One Big Home

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Gentrification comes in many forms. On the tiny island of Martha's Vineyard, where presidents and celebrities vacation, trophy homes threaten to destroy the island's unique character.

Twelve years in the making, ONE BIG HOME follows one carpenter's journey to understand the trend toward giant houses. When he feels complicit in wrecking the place he calls home, Thomas Bena takes off his tool belt and picks up a camera. Bumping up against angry homeowners and builders who look the other way, he works with his community and attempts to pass a new bylaw to limit house size.

'One Big Home tells a fascinating story of conflicting visions of economic development on Martha's Vineyard, and by extension, the entire country...In doing so it focuses on the broader questions of how we ought to live our lives as human beings and consumers...The film shows that residents of any community can organize and educate one another, work with local planning boards and elected officials, and help to shift their neighborhoods and cities away from ill-planned growth and its environmental impacts and toward a far more sustainable future.' Michael E. Kraft, Professor Emeritus, Political Science and Public and Environmental Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, co-author, Toward Sustainable Communities: Transition and Transformations in Environmental Policy

'This is a perceptive and moving account of the tension between individual property rights and community values, the importance of a sense of place and the hard work necessary to achieve political change. Never simplistic and always nuanced, the film raises important issues for all of the US as the conspicuous consumption of the superrich impacts all our lives. Vital viewing for those concerned with zoning, affordable housing and the changing character of residential America.' John Rennie Short, Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Author, The Unequal City: Urban Resurgence, Displacement and the Making of Inequality in Global Cities

'A valuable classroom resource for both sustainability and urban planning classes. There are no easy answers in this film--as the filmmaker learns when he tries to decide how big his own house should be. The many viewpoints shown here and the town's long process toward resolution are sure to fuel classroom or community discussion on how sustainable development might best be achieved in other settings as well.' Stephen Wheeler, Professor of Environmental Design, Landscape Architecture Program, University of California - Davis, Author, Planning for Sustainability: Towards Livable, Equitable, and Ecological Communities

'Engaging and provocative...Provides a contemporary example of how the values of individual consumption are pitted against the values of preserving community well-being and, ultimately, social and environmental sustainability. This film raises important and challenging questions about the contested nature and boundaries of community, the exercise of political agency, and the complexity of the multiple dilemmas associated with growth, development and the 'tragedy of the commons.'' Dr. Kai Schafft, Associate Professor, Education and Rural Sociology, Director, Center on Rural Education and Communities, Penn State University

'When it comes to houses, size matters...One Big Home reveals the deep divisions caused by the clash between current residents and new ones who have the money to build their dream homes. For students and others, it demonstrates how citizen participation on limiting residential development can help preserve community character, raising key questions on the balance of private property rights with land use regulation.' Terry Szold, Adjunct Professor of Land Use Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Principal, Community Planning Solutions

'A very thought provoking film...This is a film about the nature of community itself; the balance of the collective concerns and rights of the community versus the rights of the individual and how people come together to try and solve a problem...You see the struggle of democracy in process; slow, messy, sometimes contentious but eventually productive. It's a beautiful thing to watch.' Peter Milholland, architectural designer/builder

'One Big Home is a must see for architects, planners and activists...A fascinating documentary.' Keith Moskow, FAIA, Moskow Linn Architects

'One Big Home...really stands out in the current climate and will give US cinemagoers something refreshingly different to engage with...Intelligent and thoughtful.' Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

'Offer[s] viewers insights from multiple perspectives and an inside look at how one community decided together in determining its future.' Kimberley Mok, TreeHugger

'When will a small community fight to protect its character? One Big Home provides an engrossing case from Martha's Vineyard where the residents of Chilmark observe and debate the construction of giant homes. Students, activists, and community leaders will be inspired to consider their role in their own communities as well as both what Americans consume and what Americans value.' Brian Miller, Associate Professor of Sociology, Wheaton College

'One Big Home is a must see for architects, planners and activists. It is a fascinating documentary of one man's quest over a decade to restrict the building of gargantuan homes on Martha's Vineyard.' Keith Moskow, FAIA, Moskow Linn Architects

'An indictment of our culture of over-consumption, One Big Home tells a story of rural gentrification...With lessons for architects, urban planners, and community organizers, the documentary describes the struggle for the preservation of community character and a way of life that is grounded, simple, and both socially and environmentally sustainable.' Shannon Van Zandt, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Professor of Residential Land Development, Texas A and M University

'A thought-provoking documentary that requires introspection upon seeing it.' Melissa Michaels, L'Etage Magazine

'The documentary's success is that it includes the viewpoints of multiple parties - avoiding a one-sided bias...Bena's film becomes not so much an indictment of mega-mansions, but a rallying cry to local communities to have a voice in the conversation.' Michael d'Estries, Mother Nature Network

'An absorbing account of a community's effort to deal successfully with the issue of protecting character and environment while supporting the local economy.' Town Topics Newspaper

'Aside from spotlighting the essentialness of local government, the film draws compelling connections between property ownership and oft-unexamined ideals of liberty...As the film's title suggests, the biggest home is one all humans share - and it can only satisfy unstoppable appetites for so long.' Alexander Castro, Newport Mercury

'One Big Home is not just a film about trophy homes on Martha's Vineyard, it is about the power of community activism, it is about grassroots change, it is a rallying cry for communities all over the country with similar plights.' Mount Desert Islander

'Exposes the scale of the issue...The film makes fascinating watching for anyone interested in site-appropriate and socially sensitive home design and the importance of appropriate planning laws. It could serve as a timely warning to many concerned communities.' Sanctuary: Modern Green Homes Magazine

'As the time elapses, we watch Bena evolve...Real significant change was enacted after Bena became passionate about his outcome...That was the key. Negativity. Complaining...He was not going to make a significant impact unless he changed the scope of his passion from fighting against to fighting for something.' Billy Manas, Elephant Journal

'Highly Recommended...Architects, building inspectors, academics and local residents are among those who present compelling arguments for both perspectives...By honestly showing the complexities of the process and the people, this film provides a myriad of excellent starting points for discussions that are not restricted to development and local policy, but which could delve into social and historical areas as well.' Shaeadha Natraj, Educational Media Reviews Online

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Main credits

Bena, Thomas (filmmaker)
Bena, Thomas (film producer)
Bena, Thomas (cinematographer)
Holland, James (film producer)

Other credits

Editors, James Holland, Liz Witham, Jim Cricchi; cinematographers, Thomas Bena, Jeremy Mayhew, Liz Witham; music composed and arranged by Paul Brill.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

trophy homes, Martha's Vineyard, carpentry, filmmaking, activism, gentrification, celebrities vacation, destroying island's character, angry homeowners, builders, architects, new bylaw, limiting house size, planning board, elected officials, ill-planned growth, environmental impacts, sustainable future, community organizing, sense of place, immigrant workers, fishing, spirit of community, zoning, coastline, property rights vs. community values, conspicuous consumption, growth, development, tragedy of the commons, Clarissa Allen, Nat Benjamin, Peter Breese, Patrick Broemmel, Rodney Bunker, Bob DeFelice, Mollie Doyle, Leonard Jason Jr, David Knauf, Doug Liman, Chris Murphy, Brendan O'Neill, Jack Reed, David Silverman, Saskia and David Vanderhoop, Mike Wallace; "One Big Home"; Bullfrog Films

WEBVTT

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- That\'s the house which
caused an uproar in the town.

00:00:29.625 --> 00:00:31.999
Obama\'s on the island right now.

00:00:32.083 --> 00:00:33.999
So hopefully they\'re all
watching the president

00:00:34.083 --> 00:00:35.542
and not watching the job site.

00:00:37.999 --> 00:00:41.999
Some kind of round house.

00:00:44.041 --> 00:00:46.999
Some kind of garage.

00:00:48.667 --> 00:00:51.834
It\'s like a 15-foot basement.

00:00:54.083 --> 00:00:55.083
This is crazy.

00:00:56.291 --> 00:00:57.667
The guy who\'s building
this house told me,

00:00:57.834 --> 00:00:59.625
\"I employ 60 people, Thomas.

00:00:59.792 --> 00:01:01.999
\"So, does that matter?\"

00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:03.375
It does, right?

00:01:04.667 --> 00:01:06.999
Okay, I have to get,
like, one more shot.

00:01:10.417 --> 00:01:12.792
Chilmark Hotel, you
know what that is?

00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:15.250
That\'s the workers
making comment.

00:01:15.417 --> 00:01:17.250
That\'s what they
think, Chilmark Hotel.

00:01:20.583 --> 00:01:21.917
Look at this place.

00:01:23.375 --> 00:01:25.583
Someone\'s right there.

00:01:27.375 --> 00:01:29.542
- [Driver] How you doing?

00:01:29.709 --> 00:01:30.458
- [Thomas] Good, how you doing?

00:01:30.625 --> 00:01:31.750
- [Driver] Good, do
you live around here?

00:01:31.917 --> 00:01:32.875
- [Thomas] I do, very close.

00:01:32.999 --> 00:01:34.250
- [Driver] And you\'re taking
pictures of people\'s property

00:01:34.417 --> 00:01:36.375
at 7 o\'clock in the morning?
- Yes.

00:01:36.542 --> 00:01:37.959
- Yeah.
- Is there a reason?

00:01:37.999 --> 00:01:38.999
- [Thomas] Yeah.

00:01:38.999 --> 00:01:40.166
- [Driver] You wanna
share that with me?

00:01:40.333 --> 00:01:41.792
- [Thomas] Ah, I\'ll be
happy to share it with you

00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:43.959
in the right moment.

00:01:43.999 --> 00:01:45.041
- Okay, well, we\'ve
got your license plate

00:01:45.208 --> 00:01:47.041
and your car number, so--

00:01:47.208 --> 00:01:48.583
- No, that\'s great.
- I hope everything\'s okay,

00:01:48.750 --> 00:01:49.917
because those people
are gonna know about it

00:01:49.999 --> 00:01:51.375
in about 10 minutes,
and then you can deal

00:01:51.542 --> 00:01:53.999
with them instead of me.

00:01:53.999 --> 00:01:55.041
- [Thomas] That\'s great.

00:01:55.208 --> 00:01:57.750
Well, here we go.

00:01:57.917 --> 00:01:59.458
(solemn music)

00:02:17.458 --> 00:02:22.458
When I first came to Martha\'s
Vineyard, it was 1997.

00:02:22.625 --> 00:02:26.291
On the boat, on
the way over here,

00:02:26.458 --> 00:02:27.959
I couldn\'t believe what I saw.

00:02:27.999 --> 00:02:29.125
I couldn\'t believe
that this was an hour

00:02:29.291 --> 00:02:30.625
from where I grew up.

00:02:30.792 --> 00:02:32.041
There were no strip
malls, no McDonald\'s.

00:02:32.208 --> 00:02:34.709
It felt like it was in
some kind of magic land.

00:02:34.875 --> 00:02:37.125
(gentle music)

00:02:53.999 --> 00:02:58.999
(crowd cheers)

00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:03.125
Chilmark is the place
that I call home.

00:03:03.291 --> 00:03:06.166
For me, it was the
water, it was the woods,

00:03:10.375 --> 00:03:11.625
it was the space,
it was the quiet.

00:03:11.792 --> 00:03:13.250
It was nature that really
made me fall in love

00:03:13.417 --> 00:03:15.792
with this and the eccentric
people who lived here.

00:03:15.959 --> 00:03:18.583
(hammer thuds)

00:03:18.750 --> 00:03:20.458
- A lot of people, us
included, came here,

00:03:20.625 --> 00:03:23.041
because we didn\'t want
to live in America.

00:03:23.208 --> 00:03:25.917
We liked Martha\'s Vineyard,

00:03:25.999 --> 00:03:27.417
because it was so close to
America, but it was different.

00:03:27.583 --> 00:03:30.792
(gentle music)

00:03:33.291 --> 00:03:37.375
- I used to get teased
as a high school person

00:03:37.542 --> 00:03:40.709
as being called a
hillbilly up here,

00:03:40.875 --> 00:03:43.125
which was fine with me.

00:03:43.291 --> 00:03:45.333
You ran wild up here.

00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:46.999
(gentle music)

00:03:46.999 --> 00:03:49.959
- My ancestors called
this place Noepe,

00:03:49.999 --> 00:03:52.542
which is safe haven, and
I believe that everybody

00:03:52.709 --> 00:03:55.750
that comes here are
able to feel that.

00:03:58.917 --> 00:04:00.250
I don\'t think they
understand it,

00:04:00.417 --> 00:04:01.999
but they can feel it.

00:04:02.083 --> 00:04:03.999
(woman squeals)

00:04:06.667 --> 00:04:09.500
- Martha\'s Vineyard,
a beautiful island

00:04:09.667 --> 00:04:11.417
in Massachusetts, is
angry, not to say bitter,

00:04:11.583 --> 00:04:14.709
at how the state is treating it.

00:04:14.875 --> 00:04:16.709
And so there are dark
mutterings about seceding

00:04:16.875 --> 00:04:19.542
and becoming a separate state

00:04:19.709 --> 00:04:21.041
or possibly even a
separate country.

00:04:21.208 --> 00:04:23.291
♪ Da da da da

00:04:23.458 --> 00:04:24.500
♪ Doo doo doo doo doo

00:04:24.667 --> 00:04:26.333
♪ Da da da da

00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:27.542
♪ Doo doo doo doo doo

00:04:27.709 --> 00:04:29.417
♪ Da da da da

00:04:29.583 --> 00:04:30.542
♪ Doo doo doo

00:04:30.709 --> 00:04:31.999
- There was truly a
counterculture movement here.

00:04:31.999 --> 00:04:34.458
We sort of came in on the
slipstream of many others,

00:04:34.625 --> 00:04:37.999
and we were impressed
with the sensibilities,

00:04:38.041 --> 00:04:40.999
the desire to keep
Martha\'s Vineyard different

00:04:40.999 --> 00:04:44.458
from mainstream America.

00:04:44.625 --> 00:04:47.000
Ross and I started
combing this waterfront

00:04:47.166 --> 00:04:49.875
in the late \'70s, thinking
wouldn\'t it be nice

00:04:49.999 --> 00:04:52.333
to have a little boatyard
around here somewhere.

00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:54.834
And we came on this property,
and we approached the owners

00:04:54.999 --> 00:04:57.999
about renting it from them.

00:04:57.999 --> 00:05:00.458
And they said, \"Well,
it\'s too late now.

00:05:00.625 --> 00:05:01.917
\"We\'ve got a purchase
and sale agreement

00:05:01.999 --> 00:05:03.458
\"with McDonald\'s
hamburger franchise.\"

00:05:06.667 --> 00:05:07.999
The whole island community
just went apoplectic

00:05:08.041 --> 00:05:10.083
over this situation.

00:05:10.250 --> 00:05:12.208
(somber music)

00:05:25.417 --> 00:05:30.417
The national news was down here

00:05:30.583 --> 00:05:32.291
at the planning board hearings,

00:05:32.458 --> 00:05:33.709
and it was a big
event for months.

00:05:33.875 --> 00:05:36.500
And finally, there
was so much bad PR

00:05:36.667 --> 00:05:39.999
that McDonald\'s
packed up and left.

00:05:40.125 --> 00:05:42.667
(somber music)

00:05:45.166 --> 00:05:47.250
There was a strong movement,
and there remains today,

00:05:47.417 --> 00:05:50.875
to really keep this place
protected from the development

00:05:54.999 --> 00:05:56.375
that has so destroyed most
of America\'s coastline.

00:05:56.542 --> 00:05:58.875
(somber music)

00:06:17.333 --> 00:06:22.333
(helicopter whirs)

00:06:25.250 --> 00:06:27.000
(solemn music)

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- [Thomas] The first
house I worked on was

00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:54.834
about 4,000 square feet.

00:06:54.999 --> 00:06:57.291
Probably four to
five years passed

00:06:57.458 --> 00:07:00.291
before I started getting
fully aware of the size

00:07:00.458 --> 00:07:03.792
of the other homes
that were going up,

00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:05.083
the 15,000, the
20,000-square-foot homes.

00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:07.999
(solemn music)

00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:12.125
And on our lunch breaks,
the carpenters and I,

00:07:12.291 --> 00:07:13.999
we all talked about it.

00:07:13.999 --> 00:07:15.041
How can this be a home?

00:07:15.208 --> 00:07:16.208
It\'s like a bus station,
so over the top.

00:07:16.375 --> 00:07:19.583
We really couldn\'t believe
what we were building,

00:07:19.750 --> 00:07:22.166
but the pay was also incredible.

00:07:22.333 --> 00:07:24.999
And so we just kind
of went to work.

00:07:27.999 --> 00:07:28.999
(Patrick grunts)

00:07:29.125 --> 00:07:29.999
(tools clatter)

00:07:29.999 --> 00:07:33.208
So dude, you\'re my best friend.

00:07:33.375 --> 00:07:34.959
What are your feelings
working on this house?

00:07:34.999 --> 00:07:37.208
- I don\'t really feel anything,

00:07:37.375 --> 00:07:38.999
not like in the
sense like emptiness,

00:07:39.083 --> 00:07:41.750
but there\'s just like I
can\'t put my heart into it.

00:07:41.917 --> 00:07:44.834
I feel like I\'m
actually doing bad.

00:07:44.999 --> 00:07:47.792
There\'s so much waste.

00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:49.208
That dumpster over
there is two days old,

00:07:49.375 --> 00:07:51.625
30-yard dumpster
filled to the brim,

00:07:51.792 --> 00:07:53.959
just waste, waste,
waste, waste, waste.

00:07:53.999 --> 00:07:56.417
It\'d probably take up as
much space as the house

00:07:56.583 --> 00:07:59.333
in the landfill, all the
shit that\'s come out of here,

00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.083
just the waste from building it.

00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:03.999
- [Thomas] Not to mention
tearing the other one down.

00:08:03.999 --> 00:08:05.750
- Right, there was
a house here before,

00:08:05.917 --> 00:08:06.999
that they ripped down.

