It may be home to just over 11,000 year-round residents, but Nantucket punches above its weight in the luxury home market. Along cobblestoned Main Street, not far from the ferry terminal, a centuries-old house has come on the market, priced at $25 million.
The six-bedroom house is owned by Occam Global co-founder Bill Holodnak and his wife, Marjorie Holodnak, who purchased the house for $7.35 million in 2016. It’s one of a handful of homes in that price range to hit the market in recent months, following Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy’s purchase of a record-breaking $42 million home on the island.
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This particular house has stood in Nantucket’s historic downtown district for just over two centuries. It was originally built by John Coleman for whaling merchant John Wendell Barrett and his wife, Lydia Mitchell Barrett, per the Wall Street Journal. Its age puts it among the older homes on the island, though still not in the league of other properties in Nantucket like the smaller Tristram Bunker House, built in 1720 and recently sold for $2.69 million.
To preserve that heritage, the modernizations introduced to the 6,800-square-foot Main Street home have been discreetly added to the structure to bring in functionality while maintaining its historic appeal, according to the listing held by Bernadette Meyer of Maury People Sotheby’s International Realty.
Dual granite steps with ionic pillars frame the doorway under a portico. Inside, the east parlor overlooks Main Street. The room features a large black marble fireplace (one of eight in the house) with a plaster rosette centered on the ceiling overhead. The fireplace and rosettes, along with the interior shutters and leaded windows, are original details that have been preserved by the Holodnaks.
Adjacent to that space is a family room with another fireplace that flows into the dining room, which itself leads into a kitchen that will have home chefs angling for an appearance on a reality cooking show. The open layout of all three spaces gives it an airy feel, with one room spilling seamlessly into another. For those that want separated spaces, pocket doors in the east and west parlors offer the ability to divide the rooms as desired.
The kitchen, one of the spaces redone by the Holodnaks, is equipped with a marble-topped island, white cabinets and modern appliances. Two sets of French doors—also recent additions to the home—open onto a covered porch in one direction and a brick patio surrounded by a landscaped private garden in the other direction.
The west parlor highlights the home’s symmetrical design—like the east parlor, it has a black marble fireplace and a detailed plaster rosette decorating the ceiling. Yet another parlor, sporting yet another fireplace, sits toward the west side of the back of the house on the same floor.
The main floor showcases a modern opulence that seamlessly complements the historic details. That feeling extends into the second floor, accessible by a grand staircase. Four en-suite bedrooms sit on the second floor, including the primary suite, which has a significant walk-in closet and marble-tiled bathroom.
One level up, there’s another large guest bedroom, office and bathroom. This top floor also features a recently restored cupola.
The current residents also finished the basement, adding an entertainment room, a bedroom accessible via the garden, a gym, a bathroom, a laundry room and a mechanical room.
The $25 million price tag puts the home above the average Nantucket price, estimated to be around $4.6 million. However, this quarter-acre property along a historic cobblestone street is not the kind of home that comes onto the market with frequency, so perhaps its elusive nature will make the hefty price tag more palatable.
