To spot the Capt. William Hallett House, look for a charming light pink wood-frame building with a Cape-style shape, sloping roof, and bright red shutters, right behind a white picket fence and some cheerful red umbrellas out front.
Take a deep breath and imagine the salty breeze of the harbor swirling right past you in the year 1800. This house might look playful now, but back in its early days, it stood as a proud Federal-style Cape-compact and sturdy, just like Capt. William Hallett himself, the ship’s captain who once called it home. The late 1800s, though, brought a bit of a style update-almost like giving your house a brand new haircut. Suddenly there were Queen Anne touches: a shed-roof dormer with a whimsical eyebrow shape, a porch lined with fancy turned posts, and even a projecting window bay for spying on the neighbors or maybe watching for a ship’s return. In the mid-19th century, sea stories and laughter must have echoed through these halls. By the turn of the 20th century, the house sheltered Dr. Charles Harris, a local doctor and author, who chronicled the adventures of all the Hyannis sea captains. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987, this house holds two centuries of salty tales, rivaling any treasure chest washed ashore. So, what secrets do *you* think those red shutters are hiding?
