One of the oldest and most prominent homes in Cotuit is the Ebenezer Crocker house that has presided for close to 250 years over the bay above Hooper’s Landing on the curve at 49 Putnam Avenue since 1783. The house was built that year by Ebenezer Crocker, Jr., descendant of the colonial Crocker clan who founded Cotuit. In 1849 it was bought by Samuel Hooper, the village’s first summer resident. Hooper and his descendants lived there and entertained prominent guests such as Harvard historian Henry Adams (grandson of President John Quincy Adams), Hooper’s niece: the pioneering photographer Marian “Clover” Hooper Adams, U.S. Senator and abolitionist Charles Sumner, and a parade of prominent political and cultural figures of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Below the property, on the shoreline, Ebenezer Crocker built the first pier on the shores of Cotuit Port. It was a “crib pier” located adjacent to the present dock of the Cotuit Mosquito Yacht Club. There Ebenezer’s son, Braddock Crocker, built a small shop that served the growing fleet of packet sloops that departed from the cove bound for Edgartown and Nantucket.
The Crocker Pier, c. 1910 by Edward Darley Boit
The new owner wants to move the two-and-a-half story structure to the field to the north where the former farm’s grand barn stood until it was demolished in 2017. On Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at 4 PM, the Barnstable Historic District will conduct a public hearing on the following application:
“Popolo, Joseph Victor Jr. TR, 49 Putnam Avenue, Cotuit. Map 036, Parcel 004001, Built 1783 Partial demolition & relocation. Demolish the ells of existing dwelling. Relocate the dwelling to the parcel across the drive owned by the same over or to 555 Main Street, Cotuit.”
The application, filed on behalf of the owners by Jennifer Birnstiel of the Plymouth, MA firm of Archiplicity, LLC (dated April 17, 2025) is addressed to Ben Haley, National Register Director of the Massachusetts Historical Commission and states the reason for the move is:
“The move of the structure is being proposed to create a better connection between the owners existing home on an adjacent property and the outdoor living space. This move will create a better visibility for The Ebenezer Crocker Jr. house in the Town making it a more prominent landmark. The current house location is not visible from the street. It is located on a turn and shrouded by trees. The new location is an adjacent grassy field of the same original property where the structure of the original barn once stood.”
The letter further states under the heading of “Appropriateness of the New Setting:”
“The new site is adjacent to the existing house location. The property was originally one property and was divided at a later date into separate lots. The move of the house will have no affect on the historical significance of the property as it was originally a singular property. The move is wholly appropriate as the current building location and the proposed were originally the same property. The visibility in the field adds to the visibility of the property as a whole.”
Under the heading of “Impact on Historic Significance,” the architect states:
“The Ebenezer Crocker Jr. House will continue to be located on the original property which was historically one and will remain adjacent to the buildings in the original listing (The Ropes Ice House c 1851 and the Ropes Workshop c. 1855). There is therefore no impact as the listing will remain constituent to the current listing with the joined properties.
“The building will be moved and relocated on a concrete foundation. We will repurpose stones from the original barn as part of the new foundation. In this regard the building shall still be considered eligible for retaining its National Register Historic status.”
It should be noted that the property that the owner wishes to move the house onto has been under a conservation restriction (Barnstable County Registry of Deeds, book 12934 page 41) since 2000:
“The purpose of the Restrictive Covenant is to assure that the Restricted Area will be retained in perpetuity predominantly in its natural, scenic, and open condition and to prevent any use of the Restricted Area that will significantly impair or interfere with the conservation values of the Restricted Area. The public benefits resulting from conservation of the Restricted Area include, without limitation: protection of a field, that together with the field on the opposite side of Putnam Avenue, preserves the scenic and historical rural character associated with this area of Cotuit for the benefit of the public.”
The conservation restriction may be why the agenda item states an alternative location for the house could be 555 Main Street, Cotuit (north of the driveway to the Cotuit Elementary School).
The late Prof. Jim Gould wrote about the house in the June 29, 2012 edition of The Barnstable Enterprise. A copy is on his blog, where he describes how Samuel Hooper came to own the house and become Cotuit’s first summer resident:
“The story behind the purchase of the house is that Samuel Hooper could find no captain to go to China for him since all had gone off to California. He heard there might be an available captain in Cotuit, and approached the postmaster Captain Alexander Scudder. Captain Scudder was attracted by Mr. Hooper’s generous offer to take a ship to China but asked who would take care of his house and farm. Mr. Hooper paid for the farm and house, and became the first summer resident of Cotuit, and perhaps of Cape Cod.”
Samuel Hooper, Cotuit’s first summer resident
The Barnstable Historic Commission will meet on Tuesday, August 19th at 4 PM in the Selectmen’s Conference room on the second floor of Town Hall, 367 Main Street, Hyannis. The application concerning 49 Putnam Avenue is last on the agenda.
The 75-page filing submitted to the Commission can be read online.
The Historical Society of Santuit and Cotuit’s monograph about “The Crocker-Hooper-Lowell-Ropes House 1793-1957” is below.
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