Don't Associate Short-Term Rentals With Preservation

To the editor: To link STRs with historic preservation is ludicrous. The National Historic Landmark designation is the highest form of recognition given by the United States Government to preserve and protect historic properties of national importance.

At over 30,000 acres, Nantucket is the largest National Historic Landmark District in the United States with over 5,027 contributing structures and resources. What does a STR rental have to do with this? I’d say nothing. In fact STR usage encourages maximizing a historic building’s footprint for the greatest rate of monetary return. Often this means jamming in as many bedrooms as possible, removing a center chimney for the sake of a little more space, raising the roofline to add height, and lot buildout. We see it just about everywhere now on Nantucket.

If Walter Beinecke were alive today, he’d be weeping. So please do not associate STR rentals with preservation as they do nothing to historic structures other than ruin them.

Anne Lingeman Davis