Renovations Before and After
The Martin Box – Two Years in the Making!
Coming Soon!
– a comprehensive photo journal of the construction process to lift the original Martin Box off the ground, dig out from under it and fashion the resurrected “Box” on its new foundation. Written commentary provided by Dr. Peter F Krogh, Dean Emeritus School of Foreign Services,
Georgetown University.
Check out the Finished Product!
View the newly renovated interior of this historic whaling cottage.
See the new interior of the Martin Box“A 1992 used Chevy G-10 box truck was purchased in 2004 to serve as muscular transport for the tonnage of prefabricated cabinets, cupboards, window seats, drawers, shelves, pine entrance doors, stair riser and treads, wall panels, granite thresholds and book matched, flame cherry fireplace surround elements that would become part of The Marin Box’s interior configuration.
Tucked neatly below decks in the Eagle ferryboat or on-board freighters Katama and Gay Head, three hour voyages from Hyannis to Nantucket and back again were a common occurrence for the next two years.
And when parked on Center St. in ‘Sconset behind the crisply resurrected ancient whaling captain’s cottage, the truck’s 16’ long enclosed bed morphed willingly into an alleyway machine shop once its loads of hand-crafted materials were extricated and sheltered safely under a blue-tarped tent slung from gutters and tree limbs in the back yard.
Yes, much to the chagrin of the local Yankees, we trashed the place proper for a while! But the job worked out swimmingly, and shines to this day, as the jewel of Nantucket Island’s east end. Fair weather prevailed at every stage of this one-man refurbishing. Not a drop of rain disrupted the mighty effort. And in the end, the expression “Life is a schlep!” never proved more true. After which, the noble box truck was sold to another jobber, it’s finest hours and most treasured miles silhouetted by sunsets over the North Atlantic.”
John C. Jackson