historic fabric.

Historical Renovation Award: Kerin and Jason Hempel and Stephens & Company, Inc. | 17 Orange Street

Kerin and Jason Hempel, with Stephens & Company Inc., received the Historical Renovation Award for the rehabilitation of the James and Sarah Wyer Easton House at 17 Orange Street. Built in 1831, the property is one of five connected residences that make up the Folger Block Rowhouses, a rare surviving example of early nineteenth-century urban development on Nantucket.

Working with Daniel Frisch Architecture of New York City, the project retained original millwork, staircases, shutters, flooring, fireplaces, windows, doors, hardware, and the historic room layout wherever possible. The existing foundation was carefully underpinned and the basement floor lowered to create additional usable space without changing the historic appearance above. Where original material could not be retained, replacement elements were custom-made to match historic profiles and details.

John A. and Katherine Lodge Stewardship Award: George and Kathy Butterworth | 23 North Water Street

George and Kathy Butterworth received the John A. and Katherine Lodge Stewardship Award in recognition of nearly five decades of care for 23 North Water Street. The house, constructed c. 1793, retains many hallmarks of the typical Nantucket-style house, including its four-bay façade, central chimney mass, plank-frame windows, and transom.

The Butterworths have been its stewards since 1979. Their care of the property reflects one of the simplest and most important principles of preservation: ongoing maintenance. George performs much of that work himself, including restoring window sashes and completing carpentry from a workshop on the third floor. The Butterworths have also taken an active role in preserving their neighborhood, participating in Town Meeting and advocating against zoning changes they believed would significantly alter the character of North Water Street.

Caroline A. Ellis Landscape & Garden Award: Harvey Jones | 78 Main Street

Harvey Jones received the Caroline A. Ellis Landscape & Garden Award for the gardens at 78 Main Street. The Federal-style home was constructed in 1832 for merchant Charles Coffin, and since purchasing the property in 1992, Jones has worked to create historically appropriate formal gardens that complement the architecture and setting of the house.

Designed by Chip Callaway of Greensboro, North Carolina, the gardens incorporate extensive planting beds, planted urns that frame the building façade, meandering pathways and whimsical fountains and a small footbridge. In 2023, a historic “sheaf of wheat” fence design was reconstructed to replace one previously removed from the property. The surrounding board fencing was also designed around the ancient elm trees on the site, allowing them room to thrive. Chris Powers Landscaping oversees the gardens’ ongoing care, maintenance, and new plantings.

Together, the 2026 recipients demonstrate that preservation can take many forms. It can mean undertaking a major restoration, adapting a historic building for contemporary use, caring for the same home for decades, or ensuring that a historic landscape continues to complement the architecture and streetscape around it.As NPT enters its 30th year, it will continue to celebrate and advocate for those whose work demonstrates that Nantucket’s historic buildings and landscapes are not simply remnants of the past, but places that can continue to be cared for, lived in, and passed forward.