85 Main Street, The Jabez Bunker / Prince Gardner House
The Jabez Bunker-Prince Gardner House at 85 Main Street is a two-story, timber-frame house built in several stages beginning as early as 1725 by Jabez Bunker, who owned a large tract of land on Main Street, extending to present-day 95 Main. The building’s center-entry façade with end-wall chimneys is believed to date from major enlargements made by Prince Gardner around 1795, although many of the exterior’s Greek Revival-style details date from the second quarter of the nineteenth century. The house’s scale, form and details mark it as an ambitious example of its period and of the several periods of alteration and enlargement by which it achieved its present form. Marie and John Sussek, Honorary Chairs of the 2020 August Fete, purchased the home in 1976. In 2003, they placed a preservation restriction on the home. The easement, held by Nantucket Preservation Trust, protects the building’s exterior and the footprints of the main house and garage. Many interior elements on the first floor are also protected, including all interior moldings, doors, transom lights, door surrounds, fireplace surrounds, windows and window sash, the staircase and balusters, newel post, and mortgage button.
Read the 85 Main Street Easement Text to learn more about the history of the property and the features protected by the Preservation Restriction held by Nantucket Preservation Trust.