00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.166
You know, it\'s kind
of a catch-22 thing,

00:08:09.333 --> 00:08:10.875
because it\'s like, for
lack of a better term,

00:08:10.999 --> 00:08:13.250
shitting in the nest, you know.

00:08:13.417 --> 00:08:14.875
We\'re destroying the very
thing that we came here from

00:08:14.999 --> 00:08:16.999
by building these things.

00:08:18.999 --> 00:08:20.999
- When I first moved here, I
first started doing carpentry,

00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:22.999
you were lucky if you had
work through the winter.

00:08:23.041 --> 00:08:25.291
People that just got here,

00:08:25.458 --> 00:08:26.875
they have no idea
what it was like

00:08:26.999 --> 00:08:28.125
to go through two
building recessions here,

00:08:28.291 --> 00:08:29.999
when there was no work,

00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:31.125
when your friends were
losing their houses.

00:08:31.291 --> 00:08:32.834
They had to leave, because
the bank kicked them out

00:08:32.999 --> 00:08:34.999
of their house.

00:08:34.999 --> 00:08:36.583
- [Thomas] So for you, the
big houses mean survival.

00:08:36.750 --> 00:08:39.625
- For most carpenters, yes.

00:08:39.792 --> 00:08:41.375
We\'re lucky we have people
like that coming here,

00:08:41.542 --> 00:08:43.417
because if we don\'t,

00:08:43.583 --> 00:08:45.500
I could probably
scratch out a living,

00:08:45.667 --> 00:08:47.417
but you probably couldn\'t
afford to, I mean,

00:08:47.583 --> 00:08:49.999
people that just got here
probably couldn\'t afford

00:08:49.999 --> 00:08:51.208
to live here.

00:08:51.375 --> 00:08:52.792
People on this island,
shouldn\'t be so concerned

00:08:52.959 --> 00:08:54.542
about what the other people
are doing, all right.

00:08:54.709 --> 00:08:58.041
They shouldn\'t, you know.

00:09:00.125 --> 00:09:01.000
(waves crash)

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- [David] This house is great.

00:09:10.083 --> 00:09:11.625
- [Thomas] Really?

00:09:11.792 --> 00:09:12.917
- Oh it\'s a beach
shack, you know.

00:09:13.709 --> 00:09:15.000
It\'s what should be here,
not this blasted thing.

00:09:17.959 --> 00:09:18.625
Too bad, but you know,

00:09:18.792 --> 00:09:20.750
that\'s the way the
island is nowadays.

00:09:20.917 --> 00:09:22.417
It\'s not the beach
house anymore.

00:09:22.583 --> 00:09:25.125
It\'s all corporate.

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This is the roof.

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That\'s all steel there.

00:09:29.041 --> 00:09:30.333
This is steel, steel, steel.

00:09:32.750 --> 00:09:34.208
There\'s probably 10 tons
of steel in this house.

00:09:37.625 --> 00:09:40.000
This architecture, really
into mounting everything down,

00:09:40.166 --> 00:09:43.375
so it doesn\'t blow
away, overkill.

00:09:46.166 --> 00:09:47.709
The more money they spend
is the more money they make.

00:09:47.875 --> 00:09:50.999
- [Thomas] The more
money the client spends

00:09:50.999 --> 00:09:52.041
is the more money
the architect makes.

00:09:52.208 --> 00:09:53.333
- Right, you know,
it\'s all percentage.

00:09:56.041 --> 00:09:57.583
It\'s kind of sick, but
that\'s the way it is.

00:10:01.166 --> 00:10:04.959
Now I\'m torn, because
it\'s my business.

00:10:08.041 --> 00:10:09.667
I make money at it.

00:10:09.834 --> 00:10:10.834
I make good money at it.

00:10:10.999 --> 00:10:12.417
But boy, it\'s getting
a little out of hand.

00:10:12.583 --> 00:10:16.041
Maybe I shouldn\'t be doing this.

00:10:16.208 --> 00:10:18.999
(somber music)

00:10:21.667 --> 00:10:22.542
What\'s right or wrong?

00:10:22.709 --> 00:10:24.083
(somber music)

00:10:27.792 --> 00:10:32.792
- [Thomas] I was a
carpenter for six years.

00:10:32.959 --> 00:10:35.417
I stopped because I had
a moral dilemma of sorts.

00:10:35.583 --> 00:10:38.999
I had more money in the bank

00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:40.291
than I ever had
in my entire life.

00:10:40.458 --> 00:10:42.041
And I really felt like one
day I had to make the jump

00:10:42.208 --> 00:10:45.709
and do what my
passion said to do.

00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:52.500
- [Mike] This is not
the home a poor guy,

00:10:52.667 --> 00:10:54.250
but it\'s modest in
the whole feeling.

00:10:54.417 --> 00:10:57.834
- People used to come
and live in cottages

00:10:57.999 --> 00:10:59.458
and hole up for the summer.

00:10:59.625 --> 00:11:00.999
And now what\'s happening
is people are building

00:11:01.125 --> 00:11:02.999
10,000-square-foot homes,
15,000 square-foot homes.

00:11:03.041 --> 00:11:05.999
- That\'s true all over America.

00:11:06.125 --> 00:11:07.333
- All over America.

00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:08.625
What is this saying
about our culture?

00:11:08.792 --> 00:11:10.041
What is this saying about
who we are as a community?

00:11:10.208 --> 00:11:12.834
I don\'t know.

00:11:12.999 --> 00:11:14.208
For me, it feels like just
something so off-kilter.

00:11:17.834 --> 00:11:18.667
- Well, we live in a world where

00:11:22.166 --> 00:11:23.959
success, if you want
to call it success,

00:11:26.375 --> 00:11:27.208
is measured in money.

00:11:27.375 --> 00:11:28.999
- Because of their wealth,
they\'re able to do this,

00:11:29.041 --> 00:11:30.917
and because they pay the
carpenters and the painters

00:11:30.999 --> 00:11:32.917
and the gardeners,
we all acquiesce.

00:11:32.999 --> 00:11:36.333
- And what does that do?

00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:37.583
That makes a living
for carpenters

00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:40.417
and painters and so forth.

00:11:40.583 --> 00:11:42.999
Hey, free country.

00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.125
- So at what point, does
it hit a tipping point

00:11:45.291 --> 00:11:47.999
where it\'s actually
not a free country,

00:11:48.125 --> 00:11:49.667
where it\'s actually wrong?

00:11:49.834 --> 00:11:51.583
- (sighs) Look,

00:11:54.166 --> 00:11:56.250
conspicuous consumption
satisfies some people.

00:12:00.375 --> 00:12:02.208
They worked hard.

00:12:02.375 --> 00:12:03.750
I say it again.

00:12:03.917 --> 00:12:04.834
It\'s a free country.

00:12:04.999 --> 00:12:06.792
Why does it offend you?

00:12:06.959 --> 00:12:08.792
It does offend you.

00:12:08.959 --> 00:12:11.041
- Yeah, that\'s a great question.

00:12:11.208 --> 00:12:11.999
Why does it offend me?

00:12:12.041 --> 00:12:14.041
When I walk around the
island in the winter

00:12:14.208 --> 00:12:15.999
and see the meters spinning,

00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.999
and I see a house
empty for eight months,

00:12:18.083 --> 00:12:21.291
it feels wrong to me.

00:12:21.458 --> 00:12:22.834
(solemn music)

00:12:31.917 --> 00:12:36.917
(birds chirp)

00:12:36.999 --> 00:12:39.417
(dramatic music)

00:12:49.625 --> 00:12:54.625
- [Brendan] Wherever you go,

00:12:54.792 --> 00:12:56.458
land has an influence on people.

00:12:58.999 --> 00:13:00.291
People, of course,
influence land as well,

00:13:00.458 --> 00:13:02.375
but the creation of a
sense of place is something

00:13:06.583 --> 00:13:07.999
often occurs or is imposed
upon people by the place.

00:13:10.999 --> 00:13:12.041
So the sense of place
on Martha\'s Vineyard is

00:13:12.208 --> 00:13:13.750
what we\'re trying
to pay attention to

00:13:13.917 --> 00:13:17.375
and protect, in a sense.

00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:21.999
That\'s made more difficult
by new people coming in

00:13:21.999 --> 00:13:23.999
who don\'t have the time
really, a more mobile culture,

00:13:28.041 --> 00:13:29.291
to build a sense of what
the place is all about.

00:13:33.041 --> 00:13:33.999
And so we are seeing a rupture

00:13:36.625 --> 00:13:37.458
in the fabric of the community.

00:13:37.625 --> 00:13:39.041
(gentle music)

00:13:43.750 --> 00:13:48.750
- It sickens me to see certain
neighborhoods change so much

00:13:52.959 --> 00:13:54.208
that you don\'t even recognize
or remember \'em anymore.

00:13:54.375 --> 00:13:57.917
It is part of a thing I
call incremental change,

00:14:01.999 --> 00:14:03.083
and it happens slowly,
and it trickles in.

00:14:07.458 --> 00:14:12.458
- The big problem today
is just in numbers.

00:14:12.625 --> 00:14:14.792
And what\'s happened
since the 1950s is

00:14:14.959 --> 00:14:17.542
that the rate of change
has just speeded up.

00:14:17.709 --> 00:14:19.542
(solemn music)

00:14:22.041 --> 00:14:26.750
- We\'ve learned the hard way
that conservation efforts

00:14:26.917 --> 00:14:29.458
on this island are failing
to keep pace with the rate

00:14:29.625 --> 00:14:32.375
at which land is
being developed.

00:14:32.542 --> 00:14:34.375
In recent years,

00:14:34.542 --> 00:14:35.999
we saw land being lost at a
rate of one new house per day.

00:14:35.999 --> 00:14:38.917
(solemn music)

00:15:01.792 --> 00:15:06.792
- You have to consider
point-of-view.

00:15:06.959 --> 00:15:09.999
Everything is around
point-of-view.

00:15:12.875 --> 00:15:13.999
So your point-of-view
is that of the neighbor.

00:15:17.667 --> 00:15:18.999
My point-of-view is look at
the world of architecture.

00:15:22.999 --> 00:15:24.542
They\'re building as a patron
to the art of architecture.

00:15:28.750 --> 00:15:29.709
And that\'s an opportunity.

00:15:29.875 --> 00:15:31.125
That\'s not something that I,
as a practitioner, would try

00:15:35.208 --> 00:15:36.834
to coach somebody out of doing.

00:15:36.999 --> 00:15:38.875
I would say this is a
terrific opportunity.

00:15:38.999 --> 00:15:42.208
You\'re willing to direct
and fund something

00:15:45.959 --> 00:15:47.625
that\'s gonna be somewhat
of a (laughs), you know,

00:15:51.834 --> 00:15:52.999
I don\'t like to use
the world monument,

00:15:53.083 --> 00:15:54.542
but these buildings, a house
that\'s built for the ages,

00:15:58.291 --> 00:15:59.792
of substantial size, is to a
degree, it\'s more than a house.

00:15:59.959 --> 00:16:03.250
It\'s a monument.

00:16:03.417 --> 00:16:04.750
- [Thomas] People also say

00:16:04.917 --> 00:16:05.999
that architects get
paid a percentage,

00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:07.834
and so architects are the ones
driving up the size of homes.

00:16:07.999 --> 00:16:10.625
Does that motivate you
to make a house bigger?

00:16:10.792 --> 00:16:12.792
- The cost doesn\'t necessarily
influence the size.

00:16:16.999 --> 00:16:17.834
It can influence the quality,

00:16:17.999 --> 00:16:20.709
so guilty on quality,

00:16:22.375 --> 00:16:24.999
not guilty on size.

00:16:24.999 --> 00:16:26.999
I don\'t make them
build a bigger home.

00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:29.999
- [Thomas] And the more
they spend per square foot

00:16:29.999 --> 00:16:31.250
is the more you
make for your rate?

00:16:31.417 --> 00:16:33.000
- Right, so if there were
sort of a business aspect

00:16:33.166 --> 00:16:35.875
to doing that, it would
not be to make it bigger.

00:16:35.999 --> 00:16:38.458
It would simply be
to make it better.

00:16:38.625 --> 00:16:40.458
- [Thomas] For you,
but other people,

00:16:40.625 --> 00:16:41.417
it could be to make it bigger.

00:16:41.583 --> 00:16:43.000
- For other architects?

00:16:43.166 --> 00:16:44.250
- [Thomas] Right,
that could be their--

00:16:44.417 --> 00:16:45.542
- Well, I think they\'re
in the same position.

00:16:45.709 --> 00:16:47.542
They might not know how to do
$1,000-a-square-foot house,

00:16:51.750 --> 00:16:53.375
so their gut instinct
might be like,

00:16:53.542 --> 00:16:55.999
\"Well, let\'s make it bigger.\"

00:16:56.125 --> 00:16:58.583
- Gotcha.
- You know?

00:16:58.750 --> 00:16:59.583
\"Let\'s see if we can get \'em

00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:00.792
\"to do the bowling
alley in the basement.\"

00:17:03.999 --> 00:17:06.667
(sheep bleat)

00:17:06.834 --> 00:17:08.041
- This is a working farm.

00:17:08.208 --> 00:17:09.375
We have about 150 sheep,
90 lambs born annually.

00:17:13.333 --> 00:17:14.583
We have horses and pigs
and chickens and cattle.

00:17:14.750 --> 00:17:17.417
Well, the house has
been here since 1773.

00:17:17.583 --> 00:17:20.583
It\'s always been in my family.

00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:22.542
It was my grandmother\'s
house when I was little.

00:17:22.709 --> 00:17:24.500
My father ran his
business out of here.

00:17:24.667 --> 00:17:26.291
He was a builder,
here in Chilmark.

00:17:26.458 --> 00:17:28.959
It\'s pretty amazing
to live in a house

00:17:28.999 --> 00:17:30.500
that you open a drawer,

00:17:30.667 --> 00:17:32.875
and there\'s somebody
else\'s papers in it,

00:17:32.999 --> 00:17:35.500
that lived here a long time ago

00:17:35.667 --> 00:17:38.709
and stuffed in the
back of the drawer.

00:17:38.875 --> 00:17:40.999
There\'s a lot of history here.

00:17:40.999 --> 00:17:42.500
And I also realize how
completely unusual it is,

00:17:42.667 --> 00:17:45.667
in this day and age, to
have this kind of connection

00:17:45.834 --> 00:17:47.959
to home and place.

00:17:49.333 --> 00:17:50.999
It\'s a certain
kind of privilege.

00:17:53.542 --> 00:17:54.999
(gentle music)

00:18:06.333 --> 00:18:11.333
- I\'m moving into an
apartment for a month,

00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:13.750
and then I have a winter rental.

00:18:13.917 --> 00:18:15.542
I\'ve been here for seven years,

00:18:15.709 --> 00:18:16.792
on the island, and
I\'ve moved, you know,

00:18:16.959 --> 00:18:17.999
every winter and
summer basically.

00:18:20.917 --> 00:18:22.458
This is my family
in the old country.

00:18:22.625 --> 00:18:24.667
My mother was born
in the Azores.

00:18:24.834 --> 00:18:26.333
You could walk down this road
and be right at the ocean

00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:28.291
with some scary
Hawaiian-sized waves.

00:18:28.458 --> 00:18:31.166
And they never swam.

00:18:31.333 --> 00:18:32.500
They just worked so
much and went to church,

00:18:32.667 --> 00:18:34.041
they never went in the
ocean to really swim.

00:18:34.208 --> 00:18:35.999
They didn\'t know how to swim.

00:18:36.041 --> 00:18:37.500
And I have the suitcase,

00:18:37.667 --> 00:18:39.792
the suitcase they
brought to America.

00:18:42.875 --> 00:18:45.792
I just like holding it,

00:18:45.959 --> 00:18:47.041
knowing that my grandmother
loaded this thing up

00:18:47.208 --> 00:18:49.208
with what she owned and came
to this country, you know.

00:18:49.375 --> 00:18:52.375
Got on a plane at age
55 and came to America.

00:18:56.041 --> 00:18:57.583
I like having it, and now
I\'m moving it (laughs).

00:18:57.750 --> 00:18:59.542
It moves a lot.

00:18:59.709 --> 00:19:00.999
(solemn music)

00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:06.999
- What happens to the
community of working people,

00:19:07.083 --> 00:19:10.250
the guys that go
fishing, farming,

00:19:10.417 --> 00:19:12.999
teach school, work in the store,
as the community gentrifies

00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:18.125
into really rich people
and their houses?

00:19:18.291 --> 00:19:21.208
(solemn music)

00:19:23.917 --> 00:19:28.333
- I mean, that\'s America,
whether you like it or not.

00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:30.458
We can always leave.

00:19:30.625 --> 00:19:32.500
We always have that option.

00:19:32.667 --> 00:19:35.125
I mean, you got three-acre
lots goin\' for a million bucks.

00:19:35.291 --> 00:19:37.999
Who the hell can afford
that on 40,000 a year?

00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.250
Nobody.

00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:46.000
- I live in this house
with a bunch of friends

00:19:46.166 --> 00:19:49.709
or people that I am
pre-acquainted with, you know.

00:19:49.875 --> 00:19:52.166
We live like in a
family setting somehow.

00:19:52.333 --> 00:19:55.000
It\'s kind of
unconventional housing,

00:19:55.166 --> 00:19:57.125
but it serve a clear
economic purpose,

00:19:57.291 --> 00:19:59.999
and it\'s a very
peaceful coexistence

00:19:59.999 --> 00:20:01.417
where we actually
have developed.

00:20:04.125 --> 00:20:05.875
- [Thomas] Your name is Josie?

00:20:05.999 --> 00:20:06.667
- [Josie] Josie, yeah.

00:20:07.458 --> 00:20:09.583
- [Evaldo] My name is Evaldo.

00:20:10.375 --> 00:20:12.875
I live in America
three years and a half.

00:20:16.999 --> 00:20:18.041
- [Thomas] Three
years and a half?

00:20:18.208 --> 00:20:18.999
- Yes, I live here.

00:20:19.083 --> 00:20:20.208
And maybe one year,
maybe December

00:20:20.375 --> 00:20:24.333
I come back.

