In 1945 Larry Richmond, a businessman from New York, and his wife Helene, made an offer by telegraph to Helena Rubenstein (in Europe)and she agreed to sell 40 Commercial Street. Photos that follow depict the renovations that took place prior to the family occupying the house as a summer home. Because of World War II, building materials were in short supply. Larry had his builder, Jesse Meads, give him a list, down to the last nail, of what was needed and he brought everything up to the Cape in a truck from NY. During Helena Rubenstein's tenure the interior of the house, and most of the furniture, was painted pink and gray. Arthur Anderson, then owner of the Masthead Cottages across the street and an antiques dealer and furniture refinisher from Worcester, Massachusetts, took most of the furniture to his workshop, stripped the paint and returned it all in beautiful condition. The multi-paned skylight, in one of the pictures that follow, was a wonderful source of light in a downstairs guest bedroom, but family members recollect it leaking during rainstorms. Pots and pans were kept handy for such occasions and, eventually, in the 1970's the skylight was removed. The patio was built out of flagstone. There was an outdoor fireplace that saw many clambakes and barbecues for friends and family. There is a ceramic fish fountain above a sandbox that was built especially for Lauren, the Richmond's daughter, who enjoyed playing there for many of her childhood years even after a family of frogs moved in. It was a seasonal ritual to go across the street with a bucket and get new sand each summer. The downstairs (below the apartment) in the rear of the house was once used as a barn for animals and, from before the 1940's to the present day (2015), there is still a hitching post for horses on the Point St. side of the house. Photos taken and printed by Lawrence Richmond, from the collection of Lauren Richmond, his daughter.
