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1829 Federal in Nantucket, MA

$28,000,000

For Sale

Added to OHD on 1/5/23 - Last OHD Update: 1/5/23

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23 Comments

19 Pleasant, Nantucket, MA 02554

Maps: Street | Aerial

8 Bed
8.5+ Bath
8817 Sq Ft
1.07 Ac.

Moors End, a stately three-story brick home, was constructed between 1829 and 1834 by Jared Coffin, a wealthy mariner and ship builder, during the heyday of Nantucket's prosperous whaling era. This iconic property, situated on over an acre of land, includes an extensive heirloom rose garden framed with formal boxwood hedges, and is encircled with a brick wall for privacy on Pleasant Street. Two additional structures complete the estate including Nine and Eleven Candlehouse Lane featuring an 1850 carriage house and stable and Two Mill Street, a 1921 home, with three bedrooms and three baths.

Agent Contact Info

Linda Bellevue, Atlantic East Nantucket Real Estate :: (508) 228-7707

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23 Comments

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David | 646 comments

Supporter

25 days ago

Lots of money but lots of EVERYTHING! I’m in love!

John Shiflet | 6379 comments

Supporter

25 days ago

This is a house that is diminished if separated from its carefully curated landscaping surroundings. (one of the best looking grounds I can recall here) The house itself oozes history and elegance with the wall murals (some are imported French Zuber papers-the company was founded in 1797) bringing the interior up to mansion grade levels. I wonder if the antique car is included? With or without the car, this is surely one of the finest historic properties on the market in New England. The only disappointment is from not being a trust fund recipient or Lottery winner but for those who qualify what a unique property available to become the next custodian of.

MW | 998 comments

Supporter

25 days ago

OK, at first I was ‘figure out plan to sell soul for this’. But then I realized it wouldn’t even come close to the asking price. 😪

Anne M. | 1394 comments

Supporter

25 days ago

DDG (drop dead gorgeous)

Robert | 114 comments

25 days ago

Incredible property. The whaling murals are amazing. The bathrooms look futuristic.

socalnanynan | 375 comments

Supporter

25 days ago

The weirdest thing is that when I saw that there was an OHD email, I wondered if they would ever show a home on Martha’ Vineyard (I have family who live there year-round), and up comes this magnificent property on Nantucket!! I’m afraid I’m short about $27MD, and heaven only knows what the taxes will be/are in Taxachusetts. So, as they say on “Shark Tank”, I’m out. 😥

Kat | 132 comments

Supporter

25 days ago

I love this one!! And those tapestries are lovely!!! Also I would like to read that wall in pic 68!! Road trip anyone??? 😆

Chip Seal | 16 comments

25 days ago

I’d expect a Duesenberg Touring car not a 36 Ford Phaeton on this estate!
What a place!

Carebear | 1737 comments

Supporter

24 days ago

Fantastic house and grounds! I love it, inside and out. The only thing I’d do, is lighten up the kitchen counter-the black just seems like such a jarring clash with the lightness of the room.

Peggy | 45 comments

24 days ago

I walked past that house…..and lived to tell of it…..perhaps in my next life.

spicynomad | 5 comments

24 days ago

im definitely going to property records to look this one up.

Komiza | 486 comments

Supporter

24 days ago

Love the grounds. What a wonderful garden. Does the 28,000,000 include a gardner?

wmoore2002 | 5 comments

24 days ago

This is where I want to live out, what little time I have left!

Jean | 145 comments

24 days ago

This property was recently featured in Buildings and Landscapes spring 2022 issue, describing the 1925 restoration by Fiske Kimball. I’m glad to see that many of his choices have been maintained!

Gregory_K | 1286 comments

Supporter

Reply to Jean | 145 comments

21 days ago

Thanks for spotting this article. I am going to buy a copy. Again, thanks very much.

DeborahH | 142 comments

24 days ago

Gorgeous house, lovely grounds. Only 28mil? Let me check my change purse.

KKdaplum | 67 comments

23 days ago

Stunning grounds, the homes are interesting but I would pass on the ” mural of whale murdering” that just turns my stomach. For the price, I’m wondering about TAXES !!! And curious how close it is to a busy main street. The entire estate gives that walkbackintime feel.

Gregory_K | 1286 comments

Supporter

Reply to KKdaplum | 67 comments

22 days ago

You know that giving a development and preservation easement, unless that has already been done, will significantly reduce taxes.

Gregory_K | 1286 comments

Supporter

22 days ago

WOW!!!

I agree with everything the rest of you have already written. A treasure surrounded by treasures, and filled with them.

I am obsessed with antique wallpapers, and landscape paper is Sauvages de la Mer du Pacifique (‘Savages of the Pacific’) is a doozy. This particular pattern was introduced by Dufour et Cie in 1806. Inspired by Cook’s travels, it was printed from designs by Jean-Gabriel Charvet, and produced in a set of twenty-six panels, each about 24″ by 98.” According to Wikipedia, it was the largest panoramic paper at that time, and it was wildly successful. A paper of this scale, printed in color, might require 2000 or more hand carved printing blocks.

