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Swampscott’s Showhouse Undergoes Interior Redesign
Gail Lowe
Special to the Journal
Courtesy of JCCNS
The Jewish Community Center of the North Shore has chosen Beachhurst as its 2007 Showhouse.
If every home has a tale to tell, imagine what the walls at Beachhurst might have to say.
The three-story white house stands tall and proud at its location on Puritan Road in Swampscott. It is North Shore Jewish Community Center’s 2007 Showhouse, designed by outstanding New York architect Richard Morris Hunt, and it has a fascinating social and architectural history.
When 39-year-old Jacob Haskell, partner in the Boston firm of Haskell, Adams & Company, and his wife, Adeline, of Back Bay, were ready to design and build a summer home in 1870, they turned to Hunt, the leading architect of their day. The home was to be built on land Haskell bought from a portion of the Phillips Estate for $5,000.
Hunt graduated from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and later designed The Breakers and many other fabulous summer cottages in Newport, Rhode Island. He also designed Biltmore House in North Carolina, Vanderbilt mansion at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street, the United States Naval Observatory and the base for the Statue of Liberty.
After Beachhurst’s completion a year later, it was referred to as “one of the handsomest and most convenient along the North Shore.”
The home was designed in what is known as the “Stick Style” with faux framework of posts, brackets and braces. Most of Beachhurst’s original embellishments are no longer in existence. Porches were wrapped around the oceanfront and both sides of the mansion on the first and second floors. The façade above the porches was decorated with square and rectangular plates. A four-sided turret facing the ocean rose above the rooftops.
In preparation for the opening of Showhouse from May 6 through June 3, Beachhurst has been undergoing major renovations and refreshments, and many North Shore and Boston designers have made significant contributions, including Landry & Arcari, Nugent & Company, and Susan W. Lefkowitz Interior Design, among others.
The kitchen, for example, has been completely redone with cream-colored, mocha-washed cabinets, light beige marble countertops with green accents, a cooktop in a darker mahogany color, stainless steel appliances and a hardwood floor.
Responsible for the kitchen makeover is Sheila Whalen’s Timeless Interiors in Prides Crossing. Stephen Watson, a consultant and interior designer for the company, said that the experience of renovating such a grand house has been important for the design industry and wonderful for the community.
“Our goal was to bring the serenity of the sea, land and sky together in the kitchen,” said Watson. “It’s really exciting to see all the pieces come together. We’re looking forward to seeing Beachhurst restored to its former glory.”
Linda Calder, owner of Calder & Company, Topsfield, said she was thrilled to have been chosen to be part of the renovations at Beachhurst. Her responsibilities were to design three spaces: a lady’s sitting room, a his and hers closet and master bathroom.
“For the sitting room, we chose beiges, creams and blues to complement the ocean and sand, which are just outside the room,” she said. “We haven’t followed anyone’s rules, and we’re having so much fun putting it all together.”
Calder, an award-winning designer, accented the room with European decor. “We added custom cushions, a lady’s writing desk, round table with custom table cloth and a crystal chandelier. An oriental rug from First Oriental Rugs in Danvers will be placed on the hardwood floor.
Strong and soft colors were chosen to dress up the master bathroom. Calder said the room was pink-tiled and instead of painting over them, she introduced brown. The result is a bathroom that’s refreshed and beautiful.
The his and hers closet has been painted white and outfitted with a crystal light fixture and window treatment in soft sea green, sea blue and sand. A 3- by 6-foot Oriental rug rounds out the décor.
Beachhurst passed from Haskell’s ownership to Henry Governor Parker, editor of the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette, in 1882. In 1903, ownership changed hands once again, this time to Israel A.
Ratshesky, an important figure in the Boston Jewish community. He and his brother, Abraham, eventually founded the U.S. Trust Company in Boston, a Jewish bank established to respond to the needs of the growing immigrant population and provide access to capital and banking services not otherwise available.
Ratshesky was 39 years old when he and his wife, Theresa Shuman Ratshesky, purchased Beachhurst. They lived together in their beautiful home for many years, and Theresa continued to live there into the late 1940s. By then, Israel and Abraham had established the Ratshesky Foundation, a charitable trust.
Beachhurst passed successively to the Wasserstram, Glimcher, Clayman and Gilberg families and was purchased in 1959 by Joseph and Sara Sanchez, who raised their family there and whose children Frank, Carol and Elaine have made their home available to Showhouse.
It has been 136 years since Hunt built Haskell’s summer dream home. And once again Beachhurst is for sale and awaits a new owner.
