$1,580,294Average Value$956Average Price per Sq Ft22Homes For Sale
Historic Black vacation destination
Oak Bluffs is known for its whimsical gingerbread houses, port of entry to Martha’s Vineyard and storied history as a summer refuge for Black Americans. This down-island town, in the geographic northeast of the island, is where tourists exit ferry boats during the summer high season, a phrase typically shortened to just "during season" by beach town locals. It's where gray-shingled beach houses look out into the Nantucket Sound, where people buy T-shirts and fresh doughnuts along Circuit Avenue and where the wind blows so hard that it’s easy to see why Massachusetts considered installing wind turbines on Cape Cod to create renewable energy.
Driving north into the center of Oak Bluffs over the bridge featured in “Jaws,” a concrete wall blocks ocean access on the right, and gray, weather-worn shingled houses sit on the left overlooking the water. Unlike buttoned-up Edgartown, where the white paint on picket fences is always fresh, shorefront Oak Bluffs homes feel like they’ve been kissed by the beach, as if the rumbling Nantucket Sound waves washed over the whole town at some point without causing damage.
Oak Bluffs has been a summer haven for the Black community for generations. In 1912, island property owner Charles Shearer, born enslaved in Virginia, opened Shearer Cottage, an inn catering to Black families who were not welcome elsewhere. The resort did well and operates today as the Inn at Shearer Cottage. In a 2023 essay for Martha’s Vineyard Magazine about the island as a reprieve for Black Americans, the writer Bijan C. Bayne described Martha's Vineyard as a “race machine” that instantly removed the prejudices that Black people face in their daily lives, where they could just be, and relax, without having to worry. “It was a place where I didn’t have to think about my complexion every day, and where my friends were far less likely to be judged by theirs,” Bayne wrote. Still, the island’s population is predominantly white. The population of Dukes County is 89% white, 5% Black, nearly 4% Hispanic or Latino and 1.4% Asian. Every year in August, Oak Bluffs hosts the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival and a fireworks show.
The Overton House is a historic landmark just a short walk from downtown Oak Bluffs.
Visitors flock off the ferry and into the streets of Oak Bluff.
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Flying horses and live bands at a dive bar
The commercial district in Oak Bluffs is steps from where visitors exit ferry boats during season. It’s a relaxed area where pizza parlors, ice cream shops and clothing stores do business on the ground floor of what look to be residential buildings. Just before season starts in May, the town is flooded with construction workers and painters putting the finishing touches before all the tourists come. Construction workers come from off-island spots like New Bedford, says Lisa Lucier, owner and broker of Anchor Realty in Oak Bluffs. “If you got to the boats at 3 or 4 p.m. when they’re done for the day, they’re full of people getting on with their lunch box or whatever they’ve got with them,” she says.
Cafes like Aalia’s serve breakfast and coffee to caffeine-deprived customers. Aalia’s has a handful of small indoor tables and some seats by the window, not nearly enough to fit the lines of 80 or so people that stretch out the front door during season. Linda Jean’s Restaurant is open year-round, serving jerk chicken, oxtail and quarter-pound lobster rolls. The Flying Horses Carousel, which originated in Coney Island, is the oldest platform carousel in the U.S., and it sits inside a tiny red building near a median sign welcoming people to Oak Bluffs.
On nights and weekends, there’s the Ritz Café. It’s a dive bar and live music venue where people come for shows and Tuesday night karaoke. On Wednesdays, local bands like Johnny Hoy & the Bluefish crowd into the side of the joint and play bluesy dance music. The bar pours beers from breweries like Allagash and Maine Beer Co. The Sweet Life Café, an upscale eatery, is open year-round.
Grab the brass ring for a free ride at Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs
Listen to live music at Aalia’s in Oak Bluffs.
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Whimsical Victorian homes in Martha's Vineyard town
Across from the town beach is Ocean Park, a rolling, hilly park. It’s vast and open, overlooking the shoreline, and people walk through it via paved pathways and sit on benches. Whimsical Victorian homes with turrets and front porches surround the park, but the truly fantastical Oak Bluffs homes are at the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. This historic district of about 300 homes started as a summer religious camp for Methodists, who lived in tents and eventually built cottages. Known as “gingerbread houses,” the cottages come in bright colors like blue, pink and purple and have names like “the Purple Lady.” Property owners lease their land, Lucier says, and about five or six gingerbread houses hit the market per year. “I just sold one, the last one I think that sold, maybe in February. It’s two houses and it sold for $700,000. It needed a lot of work. It was built in 1897,” she says.
The gingerbread houses sit one next to the other, circling a park, an outdoor tabernacle and the United Methodist Church of Martha’s Vineyard. Parking is limited. Elsewhere, on skinny paved streets near the beach, sit gray-shingled beach cottages, and the town also has Cape Cods and farmhouses in rural neighborhoods. Home prices range from about $800,000 to $8.4 million.
Incredible craftsmanship can be seen in this victorian Oak Bluffs home.
