A Town With(out) A View

Over the past couple of decades I've seen a lot of breathtakingly beautiful, and previously public, viewscapes in Chatham disappear.  Most are, not surprisingly, along the water -- primarily Chatham Harbor.  The huge house built just south of Water Street, where Clint Hammond's modest home once stood, comes to mind.  Where once the public strolling along Shore Road could see the a wide view of the water both before and after the older house, the new structure stretched across almost the entire parcel. There are other examples of locations where once the public could glimpse the harbor, ocean or Nantucket Sound from a public way, only to have selfish property owner with no sense of community build a monstrosity that blocks the viewscape.

The new view from Barcliff Avenue looking toward Chatham Harbor.

It's happening again.  A few months ago a house that stood for centuries overlooking Aunt Lydia's Cove was moved to West Chatham and a new house is now under construction on the site.  Just before construction began, a fence went up along Shore Road -- not a see-through chainlink fence, but a canvas-covered barrier.  While this sort of thing might be commonplace in the city or suburbs, it's pretty unusual here.  There are no doubt safety, security and insurance reasons, but it turned out to be the first shot across the bow of the public's view at this location.

The house now under construction,  even in its skeletal form, sits smack in the middle of the view the public previously enjoyed from Barcliff Avenue.  The final product will likely be another Polhemus Savery DaSilva behemoth, a Frankensteinian hodgepodge of architectural styles and pretentiousness that's out of sync with its natural and man-made environment.  I know nothing of architecture or the firm's process in developing projects like this; I do know that in my view, most of their buildings are ostentatious and look as much like Cape Cod as a 20-story steel-and-glass office tower.

I run by the spot multiple times a week and I've watched the house go up.  As I head up Barcliff, away from the water, I always look back to see how much of the harbor and outer beach still remains visible.   It looks like a sliver may remain open, depending upon the final landscaping and ornamentation on the McMansion.  But nothing like the panorama at the end of Water Street or Seaview Street.

Another piece of Chatham is being removed from the public.  What will be the next disappearing view?

Disclaimer: The opinions in this blog post are those of the author and do not reflect the newspaper he works for, his publisher, editorial staff or the office cat.