Cape May Point Home to be Demolished

CAPE MAY POINT – When the house at 310 Cape Avenue is demolished sometime this month, the physical structure will have come down, but the long-time family memories will continue to stand the test of time.
Built in 1820, the three-story Federal-style farmhouse was likely the oldest house in the borough. However, with no historical preservation district, the memories of the Theobald family who lived there from 1952-2015 are all that’s left of a family who community members described as “amazing,” and “dedicated their lives to helping others.” 
Unsuccessful Efforts
Efforts to save the house by members of the Theobald family and the borough apparently were unsuccessful. Since learning Feb. 6 of the planned demolition, conversations reportedly took place discussing the demolition and the possibility of saving items from the house as keepsakes.
A borough commissioner informed the other commissioners Feb. 14 that the house was going to be demolished. A 2-1 vote at the Feb. 12 work session approved Commissioner Robert Mullock contacting the owners about the home. Commissioner Ana VanHeeswyk cast the “no” vote.
“If this was a year ago, there might be a different story,” VanHeeswyk said Feb. 15. “It was suggested the borough buy the property. As commissioner of revenue and finance, I couldn’t support this. We could have done a cost analysis and seen what the impact would be on taxes a year ago. But in the end, it is private property. The borough has no business stepping in.”
VanHeeswyk said she was told the family will be able to get some items from the house before it is demolished. As of early Feb. 15, the shutters had been removed, she said.
Efforts to reach the current owners, Dinkar Savji Bhatia and wife, April Adams, were unsuccessful. 
Family Notified, Distraught
One family member was among the neighbors who were notified Feb. 6 that the house would be demolished. Donald Theobald, Jr., pastor of the chapel across the street from the house and son of the former owners Donald and Betty Theobald, shared the news with family members who were “distraught.” They thought there was a verbal agreement with the owners not to demolish it.
Theobald did not want to talk about the situation, according to his sister, Carol Gallagher, “because he’s not doing well with this.” Gallagher lived in the house more recently while her mother was alive but ill, and recalled years when the borough’s Fourth of July bike parade ended in front of their house, a Bible school was led by her father, and years of community involvement by both parents. Her father also served as chaplain at the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May from 1952-54.
“It came as a shock that the house was going to be demolished,” she said. “We thought we had a promise from the owner that it wouldn’t be demolished. How can we honor our parents’ contributions to the community? As a chaplain, my parents never made a lot of money, but they were a part of this community contributing for many years.”
Her nephew, Jonathan Edwards, who lives in Manitoba, Canada, said he remembers when 26 extended family members would enjoy time at the house with his grandparents. He said after finding out about the planned demolition, family members were “distraught” and expressed their “passion” with Facebook posts. 
Grandparents Contributed to Community
Edwards said Evangelist Billy Graham stayed at the house, as did Bill and Lois Wilson, founders of Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon.
“My grandparents were proud Americans and this was the American dream for them, this house and their home in a peaceful place by the sea long before the ultra-rich took notice,” he said.
“They founded the Bicycle Parade, which my grandmother hosted every Fourth of July,” he noted, “and founded the annual Interdenominational Seagrove Conference. My grandfather was held in high regard for linking faiths together during a time when that was not welcomed.”
It was a “beautiful house,” Edwards continued, “it’s sad to see it go because it’s more than historical to us; it’s a history of our family. My grandparents were a huge part of this community and it was in such a beautiful, peaceful place.”
A friend of Edwards contacted the owner and said the “owners were open to set aside a few things.” Edwards said it “looked like shutters and doorknobs” would be collected for the family. 
Historical Significance
When the house sold in 2015 for $800,000, Gallagher said the family couldn’t afford to buy it and pooling resources “was not a viable option.” It was about 2,028 square feet, and had a full basement, unusual for the time and location. It sat on .43 acres of land.
Gallagher, who lives out-of-state, said it was thought that the house was a stop on the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses used by African-American slaves to escape into free states during the early to mid-19th century. Evidence was visible in the basement, she said.
The site where the house sat was known as “Wright’s Villa” into the 20th century. Amon Wright was an important member of the Sea Grove and later the Cape May Point community, serving as postmaster in the 1870s. 
Architectural History
“The house has always felt like it was an entity on its own,” recalled Edwards. “The sounds it made felt like it was talking to you and had almost different moods. The bark on some of the floorboards and little things let you know how handmade it was. The imperfections and how nothing was really square in the house, but curved, might make someone think it was ready to fall over, but it had been this way for as long as my memory serves.”
According to research shared by Joan Berkey, an architectural historian from Court House, the house was moved from Lower Township to Crystal Avenue, and then moved to Cape Avenue, replacing Wright’s Villa when it burned in the 1940s.
Berkey, who helps communities create historical districts, said, “It’s hard to tell if the house has any historical significance” because she had not been inside.
“How do you put value on a house?” she asked. “It’s an important reminder of parents and grandparents, but is it the best preserved representation of that style of home?
“I don’t know the original builder and haven’t been inside, so I don’t know if it had any significant historical value or not,” she added. “It’s a shame the borough doesn’t have an historic district, so the owners can do whatever they want.”
She noted historic districts can be as restrictive or not, depending on the community’s desires. She pointed to the City of Cape May, which has what are considered very restrictive rules in its historic district, and compared it to the four historic districts within West Cape May, which have fewer restrictions.
“Maybe the demolition of this house will galvanize residents to want to create an historic district,” she added. 
Point Residents against Historic Designation
If the outcry from Cape May Point residents in the 1980s is any indication, creating an historic district in the borough is not likely.
“The outcry from the community was very clear: People don’t want restrictions, they don’t want anyone telling them what they can do with their property,” said Borough Deputy Mayor and Commissioner VanHeeswyk, about the effort some 40 years ago. She oversees the planning and zoning boards.
The borough’s municipal clerk said there were more people at the Feb. 14 commissioners’ meeting, but no one spoke out or asked questions about the house.
“A private property owner, who comes before the zoning and planning boards, can do whatever our zoning laws allow,” VanHeeswyk said. “If an owner wants to demolish a property, they apply for a permit and demolish it.”
VanHeeswyk said there are ways that families can prevent demolition, such as adding a clause when the house is being sold.
“Property owners don’t do that usually because it devalues the property,” she noted.
“It can be unfair to the owners who have to pay for renovations, repairs, whatever is needed to keep the house safe,” she added. “Sometimes the only way a house can be made safe is by spending a lot of money, and sometimes the decision is to tear it down.”
In this situation, VanHeeswyk said, she “understood why the family was upset. There’s a lot of passion about this house, their hearts and souls are in this house.
“They (the Theobalds) were an amazing group of people and family,” she said. “They dedicated their lives to helping others.”
“So often memories are only unlocked again with brick and mortar, but history is also shared with brick and mortar,” Edwards added. “The Point has no historical society or register. This is something that needs to change. I would hate for Cape May to forget my grandparent’s contribution to the past and demolish everything.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.