00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:25.750
- [Thomas] Go back?

00:20:25.917 --> 00:20:26.667
- Yes.
- No more?

00:20:26.834 --> 00:20:27.500
- No more.

00:20:27.667 --> 00:20:28.291
- Why?

00:20:29.083 --> 00:20:29.999
- I now have money.

00:20:29.999 --> 00:20:30.999
- [Thomas] You have money now?

00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:31.875
- Yeah, I have (laughs).

00:20:31.999 --> 00:20:33.291
- With respect to housing,
what we have here is people

00:20:33.458 --> 00:20:36.583
who don\'t get paid
enough to live,

00:20:36.750 --> 00:20:39.000
in housing conditions
like they should have.

00:20:39.166 --> 00:20:42.166
It works for them, because
it\'s a temporary arrangement.

00:20:42.333 --> 00:20:44.875
It works for their employers,

00:20:44.999 --> 00:20:45.999
because their employers
do not want to pay

00:20:46.041 --> 00:20:48.999
for what it actually
costs to live here.

00:20:48.999 --> 00:20:52.583
(waves crash)

00:20:54.999 --> 00:20:57.999
(gentle music)

00:20:58.041 --> 00:21:00.875
(birds chirp)

00:21:03.792 --> 00:21:08.792
(goose honks)

00:21:10.999 --> 00:21:13.917
(gentle music)

00:21:19.458 --> 00:21:24.458
(kids chattering)

00:21:24.625 --> 00:21:27.542
(gentle music)

00:21:35.750 --> 00:21:40.750
(rain patters)

00:21:43.250 --> 00:21:46.291
(birds chirp)

00:21:48.917 --> 00:21:49.999
(gentle music)

00:21:49.999 --> 00:21:52.250
- Hello, what are you doing?

00:21:54.667 --> 00:21:55.999
You\'re not recording, are you?

00:21:56.083 --> 00:21:57.125
- [Thomas] No, I missed you.

00:21:57.291 --> 00:21:59.375
- Can you turn that thing off?

00:21:59.542 --> 00:22:01.583
- [Thomas] Do you
want to see the--

00:22:01.750 --> 00:22:02.375
Can you turn that off?

00:22:02.542 --> 00:22:03.166
- [Thomas] No.

00:22:03.333 --> 00:22:03.999
(Mollie laughs)

00:22:04.125 --> 00:22:04.999
Do you want to see the--

00:22:04.999 --> 00:22:05.917
- [Mollie] Oh, the boards?

00:22:05.999 --> 00:22:07.375
- [Thomas] When I
first met Mollie,

00:22:07.542 --> 00:22:08.999
I remember having this sense

00:22:08.999 --> 00:22:09.999
of, like, oh, you know, whoa.

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.750
- It\'s fabulous.

00:22:12.917 --> 00:22:14.000
- [Thomas] Okay,
let\'s continue inside.

00:22:14.166 --> 00:22:15.583
(Mollie laughs)

00:22:15.750 --> 00:22:16.999
But she was with someone, and
it took probably three years

00:22:17.125 --> 00:22:18.999
for our lives to level out

00:22:18.999 --> 00:22:20.625
so that we both had
space for each other.

00:22:20.792 --> 00:22:22.542
- [Mollie] Aww.

00:22:22.709 --> 00:22:24.041
Thank you, baby.

00:22:24.208 --> 00:22:25.291
- [Thomas] Mm-hmm.

00:22:25.458 --> 00:22:26.999
- Very clean.

00:22:27.999 --> 00:22:29.125
- [Thomas] And now
the bathroom shelves.

00:22:29.291 --> 00:22:30.125
(Mollie gasps)

00:22:30.291 --> 00:22:30.999
- They\'re incredible.

00:22:31.083 --> 00:22:32.333
- [Thomas] Do you like them?

00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:33.125
- They\'re incredible.

00:22:33.291 --> 00:22:34.709
And I have the shower curtain,
so we can cover all this.

00:22:34.875 --> 00:22:36.999
- [Thomas] Do you like
the underwear rack on top?

00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:38.709
- I just can\'t believe
you didn\'t include me

00:22:38.875 --> 00:22:40.458
in the underwear rack,
given that I have twice

00:22:40.625 --> 00:22:42.999
as much underwear as you do.

00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:44.542
(gentle music)

00:22:50.999 --> 00:22:55.999
Thomas.

00:22:55.999 --> 00:22:57.208
(Thomas grunts)

00:22:57.375 --> 00:22:58.208
What happened yesterday?

00:22:58.375 --> 00:23:00.875
- [Thomas] We got engaged.

00:23:00.999 --> 00:23:02.375
- Yeah.

00:23:02.542 --> 00:23:03.166
(gentle music)

00:23:05.917 --> 00:23:07.709
We did.

00:23:10.291 --> 00:23:15.291
- I pretty much
had a conventional,

00:23:15.458 --> 00:23:17.125
middle-class,
American upbringing,

00:23:19.999 --> 00:23:22.667
suburbia, private
schools, college.

00:23:25.583 --> 00:23:26.834
- [Thomas] Where\'d
you go to school?

00:23:26.999 --> 00:23:27.792
- College?

00:23:28.583 --> 00:23:29.999
Yeah?
- Yeah.

00:23:29.999 --> 00:23:30.917
- I went to Harvard.

00:23:30.999 --> 00:23:32.999
I guess I\'m kind of
more in favor of freedom

00:23:33.041 --> 00:23:35.041
to move around than I
am in favor of comfort.

00:23:35.208 --> 00:23:39.166
I\'m kind of glad that I
don\'t own anything, really.

00:23:39.333 --> 00:23:42.583
It\'s the movement.

00:23:42.750 --> 00:23:43.875
It\'s like seeing
the world one way,

00:23:43.999 --> 00:23:44.999
and then being able to
see it a different way,

00:23:45.125 --> 00:23:46.999
and to do that, you
have to move around.

00:23:47.041 --> 00:23:48.999
The change is what
makes life interesting.

00:23:49.083 --> 00:23:52.999
And if you\'re all, like,
boxed up like that,

00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:58.959
I mean, you\'re not
experiencing that much change.

00:23:58.999 --> 00:24:02.917
It\'s one view, you know,
one outlook on the world.

00:24:06.999 --> 00:24:08.417
I mean, for me, a sleeping
bag and a tarp will do.

00:24:11.959 --> 00:24:12.625
It\'s about all I need.

00:24:12.792 --> 00:24:14.917
The sun rises up out of
the ocean right over there.

00:24:18.999 --> 00:24:20.999
The view can\'t be beat.

00:24:21.125 --> 00:24:22.959
Basically, I have like a
100-acre house, you know.

00:24:26.999 --> 00:24:27.999
Forget 10,000 square feet.

00:24:27.999 --> 00:24:30.792
Mine\'s 100 acres.

00:24:30.959 --> 00:24:31.999
I can go to any
corner that I want.

00:24:31.999 --> 00:24:35.291
- [Thomas] Is this
your home right now?

00:24:35.458 --> 00:24:36.999
- No, it\'s just
a place to sleep.

00:24:37.083 --> 00:24:40.125
I mean, like I say,
the home is everywhere.

00:24:43.834 --> 00:24:44.999
It\'s one big home.

00:24:46.999 --> 00:24:48.999
(chickens cluck)

00:24:51.709 --> 00:24:53.041
- I\'m not sure that
we knew we were poor,

00:24:53.208 --> 00:24:55.999
but growing up, my parents
had no money at all.

00:24:56.041 --> 00:24:58.750
And my father was a starving
artist, as they say.

00:24:58.917 --> 00:25:02.875
I mean he went scalloping in
the winter to make a living,

00:25:02.999 --> 00:25:05.083
and he always made me
feel like we were rich

00:25:05.250 --> 00:25:08.291
in what was important.

00:25:10.083 --> 00:25:11.625
I mean, he loved to eat off
the land, get oysters or clams

00:25:11.792 --> 00:25:14.375
or ducks or whatever it
was and would often say

00:25:14.542 --> 00:25:17.583
at dinner, \"Well, kings
don\'t eat any better.\"

00:25:17.750 --> 00:25:20.458
And I felt that way
about my whole life.

00:25:20.625 --> 00:25:24.083
It didn\'t get any better.

00:25:24.250 --> 00:25:25.583
(upbeat music)

00:25:33.999 --> 00:25:38.999
- [Thomas] What would you,
Chris Murphy, like to see

00:25:38.999 --> 00:25:40.500
as Chilmark\'s destiny?

00:25:40.667 --> 00:25:41.999
- Well, in a
nutshell, I\'d like it

00:25:41.999 --> 00:25:43.291
to still be a place
that my grandchildren

00:25:43.458 --> 00:25:45.542
and great-grandchildren
would want to live.

00:25:45.709 --> 00:25:49.417
The people that develop
these big houses,

00:25:49.583 --> 00:25:51.917
they sort of see that they\'re
fouling their own nest,

00:25:51.999 --> 00:25:54.999
but they don\'t see
how to stop doing it.

00:25:54.999 --> 00:25:57.291
Having been a
fisherman all my life,

00:25:57.458 --> 00:25:59.333
most of the people that
I\'ve worked around,

00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:02.875
spend a lot of time
bemoaning the loss of fish,

00:26:02.999 --> 00:26:05.999
places to fish, the
intrusion of the government

00:26:06.041 --> 00:26:08.999
on their ability to make a
living, and at the same time,

00:26:08.999 --> 00:26:12.999
happily wipe out one
species after another,

00:26:13.125 --> 00:26:15.999
or maybe not so happily,
but it\'s what happens.

00:26:16.125 --> 00:26:18.834
If I don\'t catch it, he will.

00:26:18.999 --> 00:26:20.999
Therefore, I better
catch more of it now

00:26:21.125 --> 00:26:23.333
and worry about what I\'m
gonna do tomorrow, tomorrow.

00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:26.750
And I think that\'s
just what happens

00:26:26.917 --> 00:26:28.250
with all the developers.

00:26:28.417 --> 00:26:29.750
- [Thomas] And how do
you make me see that

00:26:29.917 --> 00:26:30.667
if I\'m a developer?

00:26:30.834 --> 00:26:31.999
- [Chris] I don\'t think
people ever do see it

00:26:32.041 --> 00:26:33.250
until it\'s too late.

00:26:34.999 --> 00:26:37.250
(solemn music)

00:26:46.583 --> 00:26:51.583
- It would be great if houses
didn\'t dominate landscapes.

00:26:55.792 --> 00:26:57.083
We see a lot of that on the
Vineyard in recent years.

00:27:00.208 --> 00:27:01.709
They\'re created instantly,
completely landscaped,

00:27:01.875 --> 00:27:04.417
tennis courts, pools, whatever
they think that they need

00:27:04.583 --> 00:27:07.458
or like to have there, but
it all happens so fast.

00:27:07.625 --> 00:27:10.583
(solemn music)

00:27:13.083 --> 00:27:14.250
- These people aren\'t bad people

00:27:14.417 --> 00:27:15.583
that are building these houses.

00:27:15.750 --> 00:27:17.083
That\'s what they feel they need.

00:27:17.250 --> 00:27:19.667
I\'m not gonna quibble with them.

00:27:19.834 --> 00:27:21.000
(solemn music)

00:27:34.166 --> 00:27:39.166
- I used to live
in the Hamptons.

00:27:39.333 --> 00:27:40.709
I\'m suddenly seeing
these big houses crop up,

00:27:40.875 --> 00:27:42.583
and I\'m nervous that

00:27:42.750 --> 00:27:44.792
that could just start
happening everywhere.

00:27:44.959 --> 00:27:46.834
If my neighbors right
around here start doing it,

00:27:46.999 --> 00:27:50.417
this house that I\'m
hoping to live in the rest

00:27:50.583 --> 00:27:52.125
of my life, I\'d probably sell.

00:27:52.291 --> 00:27:54.291
And I love this place, but
I love it the way it is now.

00:27:54.458 --> 00:27:57.999
If it gets ruined, you know,

00:28:00.250 --> 00:28:02.875
for me, the Hamptons got ruined.

00:28:02.999 --> 00:28:04.500
(solemn music)

00:28:21.750 --> 00:28:26.750
- I hold the architects

00:28:26.917 --> 00:28:28.041
and the contractors probably
a lot more accountable

00:28:28.208 --> 00:28:31.542
than a lot of people do.

00:28:31.709 --> 00:28:32.999
My mother was in real
estate a long time ago,

00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:35.250
and I know that
the customers rely

00:28:35.417 --> 00:28:38.250
on their island
contact to guide them.

00:28:38.417 --> 00:28:41.999
I think they have
a responsibility to
work at toning it down

00:28:42.041 --> 00:28:44.709
and making an impression on
the people that come to them.

00:28:48.917 --> 00:28:50.208
- Part of my defense of the
large home may even begin

00:28:54.375 --> 00:28:55.583
with my
great-grandfather\'s house.

00:28:55.750 --> 00:28:56.333
(solemn music)

00:28:56.500 --> 00:28:59.166
He hired Stanford
White to design his
home in South Hampton,

00:29:03.375 --> 00:29:04.542
and it\'s a 26-bedroom,
beautiful example

00:29:07.959 --> 00:29:09.166
of turn-of-the-century, high-end
residential architecture.

00:29:13.166 --> 00:29:14.458
The fact that it\'s
still occupied,

00:29:14.625 --> 00:29:16.709
it\'s still completely restored
to its original condition,

00:29:20.917 --> 00:29:22.375
although it\'s not
a single-family
use, is a testament

00:29:22.542 --> 00:29:23.999
to the value of building
that large house,

00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:28.709
or probably from your
frame of reference,

00:29:28.875 --> 00:29:31.999
a somewhat decadently
large house (laughs).

00:29:36.083 --> 00:29:36.999
- [Thomas] So do you ever think

00:29:37.083 --> 00:29:38.542
about our consumer culture\'s
affect on the world at large,

00:29:42.291 --> 00:29:43.458
you know, it\'s
natural resources?

00:29:43.625 --> 00:29:44.291
- I do.

00:29:44.458 --> 00:29:45.250
- You do?
- I do.

00:29:45.417 --> 00:29:46.333
- Okay.
- I\'m very concerned

00:29:46.500 --> 00:29:47.250
about that.
- Okay.

00:29:47.417 --> 00:29:48.917
But, in your mind, I just
really want to understand,

00:29:48.999 --> 00:29:50.999
these homes have no link at all?

00:29:53.750 --> 00:29:54.625
- Well, think about this.

00:29:54.792 --> 00:29:56.000
The lights are off nine months.

00:29:56.166 --> 00:29:58.667
- [Thomas] But they\'re not.

00:29:58.834 --> 00:29:59.458
The homes are heated.

00:29:59.625 --> 00:30:00.999
All these homes are heated,
from what I understand.

00:30:00.999 --> 00:30:02.750
- Well, some of them,
yeah, most of them.

00:30:02.917 --> 00:30:04.999
- [Thomas] Okay, so on
something like this,

00:30:05.083 --> 00:30:07.333
it\'ll be heated all year now.

00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:08.999
Is that not insane?

00:30:09.083 --> 00:30:10.917
I mean, to me (laughs),
it just feels like,

00:30:10.999 --> 00:30:12.999
it feels like insanity.

00:30:12.999 --> 00:30:14.875
- And so your goal then
is to stop the insanity.

00:30:18.999 --> 00:30:20.333
- [Thomas] My goal is just
to say people, can we realize

00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:21.875
that we do have an effect
on the greater Earth

00:30:21.999 --> 00:30:23.999
and that we can
conserve our resources

00:30:24.125 --> 00:30:25.750
a little more than that?

00:30:25.917 --> 00:30:27.208
I\'m not a saint.

00:30:27.375 --> 00:30:28.834
I\'m not saying that, but this
feels like it\'s a judgment,

00:30:28.999 --> 00:30:31.000
but it feels like
the values are wrong.

00:30:31.166 --> 00:30:33.500
- Our clients who build
big could build bigger,

00:30:33.667 --> 00:30:36.083
but they don\'t, you know.

00:30:36.250 --> 00:30:37.667
It\'s sort of like a reasonable,

00:30:37.834 --> 00:30:40.417
they\'re very reasonable
proposals given, you know,

00:30:40.583 --> 00:30:43.875
either the size of the
property or other limitations.

00:30:43.999 --> 00:30:46.999
- Is there a point
in which you think

00:30:47.083 --> 00:30:48.583
a house could be too big, if
50,000 square feet\'s too big?

00:30:48.750 --> 00:30:51.000
- So here we go
to point-of-view.

00:30:51.166 --> 00:30:53.999
If we go to the extremes,
which I mentioned

00:30:54.125 --> 00:30:55.999
in the beginning, the
neighbor, absolutely.

00:30:55.999 --> 00:30:58.792
If I go to the world of
architecture, and I compare that

00:30:58.959 --> 00:31:01.041
to the Taj Mahal,
hmm, it\'s kind of big.

00:31:01.208 --> 00:31:03.875
It\'s not huge.

00:31:03.999 --> 00:31:05.667
Or I compare it to private
residences in East Hampton.

00:31:09.875 --> 00:31:10.542
It\'s not that big.

00:31:10.709 --> 00:31:12.125
- [Thomas] If someone built
any one of these homes next

00:31:12.291 --> 00:31:14.999
to your house, would
that bother you?

00:31:14.999 --> 00:31:17.458
- The neighbor point-of-view,

00:31:17.625 --> 00:31:18.792
like I said, right from
the beginning, I get it.

00:31:18.959 --> 00:31:22.333
I just don\'t think that that
is the point-of-view you want

00:31:26.542 --> 00:31:27.999
to build a whole argument
against, building from.

00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:31.000
Unless it is your neighbor,
it\'s really not a problem.

00:31:35.208 --> 00:31:36.333
(solemn music)

00:31:42.458 --> 00:31:47.458
(people chattering)

00:31:47.625 --> 00:31:48.834
(gavel bangs)

00:31:48.999 --> 00:31:50.291
- [Man] You know what, if
you want to say something,

00:31:50.458 --> 00:31:51.083
let\'s raise your hand.

