A True Cape Colony
Cape Cod Home / Summer 2013 / History, Home, Garden & Design, People & Businesses
Writer: Cape Cod Life Publications / Photographer: John L. Moore and Ralph Cataldo
A True Cape Colony
Cape Cod Home / Summer 2013 / History, Home, Garden & Design, People & Businesses
Writer: Cape Cod Life Publications / Photographer: John L. Moore and Ralph Cataldo
Central Avenue
The gateway to Menauhant can be marked by the 1931 home on Central Avenue, with its wooden footbridge over Bournes Pond. So pristine and idyllic is the setting that cars slow to stop when passing. Brides, recalls former owner Wendy Bigelow, frequently ask to be photographed on the iconic bridge.
The house started out as a compact Cape Cod style and remained that way for nearly 50 years. The Bigelow family transformed the house in the 1980s, raising the roof and adding a full dormer, which allowed for two large en-suite bedrooms over the original footprint.
Twelve years later, a larger renovation was initiated that involved completely gutting the kitchen, creating a new stairway, readjusting the garage and deck, and replacing a potting shed to create a first-floor master suite and another large bedroom and bath above. Initially, windows were few and spare, so the project involved increasing access to sunlight and views: a former stairwell was taken out to make way for a skylight in the family room and the kitchen was opened to the dining room, which allowed for a more open, unified area as well as unobstructed views of Vineyard Sound.