EASTHAMPTON — “Home refinishing dream come true,” proclaimed the headline in the Gazette nearly 40 years ago. The accompanying story detailed efforts to rehab an old home at 16 Holyoke St. — a home that had been in Joyce Dragon’s family for more than a century at the time.
That same headline could also apply today, after the historic home — still in the Dragon family going on 150 years now — has undergone is second renovation.
The house “lasted the test of time, so to speak,” Dragon said, “and we’re just trying to update it — a little bit of modern with the old.”
The house was last occupied by Dragon’s uncle, James McMahon, who died in 2018. After McMahon’s death, Dragon’s husband, Bob, decided to buy the house with brother-in-law Jeff LaBonte, hoping to bring new life to the old house.
Now, Bob and Jeff, as well as Joyce and Judy LaBonte, Jeff’s wife, spend most evenings and weekends at the house completing the last of the renovations.
The Westhampton residents, with help from numerous family members, have been working on the project for over a year and hope to soon have the historic home ready to meet modern needs while retaining its 17th-century aesthetics.
The house “lasted the test of time, so to speak,” Dragon said, “and we’re just trying to update it — a little bit of modern with the old.”
To keep the home’s historic character, Dragon and LaBonte preserved features such as the house’s staircase and old front doors. But the home’s plumbing, gas lines and electric structure have been completely revamped.
The current project involves significant updates compared to the 1981 repairs, according to Bob.
“Renovations back then were just cosmetic, on the surface,” he said. “This time we kind of got right down to the guts of it.”
Still, “a lot of the stuff he did was meant to last,” Bob said of McMahon’s repairs, “and it did.”
The renovation has attracted new attention to the 17th-century house, particularly among neighbors: The home used to be partially obscured by at least 16 trees, Bob said, largely shielding its historic architecture from passerby.
“Once people took the trees down, people started noticing the house a little more,” Bob said. “The neighbors were watching the progress slowly, because we’re not doing the project full time … we’re not rushing it.”
Now, the house’s exterior is in clear view, revealing striking details such as columns around the wraparound front porch; intricate designs carved into its stucco exterior; and brickwork along the house’s foundation.
The house also drew the public’s eye in 1981, with its last renovation also covered by the Gazette at the time.
The renovations have been meaningful for the family, given their long history with the home, which spans three generations.
Though Bob and Jeff have been connected to the house for a shorter period of time, they have also found interesting connections to the home, according to Bob. The brothers-in-law both work for the post office in Southampton and Easthampton, respectively, and found that a former resident was also a postal worker.
“When we saw pictures of him in his uniform for the post office, it was kind of neat,” Bob said.
“We’re just a small part of it, really,” Bob said. “It was that (past) generation that kept it for 150 years.”
“Here we are 40 years later — their nieces involved in it — renovating it again.”
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.