Stitching together history
“If these walls could talk, the stories they could tell.” That thought leaps to mind when anyone talks about the Basil Clare/ William West House on Anglers Road in Lewes.
Originally two houses from different sections of Lewes, the home was pieced together by the late Basil Clare in January 1960 on his property at the corner of Anglers Road and Market Street.
Christmas Tour of Lewes scheduled for Dec. 5
The 42nd annual Christmas Tour of Lewes benefiting the Lewes Historical Society is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 5. Advance tickets are $25 each; tickets purchased the day of the tour are $30. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult.
Featured this year is the home of Otis and Hazell Smith, the beautiful and iconic Georgian Revival mansion on Gills Neck Road. This is the first time it has appeared on the Christmas Tour. Smith, president of Lewes's menhaden fishing companies from the 1940s through the 1960s, also served as mayor of the town. He was involved in local, state and national politics as well as a number of philanthropic and social groups throughout Delaware.
To purchase advance tickets, go to www.HistoricLewes.org or call 302-645-7670. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the society’s Ryves Holt House Museum Shop at the corner of Second and Mulberry streets in historic Lewes. All tickets from online sales and phone requests will be held at the museum shop. Tickets can also be purchased in Lewes at the Lewes Chamber of Commerce and the Zwaanendael Museum (both on Kings Highway), Habersham Peddler on Second Street or The Inn at Canal Square on Front Street. In Rehoboth Beach, tickets may be purchased at the Rehoboth Beach Museum or Browseabout Books on Rehoboth Avenue.
Houses on tour will include: 15841 Gills Neck Road, home of Otis and Hazell Smith/Karen Parker; 107 Kings Highway, the Colonel David Hall House, home of Winne Kee; 122 Madison Ave., Jan McMahon and Bob Rabatsky; 127 Madison Ave., Joanne and Mac McNaught; 306 West Fourth St., home of Heidi Lowe and Paul Camenisch; 310 West Fourth St., home of David Greer and Dorothy Greet; 410 West Fourth St., home of Mitzi and Paul Kratt; 219 Grey Plover Court, the Basil Clare House, home of Meredith Lewis Thomas; and 1302 Bay Ave., home of Allison and Dennis Reardon.
Beyond the nine private homes on tour this year, the society’s museums will be open and decorated for the season. The Lewes Historic Complex at 110 Shipcarpenter St. will be bustling with fun activities.
During the tour, The Lewes Historical Society will host a Christmas Antiques Bazaar and Bake Sale at the Rabbit's Ferry House at Third and Shipcarpenter streets on the Lewes Historic Complex. It will feature a selection of small furniture, collectables, dishware, jewelry and more. Also enjoy hot coffee, chili and delicious baked goods.
Also this year at Freddie’s Barn there will be a fabulous display of holiday greens for sale featuring fresh magnolia, pine and holly, while supplies last. In addition, homemade wreaths and swags will be for sale.
For more information, go to www.historiclewes.org or call 302-645-7670.
The home remained there until 2009, when Clare's family was looking to subdivide and sell the land. Rather than demolish the home, local realtor Richard Bryan contacted home builder Bob Lewis, who was beginning to develop Angler's Nest, down the street across from Irish Eyes.
“My dad, the preservationist that he is, met up with Richard,” said Meredith Thomas, Bob's daughter and current inhabitant of the Clare House. “They walked through the house, and he was all about saving it.”
Thomas bought it for $5,000. He hired Bob Davidson to move the house just a few hundred feet west to its existing location at the head of the Angler's Nest community.
After sitting there untouched for three to four years, Meredith said, it was time to take action. The inside was updated, but the character of the historic home was left intact. The result is a modern spin on a home that dates back nearly two centuries.
History
The main section of the home was built by William West in 1800 at the corner of Fourth Street and Savannah Road (then known as South Street), property now occupied by Beebe Healthcare. West later added an addition to the home. In January 1960, Chester, Pa. lawyer Basil Clare moved the home down Savannah over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal to the corner of Anglers Road and Market Street.
“My father had three passions – history, law and architecture,” said Basil's daughter Janean Clare.
Basil Clare was a history major at Penn State and taught history at Chester High School for about eight years before enrolling at Temple to get a law degree. Then World War II began and Clare entered the army, working for the Adjutant General's Office. He came out of the army with a wife and two children.
Basil's son Jim Clare remembers his father would spend his weeks practicing law, but he spent many weekends in Lewes, working on his pet project.
“I'm sure there were restorations in the general public before my father did it, but he was one of the first to do it not as an organization or as a historical society,” Jim said. “He was among that first wave to really care about and restore old houses.''
At one time, Clare owned nearly all the land fronting the canal on the Lewes Beach side. He sold it off over time to various interests, including a group of fishermen who built the original Anglers Restaurant, where Irish Eyes now stands.
With property procured, he moved the William West House to Lewes Beach. A second section of the home came from St. Paul Alley (now St. Paul Street) near the intersection of Fourth Street.
The sections were stitched together to create a beautiful home.
As part of his passion for restoration, Clare was also known to salvage pieces from homes marked for demolition. He incorporated much of that in his Lewes home.
“My father had some artistic talent,” Jim Clare said. “He wasn't a painter or anything, but he had an excellent eye for the property.”
Meredith Thomas said the stitched-together nature of the property would be a nightmare for a historian, as different eras and different architectural styles were incorporated throughout the house.
“There's a lot that's original, but also a lot that just came from another era,” she said. “If you were to get a true historian in there, they'd be like, 'That arch doesn't fit.'”
But it's all part of the charm Clare magnified as he made the home his own. Thomas said she loved to learn the history of the building and is eager to share it.
“I think the neat thing is just trying to find its connection to the past,” Meredith Thomas said. “It's like a puzzle. If you have a connection to its history, it will be taken care of and preserved in the future. If you know nothing about it, it's just another house.”
The historic Clare/ William West House will be featured on the Lewes Historical Society's annual Christmas Tour of Lewes set for Saturday, Dec. 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information can be found at www.historiclewes.org. Members of the Clare family intend to travel to Lewes to visit the home.