00:31:51.250 --> 00:31:51.959
Yes, sir.

00:31:51.999 --> 00:31:53.083
- We are an island that
is constantly changing.

00:31:53.250 --> 00:31:56.250
It cannot stay the same.

00:31:56.417 --> 00:31:57.583
It will not stay the same.

00:31:57.750 --> 00:31:59.166
As much as we fight it, it\'s
just the nature of the beast.

00:31:59.333 --> 00:32:02.999
So coming up with
regulations that say,

00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:05.417
\"Well, in my mind,
I think you\'re gonna
ruin the character,\"

00:32:05.583 --> 00:32:08.959
is too open-ended, too scary,

00:32:08.999 --> 00:32:10.959
and it\'s not
America, in my mind.

00:32:10.999 --> 00:32:13.458
- I doubt there\'s any
disagreement in this room

00:32:13.625 --> 00:32:16.083
about the goal of actually
protecting what we need

00:32:16.250 --> 00:32:18.750
to protect, so we
don\'t wreck this place.

00:32:18.917 --> 00:32:21.417
- Yes, sir.

00:32:21.583 --> 00:32:22.999
- It\'s no secret why a lot
of the builders showed up,

00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:24.625
because it certainly
affects our livelihood,

00:32:24.792 --> 00:32:26.291
but wrecking the island is a
matter of personal opinion.

00:32:26.458 --> 00:32:30.000
It starts to get
a little dangerous

00:32:30.166 --> 00:32:32.583
when regional issues
start infringing

00:32:36.792 --> 00:32:37.917
upon your personal
right to your own land.

00:32:37.999 --> 00:32:40.000
- I\'ve been listening
all my life to people

00:32:40.166 --> 00:32:42.333
that were in the
development business,

00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:44.709
complaining about
any kind of shackles

00:32:48.625 --> 00:32:49.999
that they feel are put on
them to slow them down.

00:32:50.125 --> 00:32:51.875
That development is the
dog that wags the tail

00:32:51.999 --> 00:32:55.333
of the Vineyard economy.

00:32:55.500 --> 00:32:57.792
I don\'t really buy that.

00:32:57.959 --> 00:32:59.166
I think that building
is important.

00:32:59.333 --> 00:33:02.291
The building trades
are important.

00:33:02.458 --> 00:33:04.041
They\'re not the only
thing that\'s important

00:33:04.208 --> 00:33:05.709
on Martha\'s Vineyard.

00:33:05.875 --> 00:33:07.333
The quality of life for
the builders, for us,

00:33:07.500 --> 00:33:09.999
for everybody here
is more important.

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.667
There are two sides
to this issue.

00:33:12.834 --> 00:33:14.709
And I look at you,
Spike, shaking your head.

00:33:14.875 --> 00:33:16.834
You live on both sides.

00:33:16.999 --> 00:33:18.500
And then you make a living--

00:33:18.667 --> 00:33:19.542
- Without a doubt, and I agree

00:33:19.709 --> 00:33:20.834
with most everything
you\'ve said.

00:33:20.999 --> 00:33:22.875
- So there I stop.

00:33:24.999 --> 00:33:26.083
- We don\'t want to
kill the golden goose.

00:33:26.250 --> 00:33:27.375
We want to find a
better way to do it.

00:33:27.542 --> 00:33:28.166
- [Chris] Mm-hmm.

00:33:28.333 --> 00:33:29.834
- But I think what we\'re
looking for is a reality check.

00:33:29.999 --> 00:33:32.667
This rule book keeps
growing and growing

00:33:32.834 --> 00:33:34.999
and growing, but
it is the ambiguity

00:33:34.999 --> 00:33:37.208
that scares the hell
out of everybody.

00:33:37.375 --> 00:33:38.999
Let\'s stop this craziness,

00:33:39.125 --> 00:33:40.375
and let\'s define
guidelines that make sense.

00:33:40.542 --> 00:33:43.333
(solemn music)

00:33:57.166 --> 00:34:02.166
- [Thomas] People
in these big homes,

00:34:02.333 --> 00:34:03.625
they have these
confidentiality agreements

00:34:03.792 --> 00:34:04.917
with the architects and
with the contractors,

00:34:04.999 --> 00:34:07.792
that you can\'t tell
anybody about the house.

00:34:07.959 --> 00:34:09.083
You can\'t show pictures.

00:34:09.250 --> 00:34:10.291
You can\'t bring
people over to see it.

00:34:10.458 --> 00:34:12.458
It\'s really like this
private hush-hush thing.

00:34:16.667 --> 00:34:17.875
I get a feeling
this might be it.

00:34:17.999 --> 00:34:18.792
Look at all these worker trucks.

00:34:20.917 --> 00:34:21.792
I\'m a little nervous now,

00:34:21.959 --> 00:34:23.999
\'cause these are all guys
I know from the island.

00:34:29.792 --> 00:34:34.792
I want to get permission
to shoot here.

00:34:34.959 --> 00:34:36.417
- The owners are here, too.

00:34:36.583 --> 00:34:37.333
You can ask them.

00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:38.166
- They\'re both here?

00:34:38.333 --> 00:34:39.083
- Well, the woman\'s there.

00:34:42.291 --> 00:34:43.125
- Do you work on this job?

00:34:43.291 --> 00:34:43.792
- Yeah.

00:34:43.959 --> 00:34:44.999
- Do you want to be on
camera for a second?

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:45.999
- Um, I gotta go.

00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:47.999
- All right, yeah.

00:34:49.500 --> 00:34:50.542
- Um, yeah, drive on up.

00:34:52.999 --> 00:34:54.000
- All right.

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:56.999
Guy I surf with, \"I gotta go.\"

00:34:59.542 --> 00:35:01.083
(Thomas chuckles)

00:35:03.999 --> 00:35:05.375
I think we should park
here and leave the camera.

00:35:05.542 --> 00:35:07.999
I think it\'s too disrespectful
to bring the camera.

00:35:12.166 --> 00:35:16.999
(car door slams)

00:35:17.083 --> 00:35:18.125
- [Camera Operator]
What happened?

00:35:18.291 --> 00:35:19.417
- She said, \"As long as
you don\'t put my face

00:35:19.583 --> 00:35:21.125
\"on camera for obvious reasons,\"

00:35:21.291 --> 00:35:22.999
which I don\'t really understand

00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:24.000
what the obvious reasons are,

00:35:24.166 --> 00:35:25.999
\"and as long as you
don\'t mention my name,

00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:28.041
\"you can come here.\"

00:35:29.875 --> 00:35:32.250
So she\'s gonna interview
with us tomorrow.

00:35:32.417 --> 00:35:34.999
She\'s spending her first
night in the house tonight,

00:35:35.083 --> 00:35:37.458
and we\'re gonna come at
8 a.m. in the morning

00:35:37.625 --> 00:35:39.166
and get her first morning
in her dream house.

00:35:39.333 --> 00:35:41.667
(motor purrs)

00:35:44.041 --> 00:35:45.208
How did you choose
to build here?

00:35:45.375 --> 00:35:47.999
- [Woman] My kids have
an unexplainable love

00:35:48.083 --> 00:35:51.208
for this island.

00:35:51.375 --> 00:35:53.083
They wouldn\'t be able
to articulate it to you.

00:35:53.250 --> 00:35:54.999
I know it, but it\'s
something in their hearts

00:35:55.041 --> 00:35:57.125
that they just need to be here.

00:35:57.291 --> 00:35:59.500
So we just decided we really
needed to have our own place.

00:36:03.709 --> 00:36:04.834
And it took probably
over 10 years

00:36:04.999 --> 00:36:06.999
to find this piece of land.

00:36:07.041 --> 00:36:08.500
It was occupied.

00:36:08.667 --> 00:36:09.999
There was a tiny barn that
had one room downstairs

00:36:10.041 --> 00:36:13.875
with a wood stove and
upstairs was a loft,

00:36:13.999 --> 00:36:17.750
where they just had a
bed and an outdoor shower

00:36:17.917 --> 00:36:20.709
that was facing the water,

00:36:20.875 --> 00:36:22.375
and there was something
very charming about it.

00:36:22.542 --> 00:36:25.667
Unfortunately, we had
to tear the barn down.

00:36:25.834 --> 00:36:28.250
- You had to tear it
down, because it was

00:36:28.417 --> 00:36:29.500
on the footprint for this house.

00:36:29.667 --> 00:36:30.959
Is that right?
- No, we moved it first.

00:36:30.999 --> 00:36:32.166
- Oh, you moved it.

00:36:32.333 --> 00:36:33.500
- [Woman] Mm-hmm, and
we wanted to keep it,

00:36:33.667 --> 00:36:34.999
but it needed a lot of work
and the builders convinced us

00:36:39.166 --> 00:36:40.667
that it was probably not
cost-effective to fix it up.

00:36:40.834 --> 00:36:42.999
- How big is this
house, square footage?

00:36:43.083 --> 00:36:45.041
- [Woman] You know,
I don\'t even know,

00:36:45.208 --> 00:36:46.291
but I\'m guessing eight.

00:36:46.458 --> 00:36:47.959
I didn\'t understand
what that meant.

00:36:47.999 --> 00:36:49.834
I can look at a blueprint

00:36:49.999 --> 00:36:52.291
and have no clue what
that\'s gonna come out

00:36:52.458 --> 00:36:54.041
to look like
three-dimensionally.

00:36:54.208 --> 00:36:56.875
Could our kids have
shared rooms, yes,

00:36:56.999 --> 00:36:58.333
but you know, if you\'re
gonna do it, do it, right?

00:36:58.500 --> 00:37:01.500
So everybody got their own room,

00:37:01.667 --> 00:37:03.208
and everybody got
their own bathroom,

00:37:03.375 --> 00:37:04.750
and we had the guest rooms,
et cetera, et cetera,

00:37:04.917 --> 00:37:08.166
and because of the
fact that tried

00:37:08.333 --> 00:37:09.458
to let everybody
have a water view,

00:37:09.625 --> 00:37:11.999
it\'s very sprawling.

00:37:11.999 --> 00:37:13.667
You know, it just
has a sprawling look.

00:37:13.834 --> 00:37:15.999
That part was overwhelming,
to drive up and say,

00:37:15.999 --> 00:37:18.542
\"Oh my goodness.\"

00:37:18.709 --> 00:37:20.083
And the embarrassing part is
when other people drive up

00:37:20.250 --> 00:37:23.250
and say, you know,
I love to hear

00:37:23.417 --> 00:37:25.041
that they think the
house is pretty,

00:37:25.208 --> 00:37:26.792
but I\'m also embarrassed.

00:37:26.959 --> 00:37:28.542
I didn\'t want it to come
out to be this show house.

00:37:28.709 --> 00:37:31.208
That wasn\'t the intention.

00:37:31.375 --> 00:37:33.542
And so if it\'s gonna
appear that way to people,

00:37:33.709 --> 00:37:36.999
I\'m gonna be
embarrassed by that.

00:37:37.083 --> 00:37:38.709
- Embarrassed of what?

00:37:38.875 --> 00:37:39.792
Embarrassed--

00:37:39.959 --> 00:37:40.999
- [Woman] That I have
more than other people.

00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:44.792
I feel bad that there\'s
a guy putting a fence up,

00:37:44.959 --> 00:37:46.999
and why can\'t he have this, too?

00:37:49.667 --> 00:37:50.917
It\'s very hard for
me to wrap my head

00:37:50.999 --> 00:37:53.709
around the fact that

00:37:55.999 --> 00:37:58.709
someone who has already been
so blessed can also have this.

00:38:02.917 --> 00:38:03.999
- It\'s the way
that you said that,

00:38:03.999 --> 00:38:04.959
I get a little bit emotional.

00:38:04.999 --> 00:38:05.875
- [Woman] Yeah, I do, too.

00:38:05.999 --> 00:38:07.250
I mean, I don\'t tend to be
a crier, but I almost cried.

00:38:07.417 --> 00:38:08.999
(woman laughs)

00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:10.583
- To think that we
can deserve to have

00:38:10.750 --> 00:38:12.500
what we want
- I know, I know.

00:38:12.667 --> 00:38:14.500
(woman sighs)

00:38:14.667 --> 00:38:16.917
We\'ve had some very serious
illness in the family.

00:38:16.999 --> 00:38:20.999
I don\'t know how many summers

00:38:20.999 --> 00:38:23.291
this particular
person is gonna have.

00:38:23.458 --> 00:38:25.999
If we have the misfortune to
lose this person too early,

00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:29.208
that this house will be here,

00:38:29.375 --> 00:38:30.834
and it\'s something
that he built for us,

00:38:30.999 --> 00:38:33.291
and that he built for
his children, a monument.

00:38:37.208 --> 00:38:38.999
- It\'s your husband?

00:38:39.083 --> 00:38:40.458
(woman grunts)

00:38:40.625 --> 00:38:43.125
- [Woman] This house
was very important

00:38:43.291 --> 00:38:44.583
to us for that reason.

00:38:46.375 --> 00:38:49.999
- Well, not only did
she not have fangs,

00:38:49.999 --> 00:38:51.999
she was a really nice woman

00:38:51.999 --> 00:38:54.875
with a lot of feelings.

00:38:54.999 --> 00:38:56.959
It\'s all relative, man.

00:38:56.999 --> 00:38:58.208
Now to those black
Brazilians, looking at me

00:38:58.375 --> 00:39:00.667
dressed like this, showing
up on a Saturday morning

00:39:00.834 --> 00:39:02.999
without a tool belt on, with
a camera, I\'m privileged.

00:39:03.125 --> 00:39:06.375
I must come from
a rich background.

00:39:06.542 --> 00:39:07.709
I must be taken care
of, how nice it must be.

00:39:12.625 --> 00:39:17.625
- I like old houses.

00:39:17.792 --> 00:39:18.999
I had been looking for an old
farmhouse and was thrilled

00:39:19.125 --> 00:39:21.625
to find one that was
actually on the ocean.

00:39:21.792 --> 00:39:23.250
And not only that,
but the people

00:39:23.417 --> 00:39:24.999
who owned his house had
sort of left it pristine.

00:39:25.083 --> 00:39:28.375
It\'s one of the original homes
in Chilmark, built in 1707.

00:39:32.583 --> 00:39:33.417
In fact, I have, up here,

00:39:33.583 --> 00:39:34.750
the list of everyone\'s
who\'s ever lived here.

00:39:34.917 --> 00:39:37.792
This was the house as
it was originally built.

00:39:37.959 --> 00:39:40.542
I just completed a pretty
major renovation of this house.

00:39:40.709 --> 00:39:43.999
Probably the thing I\'m
most proud of is that

00:39:44.083 --> 00:39:45.999
from the outside you can\'t
even tell anything was done.

00:39:45.999 --> 00:39:48.417
It seemed criminal of me to
tear down a 300-year-old house

00:39:48.583 --> 00:39:51.208
that\'s in good shape, but so
many neighbors came over to me

00:39:55.417 --> 00:39:56.999
and were like, \"Thank you
for not tearing this down,

00:39:56.999 --> 00:39:58.417
\"for preserving this house.\"

00:39:58.583 --> 00:40:00.583
(gentle music)

00:40:00.750 --> 00:40:02.999
Right when I got the place,
I was so excited to be here.

00:40:02.999 --> 00:40:05.750
I grew up having a pool.

00:40:05.917 --> 00:40:06.999
I was like, where
do I put the pool?

00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:08.542
Where do I put the tennis court?

00:40:08.709 --> 00:40:11.375
And started thinking
along those ways,

00:40:11.542 --> 00:40:13.458
and then a neighbor
who was walking by

00:40:13.625 --> 00:40:15.959
and happened to see
me out in the garden,

00:40:15.999 --> 00:40:18.208
starting to dig up
the soil a little bit,

00:40:18.375 --> 00:40:19.959
and she came over and
introduced herself

00:40:19.999 --> 00:40:21.917
and said, \"I hope you\'re not
gonna be putting fertilizer

00:40:21.999 --> 00:40:25.250
\"in that garden.\"

00:40:25.417 --> 00:40:26.792
I said, \"What are
you talking about?\"

00:40:26.959 --> 00:40:27.999
And she said, \"Well, you
know, whatever you put

00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:29.625
\"in your garden\'s gonna
go right into the water.\"

00:40:29.792 --> 00:40:32.417
And I didn\'t find
that intrusive at all.

00:40:32.583 --> 00:40:33.999
I was like, okay, I started
to sort of understand.

00:40:34.125 --> 00:40:36.333
I\'m living in a place
that\'s a community.

00:40:36.500 --> 00:40:38.667
That sense of community
starts to become the appeal

00:40:38.834 --> 00:40:40.542
of this place, the fact that
you do know your neighbors,

00:40:40.709 --> 00:40:42.999
and it is a shared
kind of experience here

00:40:42.999 --> 00:40:45.999
and that we...we\'re not
living behind tall hedges.

00:40:49.999 --> 00:40:51.875
I just started understanding
a different way of life.

00:40:55.999 --> 00:40:57.291
Like, I have the world\'s
biggest pool right there.

00:41:01.083 --> 00:41:02.625
People have been living
this way for a long time

00:41:02.792 --> 00:41:04.166
and let me try to understand
how it works here,

00:41:04.333 --> 00:41:07.291
and then I came to
fall in love with it.

00:41:10.709 --> 00:41:13.000
- Come on, you\'ve
got to be kidding me.

00:41:17.999 --> 00:41:22.999
Look at this little finger.

00:41:26.291 --> 00:41:31.291
- It\'s amazing.

00:41:33.083 --> 00:41:34.166
- [Thomas] Are you happy?

00:41:34.333 --> 00:41:35.667
- Yeah.

00:41:38.542 --> 00:41:43.542
- [Thomas] What do you
think makes a house a home?

00:41:43.709 --> 00:41:47.250
- Dishes with fingerprints.

00:41:49.583 --> 00:41:50.999
- [Thomas] Mollie loved
the little cottage

00:41:51.041 --> 00:41:52.542
that she moved into with me.

