Luxury Real Estate

In a poignant editorial, Brendan O’Neill - the executive director of the Vineyard Conservation Society - points out the severity of the land conservation versus development issue on the island. While over the last 100 years, about one third of the Island’s 60,000 acres have become legally protected as conservation land, another third remains unprotected.

O’Neill writes, ‘The dilemma is that not all the land that needs to be protected can be saved in time. The rate at which land is being developed is far outpacing the rate at which it is being conserved. In a build-out scenario under existing zoning, this could translate into several thousand new houses, a doubling of the year-round population, a spike in the summer population, and the necessity of providing the roads, sewers, municipal buildings and other infrastructure required to support a larger community.’

His call to action is for landowners to act, designating their private land for conservation restriction. He states that, “More than five thousand acres of private land have been protected by landowners in recent decades. That’s almost a quarter of the inventory of conservation land on the Island. Now is the time to repeat that feat.”

The steps to securing conservation land on the island are complicated involving donations, IRS rules and island government regulations - but they are entirely navigable and strategically put in place to help the island.

I am proud to be an expert in the fiduciary, legal and community procedures for land conservation on the Vineyard. And, I educate my clients on the benefits of land protection for themselves, for the island, for the world…and for the lifestyle of the Vineyard that we cherish.

O’Neill passionately includes, “There is general agreement that much of the Island’s remaining unprotected open land should be conserved if we wish to keep our water bodies, prime farm soils, scenic vistas, buffers around the Great Ponds and core wildlife habitat areas intact.”

And he quotes the founder of the Vineyard Conservation Society, Richard Pough, “If the natural beauty of Martha’s Vineyard is to be preserved, it will be the result of the combined action of the Vineyard landowners.” What was right on 40 years ago, stands true today.

When you’re preparing your home to sell, you’ll want to do the usual things:

• Have it professionally cleaned.
• De-clutter to the extreme.
• Paint.
• Fix any and everything that’s broken
• New light fixtures.
• Update the decor.
• New blinds.
• New furniture (if necessary).

But, when you live on the Vineyard, there are a few other things to think about. We live on an island destination which means that many people are looking for a second home, a home with rental possibilities and/or a beach home. So, I recommend that the home be staged to compliment those buyer desires.

These might include:

• Gadgets and upgrades that might not exist in the regularly lived in home - think pool tables, extra entertainment systems, carriage houses.
• Showcased space for holding events like weddings and parties or even big dinners.
• Extra rooms outfitted for guest bedrooms or owner hideaways.
• Vineyard touches, ‘At the beach’ signs, lobster motifs, beach and summer toys and necessities.
• Lockable areas for owner belongings.
• A guest book full of information on the property and the island.
• Beautiful windows because everyone comes to the Vineyard to be outside - clean, clear and well-treatmented windows bring the island right into the home giving the impression that your home has everything the buyer came here for.

When people walk into a home and their questions are answered, their senses are tickled and their dreams are visible, the chances of them wanting to make an offer (and move in right away!) increases dramatically.

Central to my business and my life is the practice of responsible philanthropy. Active in fundraising for many non-profits on Martha’s Vineyard, the work that I do for the Island Affordable Housing Fund (IAHF) is some of the most rewarding. This summer marks my eighth turn at co-chairing their main fundraising event, Houses on the Tube, which brought in over $500,000 last year and has collectively raised over $1.5 million. To highlight the work that the IAHF does, I’ve asked the fund’s executive director, Patrick Manning, to engage in a tete a tete with me.

Suzanne: What is the Island Affordable Housing Fund and what does it do?
Patrick: IAHF is a non-profit organization that serves as both the fundraiser and the voice of the affordable housing movement on Martha’s Vineyard. It was understood several years ago that there would be a looming crisis where market prices of houses, especially in such a unique and popular venue such as MV, would continue to rise, while salaries of year-rounders would not grow at a comparable rate. The solution is to provide housing that will be forever affordable for the work force, the islanders.

Formed in 1998, the Island Affordable Housing Fund (IAHF) provides grants and loans to organizations, towns, developers, builders, or anyone with a proposal to create affordable year-round housing opportunities that satisfies our criteria. The Fund is also a catalyst and facilitator, providing funding to a whole host of projects that provide affordable housing opportunities to Island residents. Our work is designed to diminish or erase the affordability gap between what it costs to create housing and what year-round residents can afford to pay for housing.

Those that came before me, not only predicted this trend, but were smart enough to set up an organization to raise money, educate the people and try to avert the problem before it really started. As a result, the crisis we are in now is not as bad as other places around the country. There are some spots that have to fly in their school teachers, police officers, fire fighters, waitstaff and tradespeople because they can’t afford to live there. The Hamptons, Nantucket, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley…they are all suffering this crisis right now, and this is what they have in common: a limited amount of land, they’re a popular vacation area, lower than average annual income and many second or vacation homes. IAHF is 10  years into saving the character of the island, Nantucket is just starting to grab hold of their problem, Aspen is ahead of us. Aspen is #1 in this field.