A history of this particular wallpaper:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Dufour_et_Cie

There is a marvelous book on this pioneering scenic wallpaper:
https://www.amazon.com/Sauvages-Mer-Pacifique-Manufactured-Jean-Gabriel/dp/0642541523

The book is out of print, but you can get a copy for only $1870.00

This Zuber website explains the complete printing process:
https://www.zuber.fr/en/scenic-wallpapers?p=1

Google mages of scenic Dufour et Leroy scenic wallpapers:
https://www.google.com/search?q=dufours+et+leroy+scenic+wallpapers&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjw9sPuirr8AhUKNkQIHenqBCkQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=dufours+et+leroy+scenic+wallpapers&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDoGCAAQBxAeOggIABAIEAcQHlDvFlilhwFg4aEBaABwAHgAgAFEiAGMBpIBAjE4mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=T9K7Y7CTDIrskPIP6dWTyAI&bih=852&biw=1745#imgrc=hf_SW-LBI0uXLM

There is an extraordinary Tiffany style Lamp in the rear right corner in photograph 60. I cannot enlarge the photograph to determine if it is a real Tiffany or not, but with the choice looking selection of furnishings, and the financial wherewithal to maintain this jewel of a home, I cannot imagine that they would settle for a reproduction. It looks like lamps I’ve known, but one 1/4 inch tall in a nice but not archival photograph, it’s impossible to know if it is a Wisteria (It looks awfully light colored for a Wisteria) or perhaps an Apple Blossom lamp. The base is very unusual.

Does anyone have a more accurate idea?

The illustration is a portion of Sauvages-Mer-Pacifique

John Shiflet | 6379 comments

Supporter

Reply to Gregory_K | 1286 comments

21 days ago

Thanks Gregory, for taking a more in-depth look at the exquisite wallpapers’ origins. I think you can understand why I thought they were Zuber artworks-they certainly share some similarities. Now I’m curious about the whaling scenes murals. They too appear to be made up of individual panels mounted to the walls in a specific sequence. Because whaling was a critical local industry in the first half of the 19th century I could see the Whaling themed papers originating in Boston or NYC because of the subject matter. Then again, the owners of this estate could have been well off enough to have privately commissioned a custom wallpaper based on a familiar subject matter.

As for the table lamps being Tiffany, I agree it more likely that they are as the owners do not appear to collect reproductions. Doubtful then, that they would convey with the sale of the house but I would expect the antique wallpapers to remain in perpetuity.

Gregory_K | 1286 comments

Supporter

Reply to John Shiflet | 6379 comments

21 days ago

I thought it was Zuber as well, and only found out that it was Dufour’s when I went searching for a date for its first printing. The quality is a match to Zuber, so I think we can be excused for thinking it was theirs. Researching this paper, the references mentioned that Dufour and Zuber were only the most important of the printer of panoramic wallpapers, but I was unable to find the names of the others. I need to update my library.

Dufour’s son sold the company after his death in 1827, and the business failed soon after. According to one reference, the blocks for the various patterns were scattered. It appears it is still available, so someone must have the printing blocks.

It is definitely an historic set, because the slight variation in the colors of each panel. Perhaps it is an installation from the Colonial Revival era, assembled from different sources.

Apparently the book on this wallpaper is still available: Les Sauvages de La Mer Pacifique: Manufactured by Joseph Dufour et Cie 1804-05 after a Design by Jean-Gabriel Charvet
Hall, Susan (editor)ISBN 10: 0642541523 / ISBN 13: 9780642541529

This edition is priced at $36.22, so I have no idea why the other was so expensive.

I also tried to identify the whaling wallpaper, but I had no luck. Frankly, I was hoping you would find something because your research is always so impressive. It is so obviously ‘New Englandy,’ I’m surprised that there is no information on it on the web.

You can see the seams, and it looks like it was printed, and not hand painted. There is the possibility that it was a special order from a Chinese factory. As I’m certain you know, they had been producing hand painted scenic wallpapers from the 1700’s through much of the 1800s, but it does not look Chinese. Perhaps they could have produced such a western look if they had been supplied with engravings. I was up until 3:00 this morning digging, and gave up.

I’ll email Historic New England, and see if they have any suggestions. The big hole in my library is their book, I think it’s titled ‘Wallpapers in New England.’ Anyway, I’ll make sure I tell you if I learn anything.

Were you able to find anything on the remarkable garden design? I tried to identify a designer, but no luck. I also tried to open the National Register paperwork, no. 66000772, but I kept getting listings for Alabama. I must be doing something wrong!

Gregory_K | 1286 comments

Supporter

21 days ago

Oh, one final note. One of the reasons this particular pattern was so popular was because it was a pictorial story of Captain Cook’s voyages. I that’s him in the panels 8 and 9 panel, being killed. What a great pattern for a dining room or salon.

Laurie W. | 1812 comments

Supporter

20 days ago

I’ve been through this house virtually several times & am more knocked out each time. It’s stunning, and a pleasure to see it not only well maintained, but with its historic elements intact. And, with a gazillion others, I’m a descendant of the Coffins of Nantucket — maybe they could give my house back???

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