(2011)
77 Commercial Street Condominium | Former Studio 77.
Though No. 77 is now a freestanding property, its history is tied inextricably with Nos. 77A and 79. The pier behind 77A Commercial Street is a vestige of the wharf belonging to Capt. Joshua Stickney Nickerson (1842-1927) , who also owned both of the upland building at one time. In the late 1940s, this building served as the Sand Bar lunch counter — sandwiches, lobster rolls, ice cream, beach and picnic lunches — run by William H. Adams and Marjorie A. Adams, who bought the property in 1949 from the Nickerson family. Briefly rechristened the Sandbar Grill in 1951, it then reopened as the Sand Bar Lunch under Wesley Felton and Mildred Felton, who also ran the Cottage Restaurant at 149 Commercial Street. Meanwhile, the property had been purchased from the Adamses by the artist Angèle E. (Cormack) Myrer (1896-1970) and her husband, Raymond L. Myrer (1893-1988).
The cultural high point for 77 and Commercial Street occurred in the 1957 and 1958 seasons, when the two buildings functioned simultaneously as Studio 77 — which was used by Angèle Myrer’s friend and allied printmaker, Ferol Sibley Warthen (1890-1986) — and Studio 79, used by Myrer herself. Both artists had studied under Blanche Lazzell, and they used their studios to call attention to the early woodcuts of the Provincetown Printers. Warthen maintained her studio at 77 Commercial Street well into the 1960s.
Ann Maguire, Harriet A. Gordon, and James L. O’Connor bought the property from Robenia Smith in 1998. The two-unit condo was created by Maguire in 2005.
For a view of Joshua Nickerson’s Wharf, please see 77A Commercial Street.
For a view of the former boat house, please see 77A-79 Commercial Street.
For a view of the former Studio 79, please see 77A-79 Commercial Street.
¶ Last updated on 20 July 2018.