(2008)
Ryan Murphy is not the only member of 21st-century Hollywood royalty to alight on Cape end shores in recent years. The super agent Kevin Huvane purchased this house in 2015 for $1.6 million and proceeded with an ambitious renovation and expansion, designed by Hammer Architects. Huvane, the managing partner and director of the Creative Artists Agency, has counted among his clients Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Vin Diesel, Jon Hamm, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Lopez, Melissa McCarthy, Julianne Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Pine, Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, and Reese Witherspoon.¹ The house is part of the Long Point diaspora in the West End. It was constructed in about 1830 and was the residence of Joseph Emery, in the center of the original settlement out at the point. In the mid-1950s, Jane Harrison had a jewelry store here, selling enamel-on-copper earrings, bracelets, rings, pendants and pins.
During the 2016 renovation, Bruce Deely, a neighbor, made a remarkable archaeological find: “I have never come across what appears to be, perhaps, an old original stone foundation made up of rocks like these, which are not found around here. George Bryant used to say that stones like this came from the ballast of ships that came from the Orient. Many of them seem rounded and smooth, which was typical of ballast stone according to George. I know 34 Commercial is old and the circular cellar seems to have built on top of these stones — perhaps later?” This is Deely’s photograph.
Commercial Street still had a plank sidewalk when this undated photograph was taken. Left: 34 Commercial Street, without its current shed dormer. Center: 36 Commercial Street, the long-time home of Bruce Deely and Lauren Richmond, by whose courtesy this picture appears. Right: 38 Commercial Street, a double-decker that Lawrence Richmond turned into a garage and porch in the 1940s.
¶ Last updated on 10 February 2021.
Kent Ancliffe wrote on 6 April 2014: I restored this beautiful home in 1974. This house was stripped of its dignity and left to realtors and ruiners. I lived in and loved this home, and respected its soul. Does it still have one?
¹ While no documents I’ve found directly link the Hollywood Kevin Huvane to the Provincetown Kevin Huvane, strong circumstantial evidence does: The manager of the 34 Commercial Street LLC is listed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Kevin Huvane of 16030 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 240, Encino, Ca. The owner’s address listed by the Town of Provincetown is the same, care of Fulton Management. (Eric Fulton was among “Hollywood’s 25 Top Business Managers of 2017,” named by The Hollywood Reporter.) Other Huvane-connected entities at Suite 240 include 1119 Calle Vista Drive LLC (the Hollywood agent once owned a home at this address in Beverly Hills) and Bronxborn Inc. (the Hollywood agent was born in the Bronx). Hollywood Huvane has at least two big-name Provincetown connections: Ryan Murphy, of 27 Commercial and 76 Commercial; and Michael S. Jeffries, formerly of 599 Commercial. Huvane was on the board of Abercrombie & Fitch when Jeffries headed the company.
This was the home of my 4th time Great Grandfather Joseph Emery. I do wish the history of the home had been saved instead of remodeled, but it’s nice to know it still stands. I was lucky enough to visit it this past summer, but didn’t have the courage to go up to the home to see if I could see around it!