Spring Point Association on Martha's Vineyards Beautiful North Shore.

When some people think of Martha’s Vineyard and specifically Chilmark, they think of the south shore  -  famous Lucy Vincent beach and surfing the waves at Squinocket.  The North shore of the island is perhaps a lessor known destination to visitors, but this hidden gem of a coastline has trails and beautiful beaches with views of The Elizabeth Islands and, of course exquisite sunsets.  Spring Point Association is a 335 acre parcel of Chilmark between West Tisbury and Menemsha that one accesses off North Road through a wide, yet discreet, gateway with stone walls and old roads that lead to the 40 or so home sites.

The following is a brief history of Spring Point, taken in part, from resident, Alvin Eisenmans book “Spring Point at Twenty Five” published in 1998:

As with much of Martha’s Vineyard, the land that is now Spring Point was Indian owned until the 1600’s when the English settlers came to the island.  According to the deed the land, then known as “Caphigon” was bought from the Indians by Thomas Mayhew Sr in 1642.  A succession of ownership followed; the Tilton family, which comprised of Samuel and Hannah Tilton and their 5 children, who moved from Vineyard Haven to Chilmark in 1690 and through a combination of purchasing land on the sound and possibly acquiring it through dowries (the sons married Mayhew daughters), became owners of much of what is now Spring Point. 

In 1825 Daniel Tilton great grandson of Samuel sold his homestead land, which is believed to include Spring Point, to John Hammett.  John, a successful farmer and his wife Sally Hammett (daughter of a Tilton), raised their 6 children at their farm and John Hammett was instrumental in the building of North Road, being one of the first to donate land to build it.  In 1888 John Hammett deeded the farm to his daughter and her husband, who in turn sold it to their daughter Daisy and her husband John Manter in 1900 for a sum of $2,500. 

The Manters, who lived in West Tisbury began renting out the old Hammett farm to a young family from New York City, Charles Putnam, (a pediatric surgeon) and Angelica his wife, (an artist) and their 2 year old son, Patrick. They bought the farm in 1913 after opening The Putnam Pony Farm there a few years prior.  Over the next 10 years the Putnams were to acquire additional farms and land totaling 550 acres and had built a school on the shore at Spring Point. They had adopted 6 children, (some of which were patients of Charles Putnam), and employed three governesses who lived with them along with many ponies, horses, cows, goat, sheep and monkeys!

After losing his wife Angelica to cancer, his three sons to various illnesses contracted during benevolent crusades in far away lands, and his daughters all married off, Charles Putnam, re married Margo Krueder in 1946.  He was 78 and she was less than half his age, but they were together for 16 years before his death in 1962.  When Margo died in 1969, she left all the Vineyard Land to the Harvard Medical School, except for two bequests of 10 acres each that were given to Walter and Sarah Jenkinson, the Putnams caretakers. The little cemetery on Rebecca Lane is part of the association common land and is the final resting place for several of the Putnam family.

At this time, the Vineyard was under threat of becoming over developed, much like areas of the Cape, and the people at Harvard were in a difficult position of wanting to get as much scholarship money as possible for the land, whist protecting this beautiful piece of the Island.  After much debate and consideration from local and congressional resources, Harvard sold the 300 plus acres in 1973 for $620,000 to Boston real estate firm Land/Vest, who were allowed to develop up to 55 lots averaging 4.5 acres.   From 1973 to 1974 came an aggressive push from Land/Vest to subdivide the land and put in place the infrastructure to support the new development.  The area was officially named “Spring Point”, some believe from a survey from 1966 that mentioned a natural spring on a rocky point of the shoreline, and in 1973 the first lot was sold to Harvard Medical School Professor, Seymour Kety.  By November 1974 two thirds of the lots had been sold, mostly to doctors, lawyers and teachers.   The prices ranged from $29,300 for 3 acres to $95,000 for 10 acres.

The Spring Point Association became an entity in June 1974 and to this day controls the development of the community and enforces the covenants of the Harvard deeds as well as those of the individual landowners.

The approximate 40 home sites share two association tennis courts, beautiful Becks Beach with its ¾ mile of of shoreline, beach paths, ancient walking trails and woodland paths totaling over 130 acres of protected common land, all of which are maintained by the association.  Homes have transacted for significant numbers, the highest being the Fisher property in 2009 for  5.7 million dollars and the Stein property a year later for 5.8 million dollars.

There are currently three properties for sale in Spring Point, Tea Lane Associates are representing the sellers of two of these:

13 Cemetery Road a striking waterview 4 bedroom “mid-century modern” home on 3 acres is available for  $1,775,000  SOLD MAY 2017 for $1,700,000

5 Jethro Lane, a 5 bedroom waterview house and guest house  built in 1996 on 3.4 acres for  $1,550,000  SOLD DECMEBER 5th 2017 for $1,300,000