Neil and Martha Chayet threw their first party at their new home in Salem last weekend for Neil's Harvard Law School classmates from the Class of 1963 — who all share a connection to the house.
Located on Winter Street, near the Salem Common, the residence has drawn much attention from passersby over the last two years as crews overhauled the stately historic home, inside and out.
After all, it was lawyer Joseph Story, the home's original owner and associate justice of the Supreme Court, who is credited with charting Harvard Law School on a secure trajectory in the 1800s.
That history is dear to Neil Chayet, host of the nationally-syndicated WBZ radio feature, "Looking at the Law," which he has turned out five days a week for nearly 33 years, highlighting interesting and unusual legal cases across the country.
"I'm very much looking forward to writing 'Looking at the Law' in that house," he said. "Joseph Story cared very much about people understanding the law. That's what I've been trying to do."
The Chayets bought the Federal-period Joseph Story house at 26 Winter St. in 2006 and set to work in January 2007, restoring the floors, woodwork, walls and exterior, and installing a new master bath and elevator, just to name a few endeavors. Also, the couple added a new wing that houses a breathtaking kitchen, upstairs media room and carriage house with garages.
Green house
But there is much more to the extensive restoration than meets the eye. It's also green.
A state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system heats the 9,000-square-foot home without any oil or gas. Seven, 500-foot wells were drilled into the earth (and through granite ledge) in the front yard to house the new system, which also ties into radiant heating in the floors of the five most-used rooms in the house.
"It's a zero carbon footprint," said Neil Chayet. "We've been very glad to do this as a main feature. We take the energy problems of the planet very seriously."
The Chayets expect to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, which recognizes an extensive list of criteria for sustainable buildings — from water efficiency to proximity of construction materials.
Take the marble in the kitchens and bathrooms throughout the house.
"It's from the Danby Quarry in Vermont, where they're still pulling marble out of the mountains," said Martha Chayet.
"LEED Certification gives you extra credit for using resources close to home," said Neil Chayet. "It is green and considered important on the LEED scale."
The Story House story
The Story House is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks, and was constructed in 1811 by builder Joshua Upham. Its brick facade is accented with black shutters, white trim and balconies, and features intricate moldings and woodwork within.
During a recent interview, Neil Chayet pointed to two sheaths of wheat carved into either side of the parlor fireplace. Those, along with the chair rails in the dining room, are believed to be among the final carvings by Samuel McIntire, a woodcarver and architect who literally changed the face of Salem, and passed away in 1811 — the same year Story's home was finished, he said.
Story was a noted jurist, legal writer and Harvard Law professor. His Salem home was the scene of receptions for important dignitaries including president James Monroe in 1817 and the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824.
An unfortunate event indirectly prompted Neil and Martha Chayet's path to cross with the Story House. The Chayets suffered a serious fire at their Manchester home in 2005, sparked by Neil's 60-year-old model train set, which precipitated their move to Salem, to a home they bought on Flint Street.
"One day, we were driving down (Winter Street) and we saw the plaque on the house and the 'for sale' sign," Neil Chayet recalled with excitement. "It had been on the market for years. We purchased it from Kathleen Atchason, who was the daughter of John Ward, a lawyer who got the house on the National Register."
The Chayets said the house needed a lot of work. They appeared before the Salem Historic Commission for several months to get approval for their plans, which included demolition of the carriage house, which was unoriginal to the property, to make way for the new wing. The house also includes two apartments, whose entrances open onto the Oliver Street side of the house, with a small courtyard; those were completely renovated as well.
Martha Chayet extolled the contractors, DeIulis Brothers of Lynn, and project architect, Richard Long, for their work to preserve the home's history amid the repairs and restorations. She said Long, for example, meticulously designed the new balcony balustrades to scale when they had to be enlarged to be brought up to code.
"He understands all the nuances of old buildings," said Martha Chayet. "It's not an ornament — you're creating a place where you're going to live."
The Chayets look forward to moving in later this month and enjoying their new home, which has a view of the Salem Common.
"You can see the rigging of the Friendship sloop from the window," Neil Chayet said while pointing out a guest bedroom window toward Pickering Wharf.
Neil Chayet is also president of Chayet Communications Group consulting company in Boston. Martha Chayet was finance chairwoman for Mitt Romney's race for governor and worked for two years in his administration. Among their volunteer posts, Martha Chayet is a Peabody Essex Museum trustee.
The Chayets stood in their front yard on a recent chilly morning, on the new brick patio highlighted with three-tiered fountain. Two lion statues, which were installed in the early 1900s by the Vaughan family, greet visitors on either side of the front steps. Janice Vaughan Snow, now 97, was born in the home and plans to visit with the Chayets this week, they said.
"The sense of history is probably my passion here," said Martha Chayet, who added it's hard to pinpoint one favorite aspect of the house. "The opportunity to save the property so it can be here another 200 years is very special."
Neil likes to note how the house spans three centuries.
"It's very green to save an old building," said Martha Chayet, "because you aren't putting something in a landfill. Historic preservation is the ultimate green building."
