The National Trust for Historic Preservation has put the entire island of Nantucket on its "endangered places" list, warning that wealthy young urban professionals who are seeking out the island's quaint and quiet environment are ruining it.

According to the Historic Trust, many of those people moving to the island are tearing down homes and building new houses that are "out of scale" to other residences. The Trust also complains that many new homeowners are leaving the exteriors intact but are gutting the interiors - feeling they have nevertheless preserved history.

Nantucket has an active grassroots historical preservation organization, but the Trust said it is ill equipped to handle the kind of growth happening on the island now.

"The ordinances on the books now only protect houses built before 1840," said Patricia O'Connell. "There are a lot of houses on the island that are outside that realm and I guess are fair game."

Nantucket is a small island off southeast Massachusetts, even further out than the private compounds of Martha's Vineyard.

It was first settled by the English more than 300 years ago and has served many purposes since then, including once being consider the whaling capital of the world. Today it primarily is a tourist mecca. Some of the original buildings, ones that are protected, date to the early 1600s.

The National Trust said it place the entire island on its endangered list because, "While Nantuckeet has a long history of commitment to preservation, an upsurge in the destructive practices of 'teardowns' and 'gut rehabs,' along with the inappropriate sizing and siting of new homes, are dramatically altering the cultural landscape and historic heritage of the island."

"These shortsighted practices … are of particular concern in a small, cohesive place such as Nantucket - where, ironically, both teardowns and gut rehabs are often carried out by newcomers who were initially drawn to the island by the very character and traditions now being harmed."

Other locations on the National Trust list of endangered places are:

Published: June 28, 2000

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