00:41:52.709 --> 00:41:54.000
But as soon as we
became pregnant,

00:41:54.166 --> 00:41:55.999
she said \"it\'s not big enough\".

00:41:56.083 --> 00:41:58.500
And that freaked me out.

00:41:58.667 --> 00:42:00.999
- It\'s not recording, is it?

00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:02.834
- [Thomas] I don\'t
need a big house.

00:42:02.999 --> 00:42:03.999
- [Mollie] The red
light\'s not on.

00:42:04.041 --> 00:42:05.166
- [Thomas] We can
put a little basinet

00:42:05.333 --> 00:42:06.083
in the bathtub if we need to.

00:42:06.250 --> 00:42:07.125
I mean, we can make it work.

00:42:07.291 --> 00:42:09.750
It was clear that she
wanted something bigger

00:42:09.917 --> 00:42:11.458
than a cottage, and you know,
to be truthful, so did I.

00:42:11.625 --> 00:42:14.709
I just didn\'t know how
it was gonna happen,

00:42:14.875 --> 00:42:16.291
so I never let myself want that,

00:42:16.458 --> 00:42:18.542
because I didn\'t have
the funds for it.

00:42:18.709 --> 00:42:20.999
So I just kind of turned
those needs or desires off.

00:42:20.999 --> 00:42:24.625
Once we came to the
fact that we wanted

00:42:24.792 --> 00:42:25.959
to have a bigger
house, I had to really,

00:42:25.999 --> 00:42:28.458
yeah I had to do battle
with those feelings.

00:42:31.959 --> 00:42:33.041
This is the house you
built in Chilmark.

00:42:33.208 --> 00:42:35.959
And I brought the photo,
because I wanted to ask you,

00:42:35.999 --> 00:42:39.375
you know, you see the
scale of the neighbors,

00:42:39.542 --> 00:42:41.999
many of whom were up
in arms, of course.

00:42:41.999 --> 00:42:43.999
- It looks good (laughs).

00:42:43.999 --> 00:42:46.999
- This is bigger than
these other houses

00:42:46.999 --> 00:42:49.999
that have not been redeveloped
yet, but they will.

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:53.083
- As far as I understand,
zoning is to preserve the spirit

00:42:53.250 --> 00:42:55.750
of community, and it\'s for
each community to decide

00:42:55.917 --> 00:42:58.792
what that spirit or, you know--

00:42:58.959 --> 00:43:01.834
- Yeah.

00:43:01.999 --> 00:43:02.625
- What that feeling is.

00:43:02.792 --> 00:43:03.917
So tell me, if there
were 15 of those,

00:43:03.999 --> 00:43:06.917
would that change the feel?

00:43:06.999 --> 00:43:09.041
- There will be, at some
point, but very slowly.

00:43:09.208 --> 00:43:13.000
You know, this is interesting.

00:43:13.166 --> 00:43:14.834
This is in Aquinnah, on a
huge piece of land, right?

00:43:14.999 --> 00:43:18.166
- [Thomas] Mm-hmm.

00:43:19.792 --> 00:43:20.625
- Where would you rather live?

00:43:20.792 --> 00:43:23.041
I mean, I could make a
case for one of these homes

00:43:27.250 --> 00:43:28.333
in my overall
spectrum of how I live

00:43:28.500 --> 00:43:31.542
and what makes me
feel comfortable

00:43:31.709 --> 00:43:33.166
and what stresses me out.

00:43:33.333 --> 00:43:35.083
I would be much more comfortable
in one of these homes

00:43:35.250 --> 00:43:37.999
than I would be in one of those.

00:43:38.125 --> 00:43:39.667
So I actually don\'t want to
live that way, but that\'s me.

00:43:43.875 --> 00:43:44.999
You don\'t want to
live that way, right?

00:43:44.999 --> 00:43:46.999
- [Thomas] Right.

00:43:47.083 --> 00:43:47.999
- There\'s no jealousy here.

00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:49.166
There\'s no, like, oh
poor, these people.

00:43:49.333 --> 00:43:50.792
Oh wow, those lucky people.

00:43:50.959 --> 00:43:53.291
That is not good fortune to me.

00:43:56.333 --> 00:43:57.999
- Good job.

00:43:58.999 --> 00:44:01.417
- [Thomas] What are
you looking for?

00:44:01.583 --> 00:44:02.709
- For sassafras, so we
can have sassafras tea.

00:44:06.208 --> 00:44:07.792
(children laugh)

00:44:07.959 --> 00:44:09.917
That\'s running backwards.

00:44:09.999 --> 00:44:11.667
Don\'t worry, Nanauwe,
if we don\'t find it...

00:44:11.834 --> 00:44:14.750
- I love being out here
where my ancestors lived

00:44:18.959 --> 00:44:19.625
for thousands of years.

00:44:21.166 --> 00:44:22.834
That\'s one of the main
reasons why I chose

00:44:22.999 --> 00:44:25.417
to basically move outside,
just to have that connection.

00:44:29.625 --> 00:44:32.417
We are getting ready for Fall.

00:44:32.583 --> 00:44:33.709
We put our wood stove
in here and whatnot.

00:44:33.875 --> 00:44:37.000
And we\'re gonna put the
rain cap on and all.

00:44:40.834 --> 00:44:43.792
If you wanted to try this,
just laying on the bed

00:44:43.959 --> 00:44:46.250
and looking up at the
structure just going on,

00:44:46.417 --> 00:44:48.375
it\'s so beautiful just to--

00:44:48.542 --> 00:44:49.917
- Oh my God.

00:44:49.999 --> 00:44:50.999
- [David] It\'s so different.

00:44:51.083 --> 00:44:52.999
- So your children
sleep up here?

00:44:52.999 --> 00:44:54.999
- That\'s Evan.
- Evan

00:44:54.999 --> 00:44:56.375
and Nanauwe.
- This is Nanauwe\'s.

00:44:56.542 --> 00:44:58.125
And that\'s our bed over there.

00:45:00.750 --> 00:45:04.917
- The skin of the root has a lot

00:45:07.500 --> 00:45:08.667
of flavor in it as well.

00:45:08.834 --> 00:45:10.999
It smells so good.

00:45:10.999 --> 00:45:13.125
- David, did your people
ever own the land?

00:45:13.291 --> 00:45:15.999
- Land ownership
was not a concept

00:45:16.125 --> 00:45:19.375
with my people until
the Europeans came in,

00:45:19.542 --> 00:45:22.792
and actually they divided it up.

00:45:22.959 --> 00:45:25.291
My grandfather actually
owned the original map

00:45:25.458 --> 00:45:28.750
that they divided
Gay Head up in.

00:45:28.917 --> 00:45:31.834
This family lives here.

00:45:31.999 --> 00:45:32.999
This family has that,
and so on and so forth.

00:45:33.041 --> 00:45:36.917
Until that time, it
was a real community

00:45:40.083 --> 00:45:41.125
and community living.

00:45:42.999 --> 00:45:44.667
- Very often, you
know, 17th, 18th,

00:45:44.834 --> 00:45:46.999
even the 19th century is
seen as this kind of quaint,

00:45:46.999 --> 00:45:50.542
distant time that\'s
inconsequential to us today.

00:45:50.709 --> 00:45:54.166
And I don\'t see it
that way at all.

00:45:54.333 --> 00:45:56.999
I mean, I see many of
the ways that we think

00:45:57.083 --> 00:46:00.166
and the way our
society is organized

00:46:00.333 --> 00:46:02.917
as shaped by this very period.

00:46:05.291 --> 00:46:06.875
The map you\'re looking at
right there is from 1871,

00:46:06.999 --> 00:46:10.709
and that\'s when the
State of Massachusetts

00:46:10.875 --> 00:46:14.667
declares the Wampanoags on
the island to be citizens.

00:46:18.875 --> 00:46:20.041
And as part of the (laughs)
gift of citizenship,

00:46:23.625 --> 00:46:24.999
they get the right to be
private property holders,

00:46:25.083 --> 00:46:26.917
which means divvying
up their commons

00:46:26.999 --> 00:46:29.999
into private property tracks,
which they can capitalize

00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:34.999
and which the state can tax.

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:36.375
- [Thomas] And so before
this, if I was a sachem

00:46:36.542 --> 00:46:39.041
of this tribe, we had all
of our land was the commons.

00:46:39.208 --> 00:46:42.333
Is that correct?

00:46:42.500 --> 00:46:43.458
- Yeah, I mean
fundamentally, you know,

00:46:43.625 --> 00:46:44.792
all the fishing spots
are open to everybody.

00:46:44.959 --> 00:46:46.291
The gathering spots
are open to everybody.

00:46:46.458 --> 00:46:48.709
- [Thomas] So all this
property that, 150 years ago,

00:46:48.875 --> 00:46:51.208
was doled out to the Wampanoags,
a lot of it is actually

00:46:51.375 --> 00:46:54.875
in the hands of the
millionaires who want

00:46:54.999 --> 00:46:56.333
to have summer homes there.

00:46:56.500 --> 00:46:57.625
- [David] Right, this
is why they\'ve resisted,

00:46:57.792 --> 00:46:58.999
until the 1870s, divvying it up,

00:47:01.792 --> 00:47:02.999
\'cause they knew
it would happen.

00:47:03.083 --> 00:47:04.250
- [Thomas] \'Cause
once you divide,

00:47:04.417 --> 00:47:05.500
people have individual
pressures to sell,

00:47:05.667 --> 00:47:06.917
because of their own
debt, and there you go.

00:47:06.999 --> 00:47:09.917
- Debt or opportunity, sure.

00:47:09.999 --> 00:47:10.999
- Or opportunity, right.
- That\'s right.

00:47:11.000 --> 00:47:12.542
As the Wampanoags begin
to want more of the goods

00:47:16.750 --> 00:47:17.583
that the English have to offer,

00:47:19.250 --> 00:47:20.500
the Wampanoags are
forced and choose

00:47:20.667 --> 00:47:23.542
to buy more and more things
from English merchants.

00:47:27.750 --> 00:47:29.000
Invariably, they run up more
debts than they can pay.

00:47:29.166 --> 00:47:31.250
And then the merchants
go to the courts

00:47:31.417 --> 00:47:34.417
and call in the debts

00:47:34.583 --> 00:47:36.875
and the courts force the
debtor into servitude.

00:47:40.999 --> 00:47:43.709
And in many cases,
in the 18th century,

00:47:43.875 --> 00:47:47.166
rather than have the
breadwinner of the family forced

00:47:47.333 --> 00:47:49.750
into servitude, Wampanoag
people will sell their kids

00:47:49.917 --> 00:47:53.583
into indentured servitude,

00:47:53.750 --> 00:47:55.875
to the point that, my guess is,

00:47:55.999 --> 00:47:57.917
at any given time,
a third to half

00:47:57.999 --> 00:48:00.083
of Wampanoag children are
living among colonists

00:48:04.166 --> 00:48:05.500
working.

00:48:05.667 --> 00:48:06.999
- [Thomas] Maybe
that\'s the lesson

00:48:07.083 --> 00:48:08.417
for all of us, though,
right, is one of the lessons,

00:48:08.583 --> 00:48:09.999
is, like, native peoples,
they wanted the clothes...

00:48:10.083 --> 00:48:13.667
- [David] Manufactured clothing.

00:48:13.834 --> 00:48:14.750
That\'s right.

00:48:14.917 --> 00:48:16.083
- [Thomas] And the cost might
appear to be what they pay

00:48:16.250 --> 00:48:17.750
on paper, and then there\'s
a whole other cost.

00:48:17.917 --> 00:48:20.417
(somber music)

00:48:20.583 --> 00:48:22.125
(helicopter whirs)

00:48:22.291 --> 00:48:24.166
(solemn music)

00:48:31.750 --> 00:48:36.750
- Witness the Schifter house.

00:48:36.917 --> 00:48:38.999
It\'s a classic example
of putting a house

00:48:38.999 --> 00:48:40.834
where there shouldn\'t
have been a house.

00:48:40.999 --> 00:48:43.999
His house is either
going in the drink,

00:48:44.083 --> 00:48:45.583
or he has to move it.

00:48:47.291 --> 00:48:48.999
For 500 years, people
didn\'t build houses there,

00:48:48.999 --> 00:48:51.291
because it didn\'t
really make any sense.

00:48:51.458 --> 00:48:54.917
- I would like to know
what these people feel like

00:48:54.999 --> 00:48:57.166
when they come here
and they look at this,

00:48:57.333 --> 00:48:58.709
\'cause I have a pit in
my stomach right now.

00:48:58.875 --> 00:49:01.999
(solemn music)

00:49:02.125 --> 00:49:04.875
There it is.

00:49:04.999 --> 00:49:06.291
There\'s the house.

00:49:06.458 --> 00:49:07.417
There\'s the trench.

00:49:07.583 --> 00:49:08.583
See those railroad ties?
- [Tobias] Yeah.

00:49:08.750 --> 00:49:09.999
- They\'re just drag it
along to its new location.

00:49:10.083 --> 00:49:12.458
- He bought the neighboring
property for 4.5 million,

00:49:12.625 --> 00:49:15.291
moved the house that was on that

00:49:15.458 --> 00:49:16.999
and then is moving this house
to where the old house was.

00:49:17.125 --> 00:49:19.999
But it\'s only going
275 feet back.

00:49:19.999 --> 00:49:22.999
It\'s not like the
ocean, if it wants it,

00:49:23.125 --> 00:49:24.999
isn\'t gonna come and
just grab it again.

00:49:25.083 --> 00:49:27.166
(solemn music)

00:49:27.333 --> 00:49:30.583
- In the Schifter case,
they met all the rules,

00:49:30.750 --> 00:49:32.999
and they got their permits,
and they built their house.

00:49:33.041 --> 00:49:35.417
Maybe that was a case where
somebody should\'ve said,

00:49:35.583 --> 00:49:37.333
\"You know, this is a dumb idea.

00:49:37.500 --> 00:49:39.959
\"The bank is moving.\"

00:49:39.999 --> 00:49:41.667
(solemn music)

00:49:47.667 --> 00:49:52.667
- I\'m shocked.

00:49:52.834 --> 00:49:53.458
This is huge.

00:49:54.542 --> 00:49:55.375
This is crazy.

00:49:56.583 --> 00:49:58.291
- It is crazy.

00:49:58.458 --> 00:49:59.875
He needs to change his plan,
and he\'s refusing to change it.

00:49:59.999 --> 00:50:03.542
The idea that you want
to move the whole house,

00:50:03.709 --> 00:50:05.667
basement, everything,
just seems silly.

00:50:05.834 --> 00:50:09.500
(solemn music)

00:50:13.083 --> 00:50:18.083
- [Thomas] Are you guys
gonna pull it today?

00:50:18.250 --> 00:50:19.750
- What\'s that?

00:50:19.917 --> 00:50:20.959
- [Thomas] You
gonna pull it today?

00:50:20.999 --> 00:50:21.625
- No idea.

00:50:21.792 --> 00:50:22.417
- [Thomas] No idea?

00:50:22.583 --> 00:50:23.208
(solemn music)

00:50:28.667 --> 00:50:33.667
It\'s moving, it\'s moving.

00:50:35.792 --> 00:50:36.625
Yup.

00:50:36.792 --> 00:50:38.166
(solemn music)

00:50:40.875 --> 00:50:45.125
- As I\'m standing here,
and I\'m looking at this.

00:50:45.291 --> 00:50:47.041
It feels like taking
from the land more

00:50:47.208 --> 00:50:51.041
than what you need
the land to give you.

00:50:51.208 --> 00:50:53.917
(solemn music)

00:50:56.291 --> 00:50:58.250
This isn\'t just
the owner\'s fault.

00:50:58.417 --> 00:51:01.083
It\'s the community
not stepping in

00:51:01.250 --> 00:51:03.709
and putting the brakes on,
saying, \"Wait a second.

00:51:07.917 --> 00:51:08.834
\"Is this right?\"

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:13.250
Somebody forgot to
pump the brakes.

00:51:16.166 --> 00:51:17.375
- The mindset of private
property has become,

00:51:17.542 --> 00:51:21.417
I call it hegemonic.

00:51:21.583 --> 00:51:22.959
And when I say
hegemonic, I mean,

00:51:22.999 --> 00:51:24.709
it\'s become so ingrained

00:51:24.875 --> 00:51:26.542
that we don\'t even think about
it critically what it means

00:51:26.709 --> 00:51:30.125
to live in a regime like that.

00:51:30.291 --> 00:51:31.999
We just assume this is the
natural order of things.

00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:34.583
It\'s not the natural
order of things.

00:51:34.750 --> 00:51:36.083
It wasn\'t the Wampanoag
order of things.

00:51:36.250 --> 00:51:38.834
- What do you
think of the pearls

00:51:38.999 --> 00:51:39.999
that we could grab from
indigenous peoples,

00:51:40.041 --> 00:51:42.291
from the Wampanoag
people, to bring forward.

00:51:42.458 --> 00:51:44.999
- I hope I don\'t
leave the impression

00:51:45.083 --> 00:51:46.667
that this is some kind
of hippie commune.

00:51:46.834 --> 00:51:48.875
Native America before
Europeans arrived is

00:51:51.500 --> 00:51:52.208
a deeply violent place.

00:51:53.250 --> 00:51:54.125
So I don\'t want to romanticize--

00:51:54.333 --> 00:51:55.083
- No.
- I don\'t want

00:51:55.250 --> 00:51:56.083
to romanticize it at all.

00:51:57.125 --> 00:51:58.667
I actually think the best
model for how you resist

00:51:58.834 --> 00:52:00.917
that regime comes from
within the regime.

00:52:00.999 --> 00:52:03.291
And one of the legacies of
Puritan and English colonialism

00:52:07.500 --> 00:52:09.834
in New England is
the town meeting.

00:52:09.999 --> 00:52:11.834
We have an institutional
structure designed

00:52:11.999 --> 00:52:14.999
to allow communities
to get together

00:52:14.999 --> 00:52:17.709
and decide what the boundaries
of individual rights are.

00:52:17.875 --> 00:52:20.999
The only thing that
gives little people power

00:52:21.041 --> 00:52:23.959
in a democratic system is
the power of their vote.