Suzanne: What is Houses on the Tube?
Patrick: Houses on the Tube (or HOTT as it is affectionately called in our office) is our main fundraiser and actually has it’s origins in the desire over the last few years to make our large events inclusive to everyone and unique. It was the hope by people like you, Suzanne, and your co-chairman, Kenn Karakul, that we get people excited to come and not have them dread ‘just another fundraiser’. HOTT has been our most ambitious and our most inclusive. It’s about community and whether you can give $10 or $10K - it all counts equally towards reaching our goal.

Suzanne: What is the event?
Patrick: It’s the classic telethon, similar to Jerry Lewis Telethons where you have continuous live entertainment, sponsors with big checks, the excitement of reaching a goal and watching the numbers rise over a 27 hour period. We have seen everything from the very generous, affluent individual donations to the local waitstaff who come in with their tips for the day to everyone in between. Anonymous gifts of tens of thousands of dollars and children calling in with $3 from their piggy bank. We never know how much we’ll raise, and it’s always been a pleasant surprise. Last year we exceeded our goal by several thousand dollars, and we have high expectations for this year.

You and Ken have come up with brilliant ideas. Before the telethon, our event was ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ and guests would pick a dinner with say 2 Harvard Law professors debating during the meal, the cast from Dream Girls providing the entertainment or having David Letterman valet park your car. Your idea to shake things up and try a telethon, which had never been done on the MV, was successful beyond our wildest dreams.

Suzanne: I mentioned the incredible $1.6 million that we’ve raised over the last 7 years. What is the direct impact on the Vineyard community?
Patrick: The inaugural HOTT enabled us to say ‘YES!’ to projects that are community oriented. Historically, we would build one affordable house at a time; now we’re able to build communities of several homes, pocket neighborhoods. Now, we are able to buy and build better homes, greener homes that use less energy - a contribution that will help make these homes more affordable forever.

This leap in our ability to help the community is very much due to you and Ken. You know that there are very few people who will walk the walk, and fewer who walk it on such a grand scale. This work does make a huge difference to so many people including those brand new home owners who just moved into their new affordable homes in Jenny Way. Jenny Way, in Edgartown, is the first pocket neighborhood we built and it holds the esteemed honor of being LEED platinum certified - the first affordable housing community in the U.S. to carry this highest green building rating from the Green Building Council.

Suzanne: Jenny Way is amazing. What are some other current projects?
Patrick: Again, due to the last year’s wildly successful Houses on the Tube event, we have several projects that we can now commit to. One example is Bradley Square, nestled in the heart of the Arts District in Oak Bluffs. We saved the first African American church on the island which was not only a safe worship haven for African Americans, but also served as a welcoming spot for the influx of Portuguese immigrants the Vineyard saw at the turn of the century.

We saved it from the wrecking ball, and the sanctuary is going to be restored as a community room, and the NAACP of Martha’s Vineyard will have it’s first permanent offices in their history within the space. Additionally, 11 housing units, including 4 live/work spaces for island artists will be created nearly doubling the size of the Arts Districts. In West Tisbury, we are building an 8 home neighborhood that we hope will be as close to zero carbonAlso 250 state road , west tis, 8 unit affordable housing community that we hope will be as close to net zero energy use as possible using alternative energy and fuel.

All of this was made possible by the generosity of those involved in HOTT and all of this makes the Vineyard a better place, a sustainable environment, a leader in so many ways and, of course, a strong, flourishing community.

Suzanne: So, when is this year’s event?
Patrick: July 26th and once again, Jim Belushi, the island’s blues brother will be hosting with us - back by popular demand, not to mention that he had such a good time last year, he asked us if he could join us again…

Suzanne: Who else is coming?
Patrick: Ahhh…wouldn’t you all like to know! Several, incredible hosts will be on hand, but I won’t give away all of our secrets…Come to Houses on the Tube! Support the island…that’s the only way to find out!

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.islandaffordablehousing.com

Sunsets, expansive lawns, and water views. Add the clink of ice in your glass and the melodic rise and fall of old friends’ laughter, and you have a Vineyard cocktail party. Lobster puffs and crostini with island basil and tomatoes make their rounds and the breeze cools your shoulders, warm and blushed from a day in the sun, on the boat or at the beach.

Night settles in, pulling you into lounges surrounding fireplaces lit as much for their dancing flames as for their aromatic scent. The music winds down, appetites rise and intimately gathered friends begin to move in small groups into town and towards tonight’s restaurant of choice.