As the new owner of the Wesson Boathouse on Shawme Pond, Bernice Wahler, is excited to be a part of preserving a piece of Sandwich’s history. Ever since moving to the town of Sandwich in 2005 she has admired the boathouse. “It spoke to me”, Bernice says of first seeing the boathouse. Bernice is no stranger to the restoration of historic homes in Sandwich Village. She and her husband Joe were the 5th family to take up residence in The Jelly House dating back to 1834 and completed numerous restoration projects before moving on to their current historic residence in East Sandwich.

“We learned from living in The Jelly that the house does not belong to just us alone. There were days when we would be out in the yard working on the gardens and someone would drive by and tell us a family story or about how happy they were to see someone taking care of the house. One winter morning, we had a knock on the red door and before I knew it this woman was taking off her shoes while telling of how they had a strict no shoe policy when she lived there and how she wrote a book about her time renovating the house with her then boyfriend. She shared some personal stories and I came to learn that she had just lost the love of her life to cancer and wanted to visit the house as part of her healing journey. Historic structures really belong to the community, they are symbols of stories and living museums, adapted to modern needs but rich with the character of those whom inhabited them.”

Please feel free to share your story of the boathouse, I am eager to learn of this building’s spirited past”.