Ocean City Recognizes Historic Gems

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI David and Bernice Losinno, who were living in Glenside, Pa., at the time, made a trip to the Jersey Shore one day in 2016 to see a beached whale. They never saw the whale. But in what sounds like a whale of a story, they ended up buying a house in Ocean City instead. Not just any house, mind you. Built in 1879 or 1880, their Folk Victorian home at 411 Fifth Street was originally owned by Wesley Simon Lake, a member of one of the families that founded Ocean City as a Christian seaside retreat in 1879. David and Bernice invested $240,000 to renovate the badly neglected house – on top of the $314,000 they spent to buy it – to bring it back to its former glory. Now, the Ocean City Historic Preservation Commission has recognized their efforts to save one of the historic gems in town by presenting them with a plaque that will be attached to the front of the house and include the year it was built. John Loeper, the Historic Preservation Commission chairman, and Ken Cooper, the vice chairman, made the presentation to the Losinnos. Loeper and Cooper also presented a historic plaque to the Losinnos’ next door neighbors, Michael Pinto and Sarah Ellis, the owners of a Folk Victorian home at 409 Fifth Street. Sarah Ellis and Michael Pinto hold the historic plaque for their home at 409 Fifth Street. (Courtesy of City of Ocean City) In the past 30 years, about 30 to 35 homes in Ocean City’s Historic District have been designated with plaques that note the year they were built, Cooper said. The plaques also feature a replica of Ocean City’s original city crest, a sailboat set within a circle. Overall, the Historic District roughly stretches from Third to Eighth streets and includes Wesley, Ocean, and Central avenues within those borders. The Historic Preservation Commission, as a general rule, must approve demolition, new construction or rehabilitation projects within the district. Its mission is to protect and preserve the city’s historically significant housing stock. Cooper explained that some homeowners invest a considerable amount of time and money to preserve and refurbish their historic houses – all while adhering to rules governing the district. In general, homeowners in the Historic District are held to a “higher standard” because of the regulations they must follow. The plaques symbolize the Historic Preservation Commission’s appreciation of the homeowners, Cooper said. “They’ve taken extraordinary steps to live in the Historic District. I do believe they deserve to be recognized,” he said. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the Historic Preservation Commission from presenting plaques to more homeowners. However, Loeper and Cooper were finally able to get out into the community recently for a socially distanced awards ceremony with David and Bernice Losinno and Michael Pinto and Sarah Ellis. Shown side by side, the historic homes at 409 and 411 Fifth Street are the latest properties to be recognized by the Ocean City Historic Preservation Commission. Before the pandemic struck, the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce would arrange trolley tours during the summer of the city’s historic landmarks. One of the stops was at David and Bernice Losinno’s Folk Victorian house, which is believed to be one of the city’s oldest surviving homes. Folk Victorians are described as less elaborate than traditional Victorian-style homes. They were built around the 1880s through 1910. They often featured gables and porches, but were simpler in floor design than a typical Victorian. Bernice Losinno said the house sat on the market for three years before she and her husband bought it in 2017 and began its restoration. “It just said something to me. The house just spoke to me,” Bernice recalled of how she immediately fell in love with the home. They were able to blend modern improvements with some of the home’s historic elements. The pine floors, plaster and the stairway are all original parts of the three-story house. “It needed everything,” Bernice explained of the extensive renovation work that included new wiring, plumbing and framing. The house is now quaintly painted pink, the favorite color of Bernice’s late mother, who was also named Bernice. Now retired, David, 76, and Bernice, 58, found the house by happenstance when they took a trip to the shore in September 2016 to see a beached whale in Sea Isle City. They never got to see the whale, but they did some sightseeing in Ocean City and stumbled upon the old home. At that time, it was dilapidated. “It was not a functional or livable house,” Bernice said. David and Bernice Losinno's quaint Folk Victorian house, shown here during a tour in 2019, is one of Ocean City's oldest surviving homes. The couple moved from Glenside, Pa., to become full-time Ocean City residents in their now-restored home. “When we bought the home, we were told that it was one of the oldest homes, if not the oldest surviving home, in Ocean City,” Bernice said. They were able to research the history of the house by reading the old deeds. They traced the home’s original ownership all the way back to Simon Wesley Lake, the father of three of the four Methodist ministers who founded Ocean City in 1879. Simon Wesley Lake died in the house in 1881 after suffering blood poisoning – the result of accidentally cutting himself with a tool he was using to clear brush from the site of the original Ocean City Tabernacle, the religious center of town in those days. Bernice said it was fascinating for her and David to pore over the old deeds. “As you go back in time, the paper literally gets older and older and you see the handwriting of the people who wrote the deeds and signed the deeds,” she noted. David and Bernice believe their house was built in 1879, the same year as Ocean City’s founding, but there is some speculation that it may date to 1880. They plan to do more research to confirm the date before they have it etched on their historic plaque.