Jim and Sheri came to Nantucket as children, brought to the island by their respective grandparents. As teenagers, they had summer jobs in the food service industry: Sheri worked at the JC house, first as a waitress and then as a pastry chef; Jim worked in the kitchen at the Jetties. Although they didn’t know each other, Nantucket was beginning to capture their hearts, an allure that would draw their lives on the same path.

Jim went on active duty in the Air Force. He returned to the island, working summers at hotels and restaurants. He started the catering company ACK-BBQ. Sheri had settled down on the island year-round, started a family of her own, and was certified as a yoga instructor. At this time, the future couple were acquaintances, living separate, full lives.

Jim and Sheri reconnected years later when they were both single. They purchased a house together and got married. As Sheri’s children left the nest, Jim and Sheri realized they needed to downsize. They sold the house and took a “temporary” rental. Little did they know how difficult it would be to secure decent, permanent housing. In the next eight years, they moved five times.

“Year-round rent was so high,” said Sheri. “And if we took a winter rental, it was a fortune to heat.

Priced out of Nantucket, they bought a house in Rhode Island with the intention of retiring there. Sheri trained as an Ayurvedic Practitioner. Jim made frequent trips to Nantucket to run his catering company. But leaving Nantucket was far more difficult than they anticipated. Jim was elected sheriff here, and so they spent less time in Rhode Island, and more time thinking about how to make Nantucket work. They sold the Rhode Island home, and started shopping on Nantucket.

“When the realtor showed us what we could afford on the open market, it was depressing– houses in disrepair with no privacy,” Sheri said. “Even then, we could afford the mortgage payments to the dollar. Any improvements would be a struggle.”

Then, the realtor showed them a Housing Nantucket Covenant home in their price range. The seller was a single, retired woman who had a house and cottage on her property. She no longer wanted to be a landlord responsible for the cottage’s upkeep, and she wanted to retain the main house for her own use. She could not subdivide through normal zoning means, so she used the Covenant program to split the lot. This created a Covenant cottage for Jim and Sheri to buy.

The Covenant market acts like a sub-market of the open market: in other words, once a buyer and seller find each other, they negotiate the transaction price, which needs to be below the Maximum Sales Cap. Covenant homes are available for purchase by year-round residents earning less than 150% of the Nantucket County median household income. Covenant purchasers obtain independent financing, usually from an island bank.

Jim and Sheri learned more about the Covenant Program and got qualified by Housing Nantucket. They purchased the house as-is and made it a home of their own.

“Literally every time we pull into the driveway, we are filled with gratitude,” said Sheri. “This home has provided a healing sanctuary for us and is the only reason we are able to stay on Nantucket.”

“In my role as sheriff, I do evictions for a living,” said Jim. “People are struggling because they have nowhere to go. There are firemen coming over on the boat for their shifts. It shouldn’t be like that. The Covenant Program is a good answer.”

There are currently seventy Covenant homes in scattered sites around the island. Demand from Covenant buyers is strong. There are over sixty-five qualified purchasers and only one available listing. If you are a property owner, please consider using Housing Nantucket’s Covenant program to subdivide your lot. Contact Anne Kuszpa to learn more.