Featured Guest Dory Skemp: Season 1 Episode 10
Featured guest Dory Skemp — realtor and historic preservationist — speaks with Katie and Dawn about the value of owning a historic home and living in an historic neighborhood.
Dory Boland Skemp holds a bachelor’s degree in historic preservation from Roger Williams University and has been a licensed Realtor in RI and MA for over 30 years. Her work in preservation and real estate frequently overlap, especially with RI having a huge stock of 18th and 19th century structures which often become available on the market for sale. Her continual involvement with preservation professionals and memberships in local historic organizations has kept her at the forefront of preservation issues. Currently a Board member at the Bristol Historical & Preservation Society for nearly 40 years and President for 9 of those years, she was a member and later the Chair of the first Historic District Commission in Bristol, RI, as well as a former Board member at the Friends of Linden Place and the RI Alliance for Historic District Commissions.
Dory Skemp, realtor with Residential Properties LTD in Barrington, RI (photo courtesy of Dory)
Before launching into a discussion about the overlap of real estate, historic preservation, and home design, Dawn shares that Dory acted as her realtor when Dawn purchased an historic Herreshoff house in Bristol, RI. Dawn lent her eye-for-design and sweat equity to update the home to suit her family, and, later, Dory helped Dawn sell that same house.
Photos, above, of the c. 1882 Herreshoff house in Bristol, RI after Dawn renovated it. (Dory later served as Dawn’s realtor to sell the property.)
Photos, above, of the Herreshoff house that Dawn bought (and for which Dory was her realtor) before Dawn renovated it.
In the course of a conversation that spans new storm windows for old windows in an historic house, Millennials moving to historic neighborhoods, and tax breaks for homeowners of historic investment properties and for homeowners of historic properties in some towns, Dory discusses the sale of a listing she had for six years, Longfield a c. 1848 historic home in Bristol, RI.
Longfield, designed by architect Russell Warren (photo from the Daniel G Knowlton Collection)
Recent photos, above, of Longfield, an American Wooden Gothic Revival Style home, which will be renovated into two condominiums and augmented with three new buildings to include eight additional new units on the property.
Also find more about Dory and her listings on her Facebook Page.
