‘Sand Spur’: The Story Behind Seven Mile’s Oldest Home
A look at the home as it stands today, named “Sand Spur.”
There’s no place like their historic home for the extended Paquette family.
The inviting, three-story house with brown cedar shingle siding on 32nd Street, so dear to the descendants of Joseph Paquette and his late wife, Ellin, might also be dear to Seven Mile residents. It’s distinctive. “As far as the tax assessment records indicate, the house appears to be the oldest home on the island,” says Avalon History Center Director Nina Ranalli.
“Sand Spur,” as the home was dubbed by Ellin Paquette, dates back to its construction in 1880.
“Mom named the home ‘Sand Spur’ when she and Dad purchased it [in 1995] because it was like a weed among all of the new homes,” says daughter Alex Anastasio.
Such sturdy survivors of changing tastes and times that still stand amid the myriad of newly constructed homes on the island are now being recognized for their historical value. A new program, the Avalon Register of Historic Places, was initiated by the Avalon Borough. It is a coordinated effort by the Borough and the Avalon History Center “to recognize Avalon buildings – homes, business, public buildings, and other structures – that are more than 50 years old and have retained their original character,” according to Avalon Register guidelines.
The Paquette family’s Sand Spur was the first to qualify. The home now wears an Avalon Historic Register marker. This handsome black plaque with muted gold lettering and trim, which reads “Avalon 1880 Historic Register,” has settled in nicely on the home’s original wrap-around porch. The plaque hangs next to an original porch light, one that first operated on gas. Anastasio notes that the large yellow wooden front door and transom window above it, along with a compact metal mailbox hanging nearby, are original to the home as well.
Past continues to meet present inside this historic house, especially on its third floor. The open space has a vaulted ceiling with large, original dark-brown cedar beams extending to the floor. A miniature bathroom tucked into a corner holds the house’s original clawfoot bath tub and a mounted marble-top sink with visible antique spigots and exposed pipes.
The home’s furnishings also reflect respect for the past.
Old-fashioned painted wicker furniture in sea shades decorates the original living room. Touches like refurbished bureaus and an antique metal cane bed frame with headboard and footboard upstairs add to Sand Spur’s historic character. Anastasio credits her mother with discovering this gem and preserving the house’s historical integrity. “Mom had fun furnishing the home with lots of old furniture,” says Anastasio. “She shopped out on Route 9.”
Joe Paquette credits two local men with their part in with keeping Sand Spur alive and well. Building contractor “Bob Penrose was instrumental in getting the house off of pilings and ready for another century,” says Paquette. Penrose also built the small addition of a cozy breakfast room and a laundry room tucked discreetly into the rear of the home. Builder Stuart Wright helped with constructing that addition and cared for the house in many ways over the years, Paquette adds. Wright reshingled the massive house with cedar shingles in 2015.
Thanks to Penrose’s and Wright’s efforts, the grandchildren continue to enjoy the house, Paquette says. “Hopefully, the great-grandchildren will love it, too!” he adds.
Next-door neighbor Jackie Jorgensen knows the house well from earlier days. She and her husband, John, rented it from their friends Harry and Barbara Wareham in the mid-1980s. Then, the house was filled with brightly colored artwork, Jorgensen says. Barbara Wareham “attended Moore Institute of Art and loved creating oil and watercolor paintings for her family and home throughout her life,” according to her obituary.
In addition to Wareham’s artwork, Jorgensen remembers the clawfoot tub on the third floor, a kitchen previously on the second floor and a plug-in dishwasher that leaked.
The Warehams knew their home’s history well, Jorgensen notes. They said that it was a boarding house with a restaurant in days gone by. Not only that, the land upon which the Jorgensens’ home now sits was once the site of formal gardens for the historic house next door.
Like other homes built on the island in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sand Spur once had a turret. Its current owners have no record of when that tower was taken down.
While the historic significance of Sand Spur is visible, the memories this house holds from 137 years are not. Who knows what owners and their family members, boarders, renters and visitors recall about Avalon’s oldest house? “If the walls could talk…” Anastasio muses.
Other buildings on Seven Mile Beach have stories to tell. Five additional Avalon homes have now been approved for inclusion in the Avalon Register of Historic Places.
Along with the requirement that a building be more than 50 years old, a structure must be associated with a person, event or institution relevant to Avalon’s history. It must also have maintained a significant amount of its distinguishing features.
Property owners may contact the Avalon History Center at 609-967-0090, or email nranalli@avalonfreelibrary.org, to apply for recognition as one of Avalon’s Historic Places.
If an application is accepted, the property will be included in the Avalon Register of Historic Places, certified, recognized in the Avalon History Center, prioritized in consideration for inclusion on the Historical Society House Tour and more, all at no cost to owners. Owners have the option of purchasing an Avalon Historic Register plaque to display on their property. Plaques read “Avalon Historic Register” and indicate the year a structure was built.
As Ranalli noted during a Borough Planning/Zoning Board meeting last year, there are more historic homes in Avalon than one might think.
Thanks to the Avalon Register of Historic Places, their stories will now be told.
