We’ve all heard the complaints – some Island towns are saddled with higher property taxes, while others are among the lowest in the state. The residential tax rate in Chilmark is a mere $2.48 per thousand dollars of property value, for instance, while over in Tisbury it’s more than three times as much at $8.39. Pop into any Vineyard cocktail party and you’ll hear plenty of theories. Chilmark offers fewer municipal services than other towns, some will say. Others claim it pays less than its fair share for education.
I first met Albert back in the eighties. My then-future wife rented his house in Edgartown one summer and I used to bump into him from time to time. Albert was a little rough around the edges and a bit of a free thinker, but basically a straight-up guy.
Geoff Currier
For the true enthusiast, owning a home alongside an Island golf course can be as exciting as a hole in one.
Joyce Wagner
An Edgartown village heirloom is staged to make a difference in Rwanda.
Karla Araujo
For the last thirty-five years, Jean Dupon has owned and operated Le Grenier at 96 Main Street in Vineyard Haven, serving French cuisine in the second-story restaurant and cultivating a devoted clientele. But now he’s ready to say au revoir to all that – the restaurant industry and its fifteen-hour days. “I’m sixty-nine years old,” he says. “It’s time to relax.”
Erin Haggerty
A venerable Island leader with a longtime construction business, John Early talks about life on the Vineyard, how affordable housing here should change, and lessons he learned in the Peace Corps.
Rachel Orr
An Aquinnah home surrounded by conservation land, with sweeping views of the Atlantic and private beach access, offers a remote, quiet retreat.
Erin Haggerty