00:52:23.999 --> 00:52:27.999
People always talk about
rights being given.

00:52:28.000 --> 00:52:29.417
Rights are never given.

00:52:29.583 --> 00:52:31.999
Rights are seized.

00:52:32.041 --> 00:52:33.667
They\'re demanded.

00:52:33.834 --> 00:52:35.750
It requires people to
organize and to fight.

00:52:39.959 --> 00:52:40.999
(bird tweets)

00:52:41.083 --> 00:52:42.917
- Well, we can\'t
put a 7-Eleven here.

00:52:42.999 --> 00:52:44.166
We can\'t do many
things commercially.

00:52:44.333 --> 00:52:46.208
But residentially we
have this wide open,

00:52:46.375 --> 00:52:47.999
every man is his own country,

00:52:48.083 --> 00:52:49.375
you can\'t tell him what
to do on his property.

00:52:49.542 --> 00:52:52.500
So I think we should
challenge that.

00:52:52.667 --> 00:52:53.999
That\'s why I\'m here.

00:52:53.999 --> 00:52:54.917
I think that\'s kind of crazy.

00:52:54.999 --> 00:52:55.917
- In a certain way, I think some

00:52:55.999 --> 00:52:58.166
of the old Chilmarkers might
be the more resistant people

00:52:58.333 --> 00:53:00.999
because of just that
deep, kind of independence

00:53:01.125 --> 00:53:04.500
of, like, well, I don\'t want
somebody telling me what to do,

00:53:04.667 --> 00:53:07.333
and I feel uncomfortable telling
somebody else what to do.

00:53:07.500 --> 00:53:10.875
- One simple solution is size
limits in gradual increments.

00:53:14.999 --> 00:53:16.000
Anything over 2,000
square feet maybe needs

00:53:16.166 --> 00:53:18.458
to have a conservation measures.

00:53:18.625 --> 00:53:20.999
And then if you get
to 3,500 square feet,

00:53:21.125 --> 00:53:22.999
maybe some other
measures kick in.

00:53:22.999 --> 00:53:24.834
Right now, there\'s nothing.

00:53:24.999 --> 00:53:26.250
- I personally feel as
though we shouldn\'t do,

00:53:26.417 --> 00:53:28.208
be less than 5,000 square feet,

00:53:28.375 --> 00:53:30.667
or we\'re gonna be
putting a hurting

00:53:30.834 --> 00:53:31.999
on our real estate market.

00:53:32.041 --> 00:53:33.999
- I start 2,000.

00:53:33.999 --> 00:53:34.999
You say 5,000.

00:53:35.083 --> 00:53:36.542
What\'s the number that we
all, at this table, agree on

00:53:36.709 --> 00:53:38.625
for the trigger point?

00:53:38.792 --> 00:53:39.917
- If we say 2,000 square feet,

00:53:39.999 --> 00:53:41.959
I think most people
would vote against it.

00:53:41.999 --> 00:53:45.750
- So the question is, see,
can we come to some kind

00:53:45.917 --> 00:53:47.667
of consensus that we all agree
on and vote this thing in.

00:53:47.834 --> 00:53:50.583
- It\'s naive to think

00:53:50.750 --> 00:53:51.959
that you could get 10
signatures, present it

00:53:51.999 --> 00:53:54.083
to the selectmen and
then go to a town meeting

00:53:54.250 --> 00:53:56.834
and get a two-thirds vote
at an annual town meeting.

00:53:56.999 --> 00:53:59.999
You have to build a community
of people who agrees with you.

00:54:00.125 --> 00:54:03.959
And so here\'s a small community,

00:54:03.999 --> 00:54:06.333
and we kind of agree with it.

00:54:06.500 --> 00:54:08.999
- Kind of, really?

00:54:08.999 --> 00:54:10.417
- Well, everybody\'s got their
own take on what\'s important.

00:54:10.583 --> 00:54:13.000
So it\'s not as simple as,
\"Gee we\'ll just get some

00:54:13.166 --> 00:54:16.250
signatures and get
it to the selectmen\"

00:54:16.417 --> 00:54:18.917
because I think you\'d have
it forced down your throat

00:54:18.999 --> 00:54:20.999
at the town meeting.

00:54:20.999 --> 00:54:22.792
We need to do the
homework piece.

00:54:22.959 --> 00:54:25.417
- Well, I\'m
disappointed, I must say.

00:54:25.583 --> 00:54:26.834
I was hoping we could
all come together

00:54:26.999 --> 00:54:27.999
and start working on something,

00:54:28.041 --> 00:54:29.166
and by November 14th,
present it to the town.

00:54:29.333 --> 00:54:32.667
- I think that you should
ignore that deadline totally.

00:54:32.834 --> 00:54:35.500
I think you should be
thinking next November 14th.

00:54:35.667 --> 00:54:38.083
- Absolutely.

00:54:38.250 --> 00:54:39.375
- [Chris] You have
to build a consensus

00:54:39.542 --> 00:54:40.166
from the ground up.

00:54:40.333 --> 00:54:41.750
And you\'re not there.

00:54:41.917 --> 00:54:44.125
(gentle music)

00:55:04.625 --> 00:55:09.625
- [Thomas] Mollie bought
a house that was built

00:55:09.792 --> 00:55:11.959
in like the late 1700s, and
it came with an old barn

00:55:11.999 --> 00:55:15.999
and an old chicken coop.

00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:18.458
Mollie had an inheritance
that allowed her to do this.

00:55:18.625 --> 00:55:20.999
It had a budget.

00:55:21.041 --> 00:55:21.917
It wasn\'t open-ended.

00:55:21.999 --> 00:55:23.333
But that was, for me,
believe it or not,

00:55:27.542 --> 00:55:28.208
very hard to accept.

00:55:28.375 --> 00:55:29.417
I felt like I
wasn\'t being a man.

00:55:29.583 --> 00:55:31.999
(birds chirp)

00:55:31.999 --> 00:55:34.250
This old home was so beautiful.

00:55:34.417 --> 00:55:36.999
It was the kind of house
that I would look at,

00:55:37.041 --> 00:55:38.375
and it looked perfect,
but upon walking inside

00:55:38.542 --> 00:55:42.542
and starting to look
at the structure,

00:55:42.709 --> 00:55:44.291
it was obvious that it
might have to come down.

00:55:44.458 --> 00:55:47.417
The floor joists are
right on the dirt.

00:55:47.583 --> 00:55:50.999
And they\'re pretty
rotted, pretty rotted out.

00:55:54.999 --> 00:55:56.083
But for me, I had this
kind of old-school thing

00:55:56.250 --> 00:55:58.500
that if I could save it,
if I could go in there

00:55:58.667 --> 00:56:00.917
and with my bare hands and my
sweat figure a way to save it,

00:56:00.999 --> 00:56:04.083
then I would be putting
my money\'s worth,

00:56:04.250 --> 00:56:06.000
my half, into this house.

00:56:08.125 --> 00:56:11.166
- Oh my God.

00:56:12.166 --> 00:56:13.667
It\'s incredible.

00:56:14.999 --> 00:56:15.959
Holy shit!

00:56:16.750 --> 00:56:20.667
- [Thomas] What do you think?

00:56:22.999 --> 00:56:24.166
- This is gonna be
an amazing room.

00:56:24.333 --> 00:56:25.458
- [Thomas] You think?

00:56:25.625 --> 00:56:26.583
- What do you think?

00:56:26.750 --> 00:56:28.000
Or are you totally not into it?

00:56:28.166 --> 00:56:29.333
- [Thomas] No, I\'m into it.

00:56:29.500 --> 00:56:30.875
Look at what I did.

00:56:30.999 --> 00:56:31.792
I mean, I\'m totally into it.

00:56:31.959 --> 00:56:33.375
Beautiful wood, it
could use some cleaning.

00:56:33.542 --> 00:56:36.625
- [Mollie] Yeah.

00:56:37.999 --> 00:56:39.000
- [Thomas] People just
kept coming and saying,

00:56:39.166 --> 00:56:40.291
\"You can\'t save this,\"
but I kept on trying

00:56:40.458 --> 00:56:41.999
to find someone that could
show me how we could save it.

00:56:46.125 --> 00:56:46.999
- Thomas.

00:56:47.875 --> 00:56:52.250
It\'s amazing that\'s
this thing still stands.

00:56:52.417 --> 00:56:54.250
- I know.
- It is.

00:56:54.417 --> 00:56:56.417
- The ridge board as a main
roof frame is still useful.

00:57:00.625 --> 00:57:01.999
- See that, that\'s the bark
is still on it, which is bad.

00:57:02.083 --> 00:57:04.667
Any time you have
bark on a beam,

00:57:04.834 --> 00:57:06.999
bugs are gonna get in between
it and chew it right up.

00:57:06.999 --> 00:57:09.083
- The point is, there really
isn\'t anything structurally

00:57:09.250 --> 00:57:12.709
here that\'s of any value.

00:57:12.875 --> 00:57:14.542
- [Mollie] Right.

00:57:14.709 --> 00:57:15.834
- I mean, the old
hand-hewn beams

00:57:15.999 --> 00:57:17.166
are just a lot of fluff.

00:57:19.458 --> 00:57:21.041
I really don\'t think that
you could save it as a house.

00:57:25.250 --> 00:57:28.917
- The typical person
who builds big,

00:57:28.999 --> 00:57:31.542
buys a property that
already has a house on it,

00:57:31.709 --> 00:57:33.792
takes that house down,
because it doesn\'t suit them

00:57:33.959 --> 00:57:36.458
on any level.

00:57:36.625 --> 00:57:37.709
It just has nothing
to do with them.

00:57:37.875 --> 00:57:39.792
They don\'t want a house that
has nothing to do with them.

00:57:41.875 --> 00:57:43.125
So let\'s say the little
house was 3,500 square feet,

00:57:43.291 --> 00:57:45.583
and they build
10,000 square feet,

00:57:48.375 --> 00:57:51.125
I don\'t see that as a problem.

00:57:51.291 --> 00:57:53.625
I don\'t see it changing
the Vineyard community.

00:57:53.792 --> 00:57:56.333
I see it as an improvement
(laughs), to be honest.

00:57:56.500 --> 00:57:58.583
- [Thomas] When I see that,

00:57:58.750 --> 00:57:59.999
I think, \"Only
three months a year?

00:57:59.999 --> 00:58:02.250
\"Well, why would you build
such a big house then?\"

00:58:02.417 --> 00:58:04.333
- So if you were to make an
effort that precluded this home

00:58:08.542 --> 00:58:09.709
from being built, at
the scale it was built,

00:58:09.875 --> 00:58:12.375
there\'d be some level of
satisfaction then that

00:58:12.542 --> 00:58:15.500
that was a positive effect
for the overall island,

00:58:19.709 --> 00:58:21.000
that this house was
built somewhat smaller,

00:58:25.208 --> 00:58:26.417
\'cause it\'s still gonna
be a new house, right,

00:58:26.583 --> 00:58:28.041
and it\'s still gonna
be a tear-down, very
likely condition.

00:58:28.208 --> 00:58:30.792
So you\'re working
in the margins.

00:58:30.959 --> 00:58:32.583
Could it be a little bit better?

00:58:32.750 --> 00:58:35.542
Maybe.

00:58:35.709 --> 00:58:36.875
Is it at the expense
of ruffling feathers

00:58:36.999 --> 00:58:39.709
and invasion of
the private rights

00:58:39.875 --> 00:58:43.208
of a real estate transaction?

00:58:43.375 --> 00:58:46.458
Is it worth it?

00:58:46.625 --> 00:58:47.999
Maybe, to some people.

00:58:49.917 --> 00:58:50.999
But I wouldn\'t be
obsessed with it.

00:58:51.083 --> 00:58:52.999
- I think I have
bordered on obsessed.

00:58:53.041 --> 00:58:54.542
And I\'m actually excited
one day to finish the film

00:58:54.709 --> 00:58:56.667
and move on with my life,

00:58:56.834 --> 00:58:58.166
\'cause this has
taken so much energy.

00:59:01.250 --> 00:59:04.709
If I were a person who was going

00:59:04.875 --> 00:59:06.625
to build a 10,000-square-foot
home, what would you want

00:59:06.792 --> 00:59:08.750
to tell me in the vein
of being reasonable?

00:59:08.917 --> 00:59:11.125
- Why don\'t look around

00:59:11.291 --> 00:59:12.250
at what the community\'s
really about?

00:59:12.417 --> 00:59:14.083
Look at the style of
architecture, look at the scale

00:59:14.250 --> 00:59:17.000
of structures and
rethink your plans.

00:59:17.166 --> 00:59:20.792
- What could we put into
effect now, you think,

00:59:20.959 --> 00:59:22.417
to help preserve
what we do have left

00:59:22.583 --> 00:59:25.000
as far as community?

00:59:25.166 --> 00:59:26.667
- I don\'t know if you can
put anything into effect.

00:59:26.834 --> 00:59:29.375
I mean, think how the Native
American must have felt,

00:59:29.542 --> 00:59:31.999
once he saw a house going up.

00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:34.417
It\'s just progression.

00:59:36.208 --> 00:59:37.750
Either we\'re in America, or
we\'re not in America (laughs).

00:59:37.917 --> 00:59:39.999
And I think we\'re
part of America.

00:59:39.999 --> 00:59:41.999
Although, some of
us hate to admit it.

00:59:42.125 --> 00:59:45.417
- [Thomas] And
America means freedom

00:59:45.583 --> 00:59:46.417
to build whatever you want.

00:59:46.583 --> 00:59:47.875
- Not whatever you want.

00:59:47.999 --> 00:59:48.999
Whatever you can
do within reason.

00:59:49.083 --> 00:59:50.583
If you follow the law, I think
you have a right to do that.

00:59:50.750 --> 00:59:53.999
- So what would you want to say

00:59:53.999 --> 00:59:55.250
to a guy like me who
actually does want

00:59:55.417 --> 00:59:56.999
to have a good effect
on my community?

00:59:57.083 --> 00:59:59.041
- Don\'t build.

01:00:00.250 --> 01:00:02.208
Different, huh?

01:00:03.542 --> 01:00:05.041
You want me to tell
somebody else not to build,

01:00:05.208 --> 01:00:07.875
but you want to
be able to build.

01:00:07.999 --> 01:00:10.458
You\'ve got to have
some compromise.

01:00:10.625 --> 01:00:12.917
(motor purrs)

01:00:15.291 --> 01:00:18.250
- [Thomas] The decision to tear

01:00:18.417 --> 01:00:19.500
that house down was
not an easy one.

01:00:19.667 --> 01:00:21.999
I felt like I was
doing something wrong.

01:00:21.999 --> 01:00:24.041
I had one of my friends hang
up on me on the telephone.

01:00:24.208 --> 01:00:25.999
He said, \"You\'ve sold out.\"

01:00:26.041 --> 01:00:27.625
Click.

01:00:28.417 --> 01:00:29.500
♪ And the pillow it spoke

01:00:29.667 --> 01:00:32.834
♪ Said I\'m damp with tears

01:00:32.999 --> 01:00:36.625
♪ That\'s how I know

01:00:39.625 --> 01:00:40.999
♪ That someone
different lies here

01:00:40.999 --> 01:00:44.542
♪ And there are letters unopened

01:00:44.709 --> 01:00:48.542
♪ Across the bedroom floor

01:00:48.709 --> 01:00:51.999
♪ And my ashtray has spoken

01:00:52.000 --> 01:00:55.875
♪ Says I don\'t want to live
here no more, more, more

01:00:55.999 --> 01:00:59.959
♪ I don\'t want to
live here no more

01:01:03.999 --> 01:01:05.166
♪ I don\'t want to
live here no more

01:01:05.333 --> 01:01:08.999
♪ I don\'t want to
live here no more

01:01:13.000 --> 01:01:13.999
♪ I don\'t want to live here

01:01:17.792 --> 01:01:19.333
- What\'s 40 divided
by two, is 20?

01:01:22.125 --> 01:01:23.875
And then the bathroom has
to be somewhat something.

01:01:27.999 --> 01:01:28.999
How big is a bathroom?

01:01:29.125 --> 01:01:31.417
- This whole concept
of building a house

01:01:31.583 --> 01:01:32.999
and hiring an architect,

01:01:32.999 --> 01:01:34.291
no one in my family\'s
ever hired an architect.

01:01:34.458 --> 01:01:36.999
It\'s terrifying.

01:01:36.999 --> 01:01:38.000
(all laugh)

01:01:38.166 --> 01:01:40.125
- How many people really
get to think about

01:01:40.291 --> 01:01:42.999
whether to have gutters or not?

01:01:42.999 --> 01:01:45.583
- [Thomas] So probably
for the first six months

01:01:45.750 --> 01:01:47.999
of meetings with architects,
I wasn\'t even in my body.

01:01:48.000 --> 01:01:50.250
I was just kind
of at the meetings

01:01:50.417 --> 01:01:51.458
and trying not to just flip out.

01:01:51.625 --> 01:01:52.999
- Would you want a house

01:01:53.125 --> 01:01:54.291
where you sleep upstairs
or downstairs, ideally?

01:01:54.458 --> 01:01:56.792
- [Thomas] I felt
like I sold out.

01:01:56.959 --> 01:01:58.041
I felt like what happened
to your principles

01:01:58.208 --> 01:01:59.959
about living simply, and why
do you need to cut down trees

01:01:59.999 --> 01:02:02.083
to put another
structure on this land?

01:02:02.250 --> 01:02:04.500
- How many bedrooms
are you gonna build?

01:02:04.667 --> 01:02:07.625
- I don\'t know, do
you think three?

01:02:07.792 --> 01:02:09.999
(Thomas grunts)

01:02:12.917 --> 01:02:15.750
- Yeah, we\'ve heard
the question a lot.

01:02:15.917 --> 01:02:17.000
What are the impacts?

01:02:17.166 --> 01:02:18.250
Can you tell us what
the impacts are?

