Welcome to the home page for Bunter House, a classic Cape Cod house with four bedrooms in the heart of Provincetown’s West End. Available for short-term rentals form Memorial Day through October each year.
History
In 1886, this was the home of Captain Joseph C. Smith, a mariner — likely the same Joseph Smith listed at age 21 in the 1850 Census, living here with his parents John and Lucy and his siblings Francis and Lucy. The house was then valued at $600.
From the 1940s through the early 1960s, 6 Conant belonged to the Santos family. John Richard Santos (c. 1887–1952), born in Provincetown, was a weir fisherman. His father Joseph had come from São Miguel; his mother Emily Tarvers was a Provincetown native. John married Rose Viera Santos, and their son Richard was teaching at Provincetown High School when John died — in this house.
Like most buildings in town, Bunter House was shaped by Provincetown’s singular relationship between structures and land. Until 1893, nobody here owned the ground beneath their feet. The whole settlement sat on Province Lands — territory the Commonwealth held since Plymouth Colony reserved it for the fishery in 1654. Residents built, bought, sold, and inherited houses using quitclaim deeds, treating buildings as movable personal property on borrowed ground. Some houses were literally floated across the harbor on scows. The ones that stayed put, like this one, still carry the DNA of that arrangement: brick pier foundations, heavy timber frames built to negotiate with sand rather than fight it.
In a Nor’easter, if you’re on the top floor, you will feel what it means to say the town’s old houses were built like a ships.
Location
Halfway between Pop + Dutch and Mussel Beach–30s walk to either. 90 second walk to Liz’s. 75 seconds to the Boatslip. 60 seconds to….under the Boatslip.
6 Conant Street, Provincetown, MA 02657
Contact
To enquire about rates and availability, contact 6conant@gmail.com