One of the oldest storefronts in downtown Edgartown is up for sale.

The building at 37 Main street, currently home to the boutique Sole, hit the market in March. Owned by the North Water Street Corporation, the 18th-century former home is listed for $4.15 million. 

This marks the first time that the North Water Street Corporation, which was created in 1946 in an effort to preserve parts of Edgartown, is selling one of its properties.

“I don’t like selling buildings, but on the other hand... to sell it for a fair price would put a lot of life into our company,” said Stephen Berger, the CEO of the corporation. 

This is the first time that the corporation is selling one of its properties.

Ray Ewing

This is the first time that the corporation is selling one of its properties.

Ray Ewing

North Water Street Corporation was founded after longtime Vineyard Gazette editor Henry Beetle Hough led an effort to stop the town from turning the village green, a lush lawn in the center of town, into a parking lot. After purchasing the village green in 1946, the corporation acquired 12 North Water Street and 37 Main Street, which both border the green.

The decision to sell 37 Main Street was not an easy one, Mr. Berger said, but it was necessary to stabilize the corporation, which has struggled keeping up with the constant maintenance of the historic building.

Renting the building doesn’t make much of a profit, and owning the building is not central to the corporation’s mission, according to Mr. Berger.

“Our mission, in my mind, is to preserve the open space and try to make some money for our shareholders,” Mr. Berger said.

Twenty-two per cent of the corporation is owned by shareholders. The Vineyard Preservation Trust, a nonprofit focused on preserving historic buildings on the Island founded in 1975, purchased the other 78 per cent of the shares in the 1980s. 

Nevette Previd, the trust’s executive director, said the trust cares for the North Water Street Corporation’s buildings. She saw the decision to sell as a natural progression for the corporation.

“[The corporation] is not sustainable as it is,” Ms. Previd said. “The buildings need a lot of work and in order to do the job that [the corporation] was set out to do, there [were] some decisions that needed to be made... and I think that 37 Main street seemed to be the best choice.”

“It’s really just one less building for us to take care of,” she added. 

Mr. Berger said the sale is intended to help preserve the building. The maintenance is expensive and he suggested that another owner could better meet the demands. 

“We’ve under maintained it and so we took the decision that we need to sell this off, to raise the capital to generate some profits for our shareholders... and reinvest that money into other things that are useful,” he said.

The corporation purchased the building as part of an effort to preserve the village green.

Ray Ewing

The corporation purchased the building as part of an effort to preserve the village green.

Ray Ewing

The building is in the town’s historic district, so the Edgartown historic district commission will pay close attention to anything that happens under new owners, Mr. Berger said.

Sole’s lease expires in December and the boutique may have to move, but owner Roni Hennessy said she understands why the corporation made the decision to sell.

The building has a deep history on the Island. 

As is the case for most storefronts in Edgartown, 37 Main street used to be a house. In the 1800s it belonged to James Coffin, a famous and wealthy ship-owner, who gave it to his daughter, Desire Coffin, on the occasion of her wedding to John Osborne. 

The building was named the Desire Osborn house. Records show the house was moved once, and possibly twice, before it was placed in the heart of Edgartown.

The house now is two and one-half stories and is 2,860 square feet. The upstairs has two bedrooms, a bath, kitchen and dining area. Downstairs has seven rooms and two bathrooms.

The town’s assesor’s map lists 1790. Inside, the wide-plank floors show their age, the scratches and scuffs a testament to generations of footsteps.

Tom Wallace, who owns Wallace & Co. Sotheby’s International Realty and is managing the sale, said he is particularly excited by the history.

“These were a bunch of characters who had a vision,” he said about the corporation’s founders. “I think it’s kind of fun that the vision is holding true.”

Mr. Wallace said there are many interested parties and he expects the company will see a sale this season. 

North Water Street Corporation is motivated to find new owners that value the building’s history, something not often seen in the real estate market, according to Mr. Wallace 

“From my perspective, it’s a breath of fresh air,” he said.