01:02:18.417 --> 01:02:19.875
So when I was speaking with
Frank and Peter the other day

01:02:19.999 --> 01:02:21.208
in the parking lot, that\'s
why I invited them to come in,

01:02:21.375 --> 01:02:23.583
because I felt like
they have some real

01:02:23.750 --> 01:02:24.959
concrete impacts.
- Well, I\'m not opposed

01:02:24.999 --> 01:02:28.000
to building big houses,

01:02:28.166 --> 01:02:29.625
but I think that we need to
really look at the situation.

01:02:29.792 --> 01:02:31.999
The bio-diversity
of Martha\'s Vineyard

01:02:31.999 --> 01:02:33.999
is rapidly disappearing.

01:02:33.999 --> 01:02:35.999
I mean, how many
of your children

01:02:35.999 --> 01:02:37.333
or grandchildren have
ever seen a heath hen?

01:02:41.542 --> 01:02:42.041
They\'re history.

01:02:42.208 --> 01:02:42.999
- They are history.

01:02:42.999 --> 01:02:44.250
- How many of your
grandchildren are ever likely

01:02:44.417 --> 01:02:46.542
to see a grouse,
a ruffed grouse?

01:02:46.709 --> 01:02:48.291
- We have.

01:02:48.458 --> 01:02:49.500
Quail.
- 15 years ago,

01:02:49.667 --> 01:02:50.999
we had some in Chilmark,
but they\'re gone now.

01:02:50.999 --> 01:02:53.542
Quail is just about
an endangered species
on the island now.

01:02:53.709 --> 01:02:56.667
So if we\'re not really
careful, they\'re gone.

01:02:56.834 --> 01:02:59.625
And our children and
our grandchildren,

01:02:59.792 --> 01:03:01.542
they\'ll never get a
chance to even know

01:03:01.709 --> 01:03:03.458
that they were there.

01:03:03.625 --> 01:03:05.750
(gentle music)

01:03:13.291 --> 01:03:18.291
- [Thomas] Since
becoming a parent,

01:03:18.458 --> 01:03:19.792
I almost feel like my
language is cliche now.

01:03:19.959 --> 01:03:23.834
I say things like, \"My whole
life has changed forever,\"

01:03:23.999 --> 01:03:26.999
and \"It\'s all about Emma,\"

01:03:26.999 --> 01:03:28.375
and all these kinds of things
that I heard from people

01:03:28.542 --> 01:03:31.834
when I was a young,
traveling guy,

01:03:31.999 --> 01:03:33.959
that I thought sounded so lame.

01:03:33.999 --> 01:03:36.291
What do you mean it\'s
about this child?

01:03:36.458 --> 01:03:37.999
It\'s about you.

01:03:38.041 --> 01:03:39.125
It\'s about you
being who you are.

01:03:39.291 --> 01:03:41.041
Emma!
- She\'s crawling.

01:03:41.208 --> 01:03:43.667
You\'re crawling.

01:03:43.834 --> 01:03:44.917
You figured out
how to crawl today.

01:03:44.999 --> 01:03:47.125
- [Thomas] But now I say
so many of the cliches,

01:03:47.291 --> 01:03:50.333
because they\'re true, you
know, the greatest thing

01:03:50.500 --> 01:03:52.083
that ever happened to me.

01:03:52.250 --> 01:03:53.542
(gentle guitar music)

01:03:56.667 --> 01:04:00.417
(solemn music)

01:04:02.999 --> 01:04:07.875
(man whistles)

01:04:11.500 --> 01:04:16.500
- [Man] Yeah, you got \'er.

01:04:16.667 --> 01:04:17.999
- [All] One, two, three.

01:04:20.417 --> 01:04:25.417
- Now, move that bar out.

01:04:25.583 --> 01:04:27.375
Give it a whack on top.

01:04:28.667 --> 01:04:29.875
(gentle music)

01:04:42.166 --> 01:04:47.166
- So it\'s up here, on
top of this little hill.

01:04:50.999 --> 01:04:53.750
I think the whole
crew\'s here today.

01:04:53.917 --> 01:04:55.709
It\'s 2,300 square feet, but
then we added two lofts,

01:04:55.875 --> 01:04:58.500
so it\'s up to 3,000 square feet,

01:04:58.667 --> 01:05:00.709
which when I heard that
number, I (gulps), I gulped.

01:05:00.875 --> 01:05:03.083
I can\'t even believe it,
it\'s gotten that big.

01:05:03.250 --> 01:05:05.667
- [Camera Operator] You sure
you want this to still be

01:05:05.834 --> 01:05:07.125
on camera? Should we just
film your hands and your feet

01:05:07.291 --> 01:05:09.291
from now on?

01:05:09.458 --> 01:05:10.458
- Yeah, right, right.

01:05:12.000 --> 01:05:12.999
But can you imagine that.

01:05:13.000 --> 01:05:14.083
I just said the
same thing she said

01:05:15.041 --> 01:05:16.250
\"I didn\'t think it
would be this big.\"

01:05:16.417 --> 01:05:18.583
- [Camera Operator] Wow.

01:05:19.917 --> 01:05:21.291
- This is it.

01:05:21.458 --> 01:05:22.208
- [Camera Operator] I\'m amazed.

01:05:22.375 --> 01:05:23.083
- This is it.

01:05:23.250 --> 01:05:24.750
Wood stove, some kind of bench
for morning coffee, you know,

01:05:28.750 --> 01:05:29.667
kitchen table.

01:05:30.875 --> 01:05:31.999
I wanted a bedroom that
looked at the trees,

01:05:31.999 --> 01:05:34.999
not just above the living room.

01:05:35.125 --> 01:05:36.834
And I wanted a
good-sized bathtub,

01:05:36.999 --> 01:05:39.083
that I could actually
get my knees wet in.

01:05:39.250 --> 01:05:41.625
We prioritized our wants.

01:05:41.792 --> 01:05:43.500
We got a bunch of them.

01:05:43.667 --> 01:05:45.999
But it is a conflict
inside of me.

01:05:45.999 --> 01:05:48.417
I\'d be lying if
I said it wasn\'t.

01:05:48.583 --> 01:05:51.041
But I\'m not embarrassed at this,

01:05:51.208 --> 01:05:52.875
just self-conscious, like
I\'m a little self-conscious,

01:05:52.999 --> 01:05:56.000
like jeez, I mean, me?

01:05:56.166 --> 01:05:58.166
So would you call
this a trophy home?

01:06:01.291 --> 01:06:02.375
- It depends on the definition.

01:06:02.542 --> 01:06:03.709
I mean, I would say--
- On your definition.

01:06:03.875 --> 01:06:04.999
- My definition.
- Honestly, I\'m just curious.

01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:07.999
- I mean, I would say
it\'s a high-end house.

01:06:07.999 --> 01:06:09.625
It is a high-end house.

01:06:09.792 --> 01:06:10.917
I\'m not gonna say
it\'s a trophy house,

01:06:10.999 --> 01:06:11.999
but it\'s not an
inexpensive, you know,

01:06:12.041 --> 01:06:14.999
for a first home,
it\'s a nice house.

01:06:15.125 --> 01:06:17.208
It\'s a very nice house.

01:06:17.375 --> 01:06:18.999
- [Thomas] Hey, Jeff.

01:06:19.083 --> 01:06:20.250
Do you think this
house is too big?

01:06:22.999 --> 01:06:24.375
Do you think it\'s a trophy home?

01:06:24.542 --> 01:06:26.667
- They\'re all trophy homes.

01:06:26.834 --> 01:06:27.999
- [Thomas] What do you mean?

01:06:27.999 --> 01:06:29.375
- Everyone, everybody\'s house
is a trophy home to them.

01:06:29.542 --> 01:06:32.500
What the heck.

01:06:32.667 --> 01:06:34.458
- [Thomas] So your house
is a trophy home to you?

01:06:34.625 --> 01:06:36.166
- It sure is.

01:06:37.542 --> 01:06:38.792
It\'s the best trophy
I\'ll ever get (laughs).

01:06:38.959 --> 01:06:42.166
I figure you\'re lucky, and
that\'s all that counts.

01:06:42.333 --> 01:06:45.792
What the heck.

01:06:45.959 --> 01:06:47.667
I\'m glad you\'re able to do it.

01:06:47.834 --> 01:06:50.999
You could have done an
entirely different thing, too,

01:06:50.999 --> 01:06:54.999
not nearly as nice.

01:06:56.625 --> 01:06:59.000
- I have to say, like, I, um,

01:07:01.542 --> 01:07:03.999
I got a little emotional
listening to him say that.

01:07:09.834 --> 01:07:14.834
Like, I get to be lucky.

01:07:14.999 --> 01:07:16.333
I don\'t have to struggle
like my grandparents did.

01:07:16.500 --> 01:07:19.083
I don\'t have to struggle
like my parents did.

01:07:19.250 --> 01:07:21.999
Like, I get to be lucky.

01:07:21.999 --> 01:07:23.083
Why not, why can\'t I
get a break, you know?

01:07:23.250 --> 01:07:26.792
My grandparents, they
literally gave their lives.

01:07:26.959 --> 01:07:29.458
They came to America in
their 50s, so their kids

01:07:29.625 --> 01:07:31.583
and grandkids could
have a better life.

01:07:31.750 --> 01:07:33.000
They never spoke the language,
never got a driver\'s license,

01:07:33.166 --> 01:07:35.291
worked in a shoe
factory, you know.

01:07:35.458 --> 01:07:37.625
My grandparent\'s dream
was for us to have more.

01:07:37.792 --> 01:07:41.083
They got their dream, you know.

01:07:41.250 --> 01:07:43.166
And I think about my
grandmother, you know.

01:07:43.333 --> 01:07:44.834
Like, she\'d be so happy for me.

01:07:44.999 --> 01:07:47.750
She\'d be so happy for me.

01:07:59.458 --> 01:08:04.458
I, uh...

01:08:04.625 --> 01:08:05.667
(Thomas sighs)

01:08:08.166 --> 01:08:10.333
To each his own.

01:08:11.709 --> 01:08:14.083
I\'m not gonna get all
worked up about it anymore.

01:08:14.250 --> 01:08:16.750
I think it\'s ridiculous
to have a house this big

01:08:16.917 --> 01:08:19.583
for two months a year,
but fighting to try

01:08:19.750 --> 01:08:23.625
and change other
people\'s behavior isn\'t

01:08:23.792 --> 01:08:25.625
that interesting for me.

01:08:25.792 --> 01:08:27.250
I\'d rather spend
time with my family.

01:08:30.375 --> 01:08:31.291
I\'m done.

01:08:32.083 --> 01:08:33.583
I have better things to focus on

01:08:33.750 --> 01:08:35.709
than the size of
everyone\'s house.

01:08:38.500 --> 01:08:40.834
Emma, you\'re 13 months
old today, 13 months.

01:08:44.999 --> 01:08:46.417
Yeah.

01:08:46.583 --> 01:08:47.709
You were born 13
months ago, today,

01:08:50.999 --> 01:08:51.750
and it\'s our first night

01:08:51.917 --> 01:08:52.999
in the house.

01:08:52.999 --> 01:08:54.667
- You see that,
that\'s you and Daddy.

01:08:54.834 --> 01:08:56.999
(bright music)

01:08:59.625 --> 01:09:01.291
To wake up in our dream
house, it was surreal.

01:09:05.083 --> 01:09:06.625
I just remember feeling like
I had entered a new world,

01:09:10.166 --> 01:09:11.375
I\'m not worried about
moving every six months.

01:09:11.542 --> 01:09:13.999
I have a place.

01:09:14.041 --> 01:09:15.999
It feels different.

01:09:16.083 --> 01:09:18.125
- Very nice outfit you have on.

01:09:18.291 --> 01:09:20.000
That shirt is a little
small these days.

01:09:20.166 --> 01:09:23.625
Can you believe that?

01:09:23.792 --> 01:09:24.999
We used to roll the
sleeves up on that.

01:09:29.125 --> 01:09:31.999
- Happy home.

01:09:31.999 --> 01:09:33.000
Happy home.

01:09:33.166 --> 01:09:34.500
Happy home.

01:09:34.667 --> 01:09:35.999
(gentle music)

01:09:35.999 --> 01:09:38.542
- What\'s changed is that

01:09:38.709 --> 01:09:40.999
I can\'t worry about what
everyone else builds, I can\'t.

01:09:41.125 --> 01:09:43.125
I\'m not gonna be
on planning boards

01:09:43.291 --> 01:09:44.667
I have no interest in that.

01:09:44.834 --> 01:09:45.999
I\'m not gonna be on,
you know, committees

01:09:45.999 --> 01:09:48.999
that oversee that.

01:09:49.041 --> 01:09:50.667
If it gets really bad,
maybe I\'ll do that,

01:09:50.834 --> 01:09:52.709
but right now, I feel strongly
about raising a good family.

01:09:56.917 --> 01:09:58.083
That\'s my priority, to
control someone else\'s, like,

01:09:58.250 --> 01:10:00.375
size of their home, it\'s not.

01:10:02.875 --> 01:10:05.999
Emma, how\'s the horse?

01:10:06.041 --> 01:10:07.709
Giddy up, horse!

01:10:07.875 --> 01:10:08.917
We\'re catching you.

01:10:08.999 --> 01:10:10.917
- [Mollie] We\'re getting closer.

01:10:10.999 --> 01:10:12.750
(gentle music)

01:10:16.667 --> 01:10:21.667
(solemn music)

01:10:27.999 --> 01:10:32.999
- I was clamming one day
with my wife and daughter,

01:10:32.999 --> 01:10:35.000
and I looked up, and it
was a call-to-action.

01:10:39.208 --> 01:10:40.417
It was like if I
don\'t do something,

01:10:40.583 --> 01:10:41.999
what kind of town is my
daughter gonna grow up in?

01:10:45.999 --> 01:10:47.083
I thought I was finished
making this film.

01:10:49.750 --> 01:10:50.999
And I just have to get
footage of this house.

01:10:54.333 --> 01:10:55.208
It\'s ridiculous.

01:10:56.625 --> 01:10:58.542
It\'s probably 15,000 square
feet, and it\'s right on a pond.

01:11:02.792 --> 01:11:03.291
(solemn music)

01:11:05.375 --> 01:11:08.917
Garage,

01:11:09.709 --> 01:11:11.291
guest house,

01:11:12.291 --> 01:11:14.625
main house.

01:11:15.500 --> 01:11:17.375
Someone\'s right here.

01:11:19.083 --> 01:11:20.333
- [Driver] Do you
live around here?

01:11:20.500 --> 01:11:21.250
- [Thomas] I do, very close.

01:11:21.417 --> 01:11:22.542
- Okay, well, we\'ve
got your license plate

01:11:22.709 --> 01:11:24.125
and your car number, so--

01:11:24.291 --> 01:11:25.625
- No, that\'s great.
- I hope everything\'s okay,

01:11:25.792 --> 01:11:26.999
because those people
are gonna know about it

01:11:27.041 --> 01:11:28.583
in about 10 minutes,
and then you can deal

01:11:28.750 --> 01:11:31.041
with them instead of me.

01:11:33.041 --> 01:11:34.500
- [Thomas] Well, here we go.

01:11:34.667 --> 01:11:37.083
(solemn music)

01:11:39.999 --> 01:11:44.999
Years ago, I asked Mike Wallace

01:11:44.999 --> 01:11:46.208
if there was a tipping point.

01:11:46.375 --> 01:11:48.291
And he said no, there wasn\'t.

01:11:48.458 --> 01:11:50.792
(solemn music)

01:11:54.417 --> 01:11:59.417
And yet here for the first time,

01:11:59.583 --> 01:12:02.041
summer people and year-round
people have come together,

01:12:06.250 --> 01:12:06.999
and they\'re fighting.

01:12:07.083 --> 01:12:09.041
They\'re fighting this thing.

01:12:11.458 --> 01:12:12.959
- Mr. Bena has asked for
permission to film this,

01:12:12.999 --> 01:12:15.250
and we\'ve agreed that he may,
provided it doesn\'t disturb

01:12:19.458 --> 01:12:20.291
what\'s going on, so he\'s here.

01:12:21.999 --> 01:12:23.125
I\'m just putting
you all on notice

01:12:23.291 --> 01:12:24.417
that you are being filmed.

01:12:24.583 --> 01:12:26.375
- My clients, the Iscols,
they are, frankly,

01:12:26.542 --> 01:12:29.041
not comfortable being here.

01:12:29.208 --> 01:12:31.166
They are not litigious
people, but they feel

01:12:31.333 --> 01:12:33.999
that in this case, there
was a clear disregard

01:12:34.125 --> 01:12:37.999
of the zoning bylaws.

01:12:38.083 --> 01:12:39.999
We\'re asking that you
revoke the building permit

01:12:40.000 --> 01:12:43.083
for the guest house accessory
structure pool house.

01:12:47.291 --> 01:12:48.166
- It\'s not a guest house.

01:12:48.333 --> 01:12:49.875
I don\'t care how many times
she says it\'s a guest house.

01:12:49.999 --> 01:12:51.291
It\'s not a guest house.

01:12:51.458 --> 01:12:52.750
There is no kitchen.

01:12:52.917 --> 01:12:53.999
We have been building
detached bedrooms

01:12:54.000 --> 01:12:55.667
in this town since
before zoning.

01:12:55.834 --> 01:12:57.208
- [Diane] I don\'t know
how big the other,

01:12:57.375 --> 01:12:58.917
quote, detached bedrooms are,

01:12:58.999 --> 01:13:00.625
but there\'s a
cumulative issue here,

01:13:00.792 --> 01:13:02.917
because you\'ve already
got a so-called barn,

01:13:02.999 --> 01:13:06.333
and your detached,
quote, bedroom here

01:13:06.500 --> 01:13:08.999
exceeds the square
footage limitation

01:13:09.125 --> 01:13:12.333
for an entire guest house.

01:13:12.500 --> 01:13:15.291
- Please.

01:13:15.458 --> 01:13:16.542
- [Laurie] I really
don\'t understand

01:13:17.458 --> 01:13:18.625
how a detached bedroom
has a pool in it.

