🛑Stop Tearing Down Cape Cod’s History

🎨 From Art Teacher to Architectural Advocate

Walker didn’t arrive on Cape Cod with blueprints in hand. Her journey began in a classroom.

She studied cultural anthropology, with a focus on art and aesthetics, and earned her Master’s in Art Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. For 10 years, she taught children to see—really see—what was around them: texture, age, color, detail.

But eventually, her design instincts grew restless.

“I started realizing my passion wasn’t just about how things looked—it was about how they were made. The structure. The history.”

She launched a design consulting company  focused initially on interiors. But the work quickly shifted. She wasn’t just picking paint colors—she was sourcing antique floorboards, matching turn-of-the-century trim, and advising on preservation strategy.

That passion crystallized in Hudson, Ohio, where she helped save 1825 Presidents House on the campus of Western Reserve Academy, which is now home to the Admissions Office.  Then in 2019 she founded the Baldwin Buss House Foundation, recruited an eight-person board, and raised $1.3 million in just ten months to save the house.

“It was an all-in effort,” she says. “People rallied around it because it was the cornerstone of the town with such an amazing story.”

Six years and many layers of wallpaper later, the house stood proudly preserved—a reminder that saving the past isn’t just possible. It’s necessary.

🏡 A New Chapter on the Cape

In 2011, Walker bought a 1928 cottage in Chatham—one of the last homes sold from a cottage colony developed by the Horne family near Chatham Light - purchased directly from the original owners’ descendants.

The space hadn’t been flipped or staged. It was, in her words, “untouched.”

“The paint was chipped. The floors were worn. But it had dignity,” she says. “It hadn’t been ‘fixed.’ And that’s what I loved.”

With that, her preservation mission found its home base.

She earned her real estate license, joined eXp Realty, and helped launch Coastal Collaboration—a team of four experienced real estate agents with distinct specialties and a shared respect for what came before.

Her goal? To work with buyers and sellers of historic homes and guide them through thoughtful decisions before gutting or flattening a property that can never be replicated.

“There’s a moment just before demolition where people panic,” she says. “My goal is to reach them right then—before they tear out the windows. Before the moldings hit the dumpster.”

🛠️ The Fears—and the Fixes

Walker understands why old homes intimidate people. She ticks off the usual suspects: windows, basements, steep stairs, outdated wiring.

“It’s almost always the same list. But so much of it is solvable.”

Windows:
“People think they want new ones. But vinyl windows only last 10–15 years. The old wood ones, if you maintain them? They can last a lifetime—and they were milled from old growth timbers that don’t even exist anymore.”

Floors:
“Modern lumber is fast-grown and soft. The boards in these older homes? They’re dense, they’re gorgeous, and they’ve already proven they can last a hundred years.”

Basements and staircases:
“They might be quirky or tight or damp. But quirks can be worked around. You’re trading symmetry for soul.”

Plumbing and electrical:
“Yes, they need upgrades. And yes, it can be expensive. But that’s no reason to throw out the entire house.”

And sometimes, the fix is simpler than people expect.

“We didn’t make any structural changes in our cottage. We updated the wiring and plumbing. Then we painted. A Realtor came in and said, ‘What did you do here?’ And really—it was the paint that freshened it up and allowed for the true beauty to show through.”

🕰️ The Thing You Can’t Recreate

Walker pushes back on the modern instinct to build new and decorate vintage.

“You can’t fake charm. You can buy reclaimed wood, try faux beams, install ‘antique’ flooring—but it’ll always look too perfect. Too sterile.”

“You can’t manufacture nostalgia. You can’t rush the soul of an old home.”

For her, preservation isn’t nostalgia. It’s stewardship.

🎥 Film as a Tool for Preservation

Walker now works closely with Preserve Our Past (POP), a Chatham-based nonprofit going Cape wide and national with POP films, using storytelling—especially short film—as a preservation tool.

Founded by Ellen Briggs, who lives in a historic windmill built from shipwreck salvage, POP  isn’t just saving buildings—it’s honoring meaning.

“We’ve recruited film directors with amazing talent for our films,” Walker says.

POP has created films exploring the living history inside homes across the Cape. This year, they’re launching a new five-minute format. Their upcoming film festival, slated for October 4 at Barnstable High School, includes a competition for students and emerging filmmakers.

🏠 A Cottage That Still Teaches

Walker’s own Chatham cottage recently received a Preservation Award from the Town of Chatham. But to her, it’s not a finished project—it’s an ongoing conversation.

“I want people to see what’s possible when you keep the bones. When you restore instead of replace.”

She’s also open to consulting on “lost cause” homes—the ones buyers think are too far gone.

“That’s usually where the beauty is. Under the paint. Behind the heavy curtains.”

📜 Owning the Past, Passing It On

Ask Walker what she hopes buyers take away from all this, and she doesn’t talk about resale value or square footage.

She talks about care.

“If you live in a historic home, you’re part of its story. You hold it, you care for it, and one day, you pass it on. Hopefully better than you found it.”

It’s not always tidy. Or easy. But for Walker, that’s kind of the point.

“Perfection is overrated,” she smiles. “Let the house creak. Let it breathe.”

🎬 POPs Short Film Festival

📅 October 4
 📍Barnstable High School
 🎞 Hosted by: Preserve Our Past
 ⏱ Five-Minute Films. Big Impact.

Got a Home with History?

We’re collecting stories, photos, and memories from Cape Cod residents. Whether you’ve restored a cottage, saved a detail, or held on to a scrap of the past—we want to hear it.

📩 [email protected]
Because what’s holding up the walls… might be more than just nails.
👉 Share your story here

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