Demo Delay Placed On Former Cuffy’s Buildings

ORLEANS – A historic building that once housed the Cuffy’s retail shop on South Orleans Road has been saved from demolition, at least for now.

 The town’s historical commission unanimously voted June 10 that the two buildings at 16 South Orleans Rd. be “preferably preserved.” Those include the main building fronting the roadway and a barn structure at the rear of the property.

 The vote from the commission institutes a one-year delay on potential future demolition of the buildings so that alternatives for preserving the structures can be explored.

 According to a Historical Inventory Form B outlining the property’s history, the .76-acre parcel dates back to 1861. It was sold to Ralph Deschamps, the sixth superintendent of the French Cable Station, in 1915.

 Originally built as a private residence, the building began operating as a “rooming house” in the 1950s, according to the form. In 1970, the Stonier family purchased the property and converted the barn into a store. The barn was expanded in 1979 and eventually became a Cuffy’s outlet.

 But it’s been years since Cuffy’s closed, and the property has since fallen into disrepair. Ryan Weber, speaking on behalf of the property’s owners, Kristen Johnston and Laurie Csonbor, said efforts have been made to restore the buildings and protect them from demolition over the past four years. He said he purchased the property in 2022 with plans to redevelop it through either “restoration and adaptive reuse” of the existing buildings, or through demolition if those options failed.

 Weber sold the property in 2024 to Johnston and Csonbor, who he said planned to build seven luxury condominiums there. In that plan, he said the owners sought to relocate the main structure elsewhere in town for future use as affordable housing, but that those efforts proved to be economically unfeasible. 

 Johnston and Csonbor have since put the property on the market, Weber said. One prospective buyer thought of reutilizing the existing buildings for his antiques business, but opted out after those plans again proved unfeasible, he said. 

 But another prospective buyer is interested in converting the property into housing, Weber said. 

 “A condition of that transaction is that the existing structures be demolished and removed after the closing so that efforts can proceed promptly thereafter,” he said. Weber declined to give the name of the person or entity interested in purchasing the property. 

 Weber said the plan to build attainable and workforce housing on the parcel aligns with the newly created downtown housing overlay district. Adopted through town meeting in November of last year, the district is designed to incentivize the creation of more affordable, attainable and workforce housing.

 “Imposing a delay at this stage would be punitive and serve little to no practical purpose beyond postponing the creation of much-needed housing opportunities for local families and workforce residents,” he said.

 Weber estimated the cost of restoring the existing buildings to be about $1,000 per square foot, which would put the overall cost between $2.5 million and $3 million.

 “We went through great efforts to try and find a way to preserve that, because I knew this conversation was to be potentially contentious,” he said. “I knew this conversation wasn’t going to be an easy one. No one is necessarily in favor of tearing down a building that was built in 1860.”

 But commission members said that the intended future use of the property by the potential buyer, and the costs associated with it, lie outside the commission’s scope of review.

 “We’ve never gone into how a project is financed or alternative use of financing. And I would daresay it’s simply not the business of this commission,” commissioner Charles Ellis said.

 Joan Nix, a former commissioner, agreed, arguing that the commission’s focus is to protect the town’s historic properties. She also raised concern with the status of the neighboring historic property at 20 South Orleans Rd., which once housed the Binnacle restaurant. That building also dates back to the 1800s.

 “It’s not the historical commission’s job to maximize the return on investment or to solve the housing crisis in Orleans, or to implement the overlay zoning district,” Nix said. “It’s their mission to try and protect historic resources, and they’re the only organization in town that is attempting to do so.”

 The commission last year similarly voted to place a one-year demolition delay on 20 South Orleans Rd., which expired last month, meaning the property can be demolished by right. The property’s owner, Del Mar Holdings LLC, did not respond to a request for comment on their plans for the property.

 The potential demolition of the neighboring historic properties would leave no historic properties remaining on South Orleans Road from Cove Road out to the Lost Dog Pub, noted commissioner Thaddeus Herrick.

 “It may not be Ryan’s issue to discuss here, but I think it’s something we need to consider,” he said.

 Commissioner Bruce Taub questioned whether the commission would entertain allowing demolition of the former barn while placing a delay on the main structure. But Herrick said he viewed both structures as “one property.”

 “If we’re going to vote ‘Yes, take that building down,’ I want to know more about it,” he said, “I want to know about the history of that barn. I don’t think we know.”

 David Herrick, another former commissioner, lives in a historic home on Beach Road. But he said the potential demolition of the South Orleans Road properties poses a danger to the town’s historic fabric.

 “We’re really at risk of losing the character of this town,” he said.

 Thaddeus Herrick read into the record a letter from Duane Chase, president of the French Cable Museum’s board of directors. He also expressed concern over the loss of historic properties in town, recalling how someone once expressed interest in buying the museum property and demolishing the building to make way for a convenience store.

 “It has to be one of the best buildings in town, but someone wanted to ‘improve the area.’” Chase said in his letter.

 After last week’s hearing, the commission’s chair, Ed Marcarelli, reiterated that the vote to preserve 16 South Orleans Rd. was not a vote against the creation of attainable housing.

 “There are five people on the commission, all volunteers,” he said. “All we’re trying to do is carry out the charge of the commission, which is to try and preserve the history in Orleans. And it’s unfortunate when there’s a tension between those two goods.”

 But beyond the ability to institute a demolition delay, Marcarelli said there’s little the commission can do to protect the town’s historic properties in the long term. Unlike other Cape towns, Orleans does not have a historic district, he said. An effort to hire someone to help create such a district along a 1.2-mile stretch of Main Street from the Route 28 intersection out to Beach Road failed to pass at town meeting in October 2024.

Marcarelli said the commission has discussed extending the length of the delay to give properties some additional protection.

 “We’re probably going to look to amend the bylaw, but I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves in terms of what we will do,” he said.