A $5.5 million Gilded Age oceanfront estate in Massachusetts was at risk of destruction until an Instagram tag helped restore the historical manor.
Commissioned by Thomas Howe in 1880, the mansion was designed by the architectural firm du jour, Wait & Cutter. For more than 100 years, it has overlooked Massachusetts’s North Shore.
The Howe Mansion featured four stories of turrets and towers, porches and pavilions, balconies and bay windows, wraparound verandas and steep-pitched gables galore.
The intricately designed home became a summer destination for the Howe family . Howe’s imaginative daughters, Harriet and Kate, invited friends to stargaze from the makeshift medieval tower.
However, time was not kind to the mansion. It became a victim of natural erosion as the New England salt air, wind, and weather heavily damaged the exterior. Neglect and vandalism were also contributors.
Restoring the manor
In 2022, HUD elected to put up the manor for election.
The fate of the historic mansion rested with the Nahant Board of Selectmen, who faced a choice between either purchasing it and demolishing it for land usage, or restoring it. Local taxpayers would have to pay millions of dollars for either option.
Historic building renovator and developer, Ricky Beliveau, owner of Volnay Capital, was informed of the manor through instagram after a local resident tagged him in a post.
Beliveau told the Boston Globe, “One of my followers said, ‘This house needs you.’
Beliveau purchased the manor for $1.1 million in June 2023. A two-year renovation followed, including new steel beams, roof, and flooring as well as an elevated HVAC system was installed in the 10,820-square-foot structure. The layout was modified to expand the kitchen, and the four rooms were combined into a main suite, a home theater, wine lounge, mudroom, and full bath.
Shayna Bernshtein and Kelly Penny, founders of Salt and Stone, were hired to revisit the interior design and transform the manor’s historical elements to a more modern, coastal approach through updated staircases, molding and paneling.
The natural color palette, full of light wood and creamy whites, offers a relaxing atmosphere for residents. The palette appears in the grand entry, herringbone floors, one of two fireplaces, and in the creamy paneling and chandeliers.
“With the Atlantic as its backdrop, the Howe Mansion stands as a rare preservation of history and architectural legacy, said (insert name).
A darker color palette defines the wine cellar with a merlot color, an olive-gray office, and a deep green in the library lounge to emulate a European study.
An overlook of the renovated mansion
The Howe Mansion features eight bedrooms, seven baths, and a three-car garage on a .71-acre lot. On the main level you will find an open living and family room, and a coastal kitchen that connects to the wraparound porch.
The primary suite is located on the second floor. Additional bedrooms are located on the floors above, including a private au pair suite with its own kitchenette, and a gym with saunda-ready space. The European study inspired library is also found on an upper level.
The former tower used for stargazing is now a one-of-a-kind turret lounge with panoramic 360 views. It’s considered the crown jewel of the home.