01:13:21.667 --> 01:13:22.999
And I\'ve never even heard--
- That\'s the question

01:13:23.041 --> 01:13:23.875
that\'s been raised here.

01:13:23.999 --> 01:13:24.999
- And basically what
it looks like to me is

01:13:25.083 --> 01:13:26.959
that there\'s ways, I\'ve seen
other particular properties

01:13:26.999 --> 01:13:30.792
around town, that
have gotten bigger

01:13:30.959 --> 01:13:33.166
than what they really
should be by the bylaws,

01:13:33.333 --> 01:13:35.999
which have come
through loopholes.

01:13:36.083 --> 01:13:38.999
- Anyone else?

01:13:38.999 --> 01:13:39.792
Yes, please.

01:13:39.959 --> 01:13:40.999
- Everybody\'s gonna go
away from this meeting

01:13:41.083 --> 01:13:42.625
and say this is a joke.

01:13:42.792 --> 01:13:44.583
\"I tried to get an
800-square-foot guest house,\"

01:13:44.750 --> 01:13:47.208
they would say, \"and they
said it was a little too big,

01:13:47.375 --> 01:13:49.875
\"but if I\'d said it
was a detached bedroom,

01:13:49.999 --> 01:13:51.999
\"as an accessory building,

01:13:52.125 --> 01:13:53.291
\"I could\'ve had
2,000 square feet.\"

01:13:53.458 --> 01:13:55.250
- [Woman] But no kitchen.

01:13:55.417 --> 01:13:56.875
- So now we\'ve got a public
who\'s become utterly cynical.

01:14:00.542 --> 01:14:01.792
- Well, I think this
makes it very clear

01:14:01.959 --> 01:14:03.166
that our bylaws have to
be updated and addressed.

01:14:03.333 --> 01:14:06.083
- Yes.

01:14:06.250 --> 01:14:07.750
- Hi, I\'m Elizabeth Zoia,
and I want to address all

01:14:07.917 --> 01:14:10.542
of you in this room.

01:14:10.709 --> 01:14:11.750
- I have to point out,

01:14:11.917 --> 01:14:13.125
you may be the subject,
but you\'re not the action

01:14:13.291 --> 01:14:14.999
that\'s going on
here at the moment.

01:14:15.041 --> 01:14:17.083
- [Elizabeth] But don\'t I
have the right to speak?

01:14:17.250 --> 01:14:20.041
- Sure, this is
a public hearing.

01:14:20.208 --> 01:14:21.375
- Yes.
- But you don\'t need to speak.

01:14:21.542 --> 01:14:22.709
- Okay, thank you.

01:14:22.875 --> 01:14:24.041
I keep hearing excessive,
over-the-top, and what I want

01:14:27.999 --> 01:14:29.041
to say to this room is
what has been excessive

01:14:29.208 --> 01:14:30.999
and over-the-top is
the venomous treatment

01:14:31.125 --> 01:14:34.333
that my family has gotten.

01:14:34.500 --> 01:14:36.999
I\'ve asked for the
cameras to be turned off.

01:14:37.000 --> 01:14:39.583
Less for me, \'cause
I really don\'t care,

01:14:39.750 --> 01:14:41.000
but we have friends here who
don\'t want to be on camera.

01:14:41.166 --> 01:14:43.333
- [Thomas] I\'m happy
to turn it off.

01:14:43.500 --> 01:14:45.375
(solemn music)

01:14:47.999 --> 01:14:50.417
- It feels like persecution.

01:14:50.583 --> 01:14:51.999
We\'ve been in the
newspaper all summer.

01:14:52.041 --> 01:14:53.999
My wife had extreme
emotional distress.

01:14:54.000 --> 01:14:56.000
She\'s now suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder,

01:14:56.166 --> 01:14:58.999
diagnosed as a result
of these actions.

01:14:59.041 --> 01:15:01.208
This needs to end.

01:15:01.375 --> 01:15:02.375
(solemn music)

01:15:04.999 --> 01:15:07.291
- When I was a child, we
didn\'t have any zoning.

01:15:07.458 --> 01:15:09.333
But it\'s always reactionary.

01:15:09.500 --> 01:15:10.999
You don\'t make a rule until
you think there\'s a problem

01:15:11.083 --> 01:15:15.000
that you can\'t deal
with without a rule.

01:15:15.166 --> 01:15:17.792
- I know there have
been some projects

01:15:17.959 --> 01:15:19.125
that got a little out of
control, kind of bent the rules.

01:15:23.333 --> 01:15:24.583
But if the towns were to
go about sort of trying

01:15:24.750 --> 01:15:26.291
to dictate that, I don\'t
think that\'s a great idea.

01:15:26.958 --> 01:15:29.791
(birds chirp)

01:15:34.167 --> 01:15:39.167
- I can\'t believe it\'s
been almost 10 years

01:15:39.334 --> 01:15:40.750
I\'ve been shooting this film.

01:15:40.917 --> 01:15:43.499
And I\'m working now with the
town to change the zoning laws.

01:15:43.541 --> 01:15:47.375
And it is not fun.

01:15:47.499 --> 01:15:48.583
It\'s two or three hours
of meetings a week.

01:15:48.750 --> 01:15:51.666
And people have a
hard time agreeing

01:15:51.833 --> 01:15:54.541
on how to move forward with it.

01:15:54.708 --> 01:15:57.499
- [Chris] Once people
get off their butts,

01:15:57.499 --> 01:15:59.042
they really do get in
there and fight for it.

01:15:59.209 --> 01:16:00.958
I can tell you from watching
the Chilmark Planning Board,

01:16:01.125 --> 01:16:03.499
that they didn\'t
want anything to do

01:16:03.541 --> 01:16:05.499
with this large house question.

01:16:05.499 --> 01:16:07.750
- I think you need to
set a line in the sand

01:16:07.917 --> 01:16:11.167
and say, \"Thou shalt not.\"

01:16:11.334 --> 01:16:13.083
- To tell somebody they
can\'t build a house

01:16:13.250 --> 01:16:14.500
over a certain size, I don\'t
feel comfortable with that.

01:16:14.666 --> 01:16:17.499
- [Chris] But once they
decided to get into it,

01:16:17.625 --> 01:16:20.042
they have embraced the argument,

01:16:20.209 --> 01:16:22.167
if not all of the pieces of it.

01:16:22.334 --> 01:16:24.958
- The line in the sand is
gonna involve a battle.

01:16:25.625 --> 01:16:28.709
Some people won\'t like the line,

01:16:28.875 --> 01:16:30.000
and some people
will like the line.

01:16:30.166 --> 01:16:31.917
- [Thomas] I\'m just
curious who we\'re battling.

01:16:31.999 --> 01:16:33.999
- You\'ll see.

01:16:33.999 --> 01:16:35.166
(solemn music)

01:16:37.875 --> 01:16:39.999
- I don\'t think it\'s
very constitutional.

01:16:40.000 --> 01:16:41.999
I mean, it\'s taking
a right away from

01:16:41.999 --> 01:16:43.542
to be able to build what size
of a house I want to build.

01:16:43.709 --> 01:16:46.291
I could have seven children,

01:16:46.458 --> 01:16:47.999
and I\'m not gonna be
putting seven children

01:16:48.041 --> 01:16:49.959
in a 2,000-square-foot home.

01:16:49.999 --> 01:16:51.999
- You know, you think
that there\'s this monolith

01:16:52.000 --> 01:16:53.917
of the town fathers,
and you can\'t get there.

01:16:53.999 --> 01:16:56.917
All you have to do is step up
to the plate and get involved,

01:16:56.999 --> 01:16:59.375
and you begin to change
however it\'s working.

01:16:59.542 --> 01:17:02.458
- What you need is
black-and-white.

01:17:02.625 --> 01:17:05.125
You can\'t build a
house bigger than this.

01:17:05.291 --> 01:17:06.208
At this point, I don\'t even care

01:17:06.375 --> 01:17:07.583
what the size limit
is, all right.

01:17:07.750 --> 01:17:09.333
Let\'s make it 5,000.

01:17:09.500 --> 01:17:10.333
I don\'t even care.

01:17:10.500 --> 01:17:11.959
But let\'s have a limit that
no one has to administer,

01:17:11.999 --> 01:17:14.041
because who\'s gonna
deal with this?

01:17:14.208 --> 01:17:15.917
- Don\'t come in with
the compromise already.

01:17:15.999 --> 01:17:17.999
Come in with what you
think is the best answer,

01:17:17.999 --> 01:17:20.417
and then let the chips
fall where they fall.

01:17:20.583 --> 01:17:23.792
(solemn music)

01:17:26.291 --> 01:17:29.709
- What do you think
the demographic is
in Chilmark, in terms

01:17:29.875 --> 01:17:32.291
of right-to-what-you-want kind
of approach to land ownership

01:17:36.500 --> 01:17:37.709
versus a highly-governed
approach to land use?

01:17:40.959 --> 01:17:42.291
- [Thomas] In 2008, there
was a master plan survey,

01:17:42.458 --> 01:17:44.750
and 49% responded that
we should do something

01:17:44.917 --> 01:17:47.500
about trophy homes in town.

01:17:47.667 --> 01:17:49.333
And that\'s in Chilmark.

01:17:49.500 --> 01:17:50.583
- What percent? I\'m sorry.
- 49%.

01:17:50.750 --> 01:17:51.625
- 49.

01:17:51.792 --> 01:17:53.000
- [Thomas] Responded that
trophy homes were an issue.

01:17:53.166 --> 01:17:53.999
Let\'s do some regulating.

01:17:54.083 --> 01:17:54.917
- So it\'s split.

01:17:54.999 --> 01:17:55.999
- [Thomas] It\'s split.

01:17:56.041 --> 01:17:56.999
And you need two-thirds vote.

01:17:56.999 --> 01:17:59.083
- I think that\'s good.

01:18:00.999 --> 01:18:02.999
(gentle music)

01:18:10.291 --> 01:18:15.291
- I think there\'s gonna
be a big turnout tonight.

01:18:15.458 --> 01:18:18.083
A lot of people are gonna
speak from the heart.

01:18:18.250 --> 01:18:20.166
And hopefully I\'ll have the
courage to stand up and speak.

01:18:20.333 --> 01:18:23.917
It\'s a hard thing to do, to
speak in front of people.

01:18:23.999 --> 01:18:27.500
But every once in a while,
there\'s a subject or a matter

01:18:27.667 --> 01:18:31.083
that comes by that
you feel you have to.

01:18:31.250 --> 01:18:34.375
And I feel I have to.

01:18:34.542 --> 01:18:36.250
(gentle music)

01:18:38.999 --> 01:18:43.999
(gavel bangs)

01:18:44.000 --> 01:18:45.750
- The annual town meeting
for the Town of Chilmark

01:18:45.917 --> 01:18:48.000
for April 22nd, 2013
will come to order.

01:18:51.417 --> 01:18:52.625
Article 31, since
this is an amendment

01:18:52.792 --> 01:18:55.041
to the zoning bylaw, this
takes a two-thirds vote.

01:18:55.208 --> 01:18:58.500
I open it for discussion.

01:18:58.667 --> 01:19:00.999
- This is the only
town on this island

01:19:01.083 --> 01:19:03.000
that has attempted
to take this step.

01:19:03.166 --> 01:19:05.999
We do not have, in this article,

01:19:09.125 --> 01:19:09.999
regulations controlling energy,

01:19:12.999 --> 01:19:14.500
controlling other things of
function and consumption.

01:19:17.959 --> 01:19:18.792
We\'re just talking about size.

01:19:18.959 --> 01:19:20.999
We can come back
and improve on this.

01:19:20.999 --> 01:19:24.291
But to walk away from tonight,

01:19:24.458 --> 01:19:26.959
caught up in our
Yankee individualism,

01:19:26.999 --> 01:19:29.750
that we have to have
everything we want,

01:19:29.917 --> 01:19:32.750
that part of this planet\'s
history is behind us.

01:19:36.750 --> 01:19:38.041
- At just about every stage,
when people get off the boat,

01:19:38.208 --> 01:19:40.625
and they buy their house,

01:19:40.792 --> 01:19:41.750
and they put up their house,

01:19:41.917 --> 01:19:44.625
they want to pull
up the drawbridge.

01:19:44.792 --> 01:19:46.583
They want that to be the end.

01:19:46.750 --> 01:19:48.375
They don\'t want more.

01:19:48.542 --> 01:19:49.542
They don\'t want change.

01:19:49.709 --> 01:19:51.083
Do we want to pull
up the drawbridge?

01:19:51.250 --> 01:19:54.542
- Jay, can you get
to the point, please?

01:19:54.709 --> 01:19:56.500
- Okay.
(audience laughs)

01:19:56.667 --> 01:19:57.917
I think that that\'s
an important point.

01:19:57.999 --> 01:19:59.750
- Clarissa.

01:19:59.917 --> 01:20:01.000
- My father, who was a
selectmen, couldn\'t understand

01:20:01.166 --> 01:20:04.834
why zoning was even a concept.

01:20:04.999 --> 01:20:07.999
It was a world where
there wasn\'t really a word

01:20:07.999 --> 01:20:11.250
like speculation, and
it was a different time.

01:20:15.458 --> 01:20:16.667
I mean, a lot of the
people come here,

01:20:16.834 --> 01:20:18.000
they don\'t even, they love
it, they think it\'s beautiful,

01:20:18.166 --> 01:20:19.875
they don\'t even
know what they want.

01:20:19.999 --> 01:20:21.709
And I think we\'re giving
some really clear direction

01:20:21.875 --> 01:20:24.250
to a group of architects.

01:20:24.417 --> 01:20:26.041
We\'re not telling these
people they can\'t come here.

01:20:30.250 --> 01:20:31.750
- I just wanted to say
that I love this community.

01:20:35.125 --> 01:20:37.709
This is a step forward
is how I see it.

01:20:37.875 --> 01:20:39.250
And it\'s an argument
for the plants,

01:20:39.417 --> 01:20:42.000
the animals, the habitat.

01:20:42.166 --> 01:20:43.750
The silence here that we
all love, the stillness,

01:20:43.917 --> 01:20:46.333
that\'s gone away now.

01:20:46.500 --> 01:20:47.959
If you walk down a winter road,
you hear generators blaring

01:20:47.999 --> 01:20:49.999
from big, empty homes.

01:20:50.041 --> 01:20:51.875
We know better.

01:20:51.999 --> 01:20:53.208
Many of us here were
taught you leave the room,

01:20:53.375 --> 01:20:54.291
you turn the lights off.

01:20:54.458 --> 01:20:55.917
This is not something that I\'m
proud to teach my daughter,

01:20:55.999 --> 01:20:57.999
that we heat
20,000-square-foot empty homes.

01:20:58.083 --> 01:21:00.999
I think we can do better.

01:21:00.999 --> 01:21:02.250
(audience applauds)

01:21:05.250 --> 01:21:07.375
- I don\'t believe
that 3,500 square feet

01:21:07.542 --> 01:21:10.583
is a place to start.

01:21:10.750 --> 01:21:12.333
If we have to accept
the bylaw as is,

01:21:12.500 --> 01:21:15.291
I will be voting no
because of that reason.

01:21:15.458 --> 01:21:17.999
(audience applauds)

01:21:25.542 --> 01:21:30.542
- How do we want to see
this town move forward?

01:21:30.709 --> 01:21:33.999
Do you want to see these
large, unnecessarily,

01:21:37.667 --> 01:21:39.999
seasonal houses
continue to be built

01:21:39.999 --> 01:21:42.917
in this town, which is
gonna change the character

01:21:42.999 --> 01:21:45.792
that we\'ve all
fallen in love with?

01:21:45.959 --> 01:21:48.417
Or do we want to try to make
a stand right here, right now,

01:21:48.583 --> 01:21:52.625
to stop this, or at the
very least, slow it down,

01:21:56.750 --> 01:21:57.999
so our children can
appreciate what we\'ve grown up

01:22:00.999 --> 01:22:01.959
to appreciate about this town?

01:22:01.999 --> 01:22:04.000
(audience applauds)

01:22:07.000 --> 01:22:08.083
- Anyone else?

01:22:08.250 --> 01:22:10.000
- [Woman] Call for a vote.

01:22:10.166 --> 01:22:10.999
- [Audience Members] Vote!

01:22:11.083 --> 01:22:12.667
- Okay, you will come
up and pick up a ballot,

01:22:12.834 --> 01:22:16.375
drop it in a box and
return to your seat.

01:22:16.542 --> 01:22:19.750
(solemn music)

01:22:45.792 --> 01:22:50.792
(gavel bangs)

01:22:50.959 --> 01:22:52.709
(people chattering)

01:22:56.583 --> 01:23:01.583
The motion carried 162
to 51 with four blanks.

01:23:05.792 --> 01:23:07.709
(audience cheers)

01:23:17.250 --> 01:23:22.250
(solemn music)

01:23:24.959 --> 01:23:28.333
- I am honored to be
a part of a community

01:23:28.500 --> 01:23:31.750
that stood up to American
consumption habits,

01:23:35.959 --> 01:23:36.999
and we voted in
(laughs), you know,

01:23:37.041 --> 01:23:39.709
we voted in a limit
on house size.

01:23:39.875 --> 01:23:42.625
It\'s one of the proudest
days of my life,

01:23:42.792 --> 01:23:43.999
to be a part of that movement.

01:23:44.083 --> 01:23:46.250
- [Chris] Whatever it is
that\'s important to you,

01:23:46.417 --> 01:23:48.208
you need to get in
there and fight for it.

01:23:48.375 --> 01:23:50.041
You start a conversation.

01:23:50.208 --> 01:23:52.291
The good thing is you don\'t
know where it\'s gonna end.

01:23:52.458 --> 01:23:55.792
It\'s just a step.

01:23:55.959 --> 01:23:56.999
It\'s not the final step.

01:23:57.000 --> 01:23:58.625
There is no final step.

01:23:58.792 --> 01:24:01.041
Your children will still
be arguing about them.

01:24:01.208 --> 01:24:04.208
(solemn music)

01:24:28.999 --> 01:24:33.999
(gentle music)

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