Home of the Week
It took Christina and David Potter just a half-hour to make an offer on this antique home when they first saw it 23 years ago. The home’s original owner, Browning Swift, was reputedly a carpenter who may have built the original home and its 1890s addition, which includes a Queen Anne tower with views of Buzzards Bay. Another addition followed years later. The house also holds a not-so-secret history: Its root cellar was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Among the repairs Christina Potter recalled her family making: rebuilding the stable, where they keep horses and chickens, using beams recycled from a dock, and re-shingling the roof. The kitchen renovation 12 years ago brightened the area with two large skylights and recessed lighting. They hired Falmouth cabinetmaker Steve Nutter, who turned rough-sawn cherry into custom cabinets that “followed the vagaries of an old house,’’ says listing broker Denise Almeida of Vincent Associates Realtors.
Nutter also fabricated a large breakfast bar and a built-in breakfast settee with L-shaped benches that lift for storage. In fact, throughout the home, closets and handy cupboards are squeezed into every available space.
The flow through the interior is a bit awkward due to the additions, but the house packs a lot in, including a formal dining room with china cabinet, library with built-in bookcases, and lower-level master bedroom. A few doors and windows contain “Sandwich glass’’ insets, early regionally-made glass. Upstairs, one bedroom has built-in bunk beds. Many rooms have slanted ceilings. Most floors are of older floorboards in varying sizes. There’s also a spacious guest suite, accessed from the garage.
The inviting, spacious grounds are dotted with peach, dogwood, and birch trees as well as roses, lilacs, and lilies.
MINDY POLLACK-FUSI 
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