Campground Cottage Tour
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tour Homes: 10 am - 3 pm
(last tickets sold at 2 pm)
$25 per person
2010 Tour Houses
on and near
Forest Circle
Plus the Cottage Museum
Use Paypal Link Below to Purchase Advance Tickets
4 Forest Circle -
Owners: Doug West and Irene Ziebarth
The Wests celebrated fifty years of cottage ownership with a large family gathering
last month. A new quarterboard with the cottage name “Reunion” was
installed over the front doors to commemorate the occasion. The windows and double
doors on both levels of the 1866 cottage façade are Romanesque. A rounded arch cut
into the separating wall of the first two downstairs rooms is another architectural
feature typical of campground cottages. The kitchen and bathroom have been
modernized but blend in beautifully with the rest of the cottage. The original back
door is still present, and includes a very low doorknob that the Doug West and his brother
used when they were young children
76 Rural Circle - Owner: Tomm Warburton
Tomm Warburton’s parents purchased the Rural Circle cottage in 1960. Prior
to that, his father’s family occupied two of the other cottages (West and Dagnall) on
the 2010 tour. The house has five entrances, including the double gothic doors on
the front porch. The opening from the living room to the dining room is a large
gothic arch which mirrors that of the front doors. The original vertical
boards are visible in every room and many of the light fixtures are also original.
The cottage was built in 1866; the pedestal sink in the bathroom was probably installed
when the bathroom was added to the home circa 1900,
6 Forest Circle - Owner: Barbara Moore
Bobbie Moore described her cottage as “a lonely,
beat up little place that needed someone to bring it back to life. It had green and
white striped walls, and bad flooring so we stripped and painted and continue to do
so.” Now the floors in the 1866 cottage
are refinished pumpkin pine, and the walls are nicely painted. All of the rooms are spacious; there is a furnace
installed in the first floor so unlike most campground cottages, this one can be inhabited
all year long. The owner has a collection of
SSA Ferry Schedules posted on her dining room bulletin board including all years but one
since 1973!
13 Forest Circle - Owners: John and Sally Lennon
John and Sally Lennon have only owned their 1867 cottage for two
years, but they have transformed it into a beautiful summer home. The living room has
original vertical tongue and groove walls and 4 Romanesque windows. The kitchen and walk-in pantry is at one end of an
unusually large dining room. The new bathroom
is accessed directly from the kitchen instead of outside via the side porch—an
improvement of both comfort and convenience. There
is a small room with a daybed off the dining room that can also be seen through a
“mystery door” on the stairs. There
are three bedrooms on the second floor, including one “dorm” room large enough
for four beds.
17 Forest Circle Owners: Jean and Steve Hight
Jean Hight spent all her summers on East Chop before she and husband
Steve purchased their campground cottage, “Weathering Hights” in 2004. The house has a wrap-around porch with
unusual circle gingerbread on the railings. After
passing through the double gothic doors, the original ceiling-high beading that separates
the front from the back section of the living room can be seen. With the exception of the insulated bedroom off the
kitchen, the walls of the cottage are original tongue and groove boards. In most campground cottages, the stairs go up on
one side of the living room. In the Hight
cottage, the stairs are found in the kitchen, perhaps because records show that it was
once two houses at 16/17 Forest Circle.
1 Rural Circle
1 Rural Circle - Owners: Russ and Sally Dagnall
The Dagnall cottage was built in 1866 with an “L” shaped footprint
instead of the usual “shotgun” design. It has modified gothic windows and
a small tower that was added later. None of the original cottages had
kitchens. The current Dagnall kitchen was a stand-alone cookhouse that was later
attached to the cottage. The original hatches used for venting are still visible
above the counter. A distant relative of the owner was a missionary in Africa in the
late 1800s and the cottage was named IKAYALAMI, which is Zulu for "my home."
In 2007, the Dagnalls modernized the kitchen and bath and replaced the
asbestos shingles on the outside with the historically correct vertical tongue and groove
boards. Sally Dagnall is the author of two books that chronicle the history of the MVCMA,
including Circle of Faith published this year. Several prints made from old stereoviews
adorn the walls of her cottage.
Cottage Museum
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Tickets $25.00
To Benefit the Tabernacle Restoration Fund
* * * Refreshments are included with admission * * *
Tickets will be available at the Tabernacle
on the day of the tour.
Click on the PayPal icon to purchase
tickets NOW via PayPal
On Wednesday, August 11, 2010, the public will have an opportunity to tour the interiors
of several of the unique Campground cottages in Oak Bluffs. Fashioned after
the tents that were pitched on the grounds of the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting
Association in the middle of the 19th century, Campground cottages are also a bit like
miniature churches, with large central double doors, and tall narrow windows, often with
colored glass. They are painted with bright colors and adorned with a great
variety of intricate filigree, the distinctive Victorian "gingerbread."
According to architectural historian Ellen Weiss, "a new American building type, the
campground cottage" was developed on the grounds of the Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting
Association between 1859 and 1964. The doors and windows of the cottages are
generally of two types, the Gothic Revival style, with pointed arches above the windows
and doors, and the Romanesque style, with rounded arches. Some of the early
furnishings dating from the 19th century are preserved in the cottages.
Admission to the Campground Cottage Tour is $25.00 and will benefit the Tabernacle
Restoration Fund. Tickets will be available on the day of the tour, Wednesday,
August 11, 2010 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the entrance to the Tabernacle. The
hours for the tour are 10:00 to 2:00. Refreshments will be served.
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