A row of fantastical Oak Bluffs homes are found in Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association.
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After school activities and health care services
Locals can walk on a sandy pathway along the Nantucket Sound, where they can look out into the water and smell the fresh ocean air as the waves crash at their feet. They can ride bikes over the bridge that connects Oak Bluffs with Vineyard Haven. They can go to one of many beaches with assertive waves, like Inkwell Beach or Oak Bluffs Town Beach on the Nantucket Sound, or Eastville Beach on Lagoon Pond. Away from the center of town, teenagers practice their tricks at the skate park across from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and hang out after school at the YMCA.
Mass General Brigham Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, the island’s main health care facility, sits within Oak Bluffs. The hospital has an emergency room, an intensive care unit, cardiology services and more. The affiliation with Mass General Brigham has helped the island, says Lucier. The partnership gave Martha’s Vineyard Hospital access to a broader continuum of care, and doctors within the Mass General Brigham health care system can transfer. Lucier says she had cancer and received most of her treatment on-island. She only had to go to Boston for surgeries. “That was so much part of the care, because if you have to get in a car, drive to the boat, take the boat back home, that would have probably did me in,” she says.
Joseph Sylvia State Beach offers miles of coastline for residents of Oak Bluffs.
Catch your dinner from Oak Bluffs Fishing Pier in Oak Bluffs.
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Blue Ribbon high school on Martha's Vineyard
Each Martha’s Vineyard town has a public elementary school. Oak Bluffs Elementary School serves prekindergarten through eighth grade and has a B-rating from Niche. Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School serves the entire island and has a B-plus from Niche. The high school has about 700 students and is a two-time National Blue Ribbon School award winner.
Oak Bluffs Elementary School received an overall B rating from Niche.
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School got a B+ for academics by Niche.
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Ferrying around during season
During season, ferry boats shuttle passengers between Oak Bluffs and Nantucket, Woods Hole and North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The year-round ferry to the island is in nearby Vineyard Haven. Driving to Vineyard Haven takes 10 minutes, the ride to the center of Edgartown is 15 minutes and Martha’s Vineyard Airport is 15 minutes away.
The ferry steams past Dockside Beach in Oak Bluffs
Cape Air makes it easy for Oak Bluffs residents to get on and off the Island.
GreatSchools:
The GreatSchools Rating helps parents compare schools within a state based on a variety of school quality indicators and provides a helpful picture of how effectively each school serves all of its students. Ratings are on a scale of 1 (below average) to 10 (above average) and can include test scores, college readiness, academic progress, advanced courses, equity, discipline and attendance data. We also advise parents to visit schools, consider other information on school performance and programs, and consider family needs as part of the school selection process.
View GreatSchools Rating Methodology
Interested in learning more about homes in this area?
Reach out to
Wendy Harman,
an experienced agent in this neighborhood.
Parks in this Area
Trinity Park
Ocean Park
Waban Park
Veira Park
Washington Park
Transit
Airport
Martha's Vineyard
13 min drive
Bus
Mv Reg High School
Bus
Beach Road Across From Mv Hospital
Bus
The Roundabout Westbound
Bus
The Roundabout Eastbound
Bus
Little Bridge Ocean Side
Bus
The Y
Bus
Niantic Park
Crime and Safety
1 - Low Crime, 10 - High Crime
Oak Bluffs
US
Homicide
1
4
Sexual Assault
2
4
Assault with Weapon
1
4
Robbery
1
4
Burglary
3
4
Motor Vehicle Theft
2
4
Larceny
2
4
Crime Score
2
4
Source: WhatIsMyCrimeRisk.com
Demographics and Home Trends
On average, homes in Oak Bluffs, Marthas Vineyard sell after 90 days on the market compared to the national average of 47 days. The average sale price for homes in Oak Bluffs, Marthas Vineyard over the last 12 months is $1,267,031, down 27% from the average home sale price over the previous 12 months.
Location, Location, Location! Welcome to your dream retreat in the charming historic area of Oak Bluffs. Walk to Inkwell beach, ferries, restaurants and dining. Sited across the street from Waban Park, this delightful home offers an inviting blend of comfort and convenience.As you step inside, you'll immediately appreciate the spacious layout featuring well-appointed living areas, a generous
This delightful, modern cape-style home features thoughtful and impressive finish details. It is almost ready for move in day! The covered porch welcomes you into the home where you will find a well-appointed spaces. The kitchen has stainless appliances including a 5-burner gas range with pot filler, a French-door refrigerator, dishwasher, and back splash finished with subway tiles. There is an
East Chop -- This handsome, meticulously maintained 4-bedroom gambrel roof house, nestled in one of the prime locations of East Chop, has had substantial renovations and upgrades over the years since 2017. The 1st floor includes large living room with dining area and Rumford wood burning fireplace that opens out to a front porch and deck running the length of the house and which wraps around to
Modernized 5 bed, 3 full bath Victorian in the heart of Downtown Oak Bluffs. Steps to restaurants, shopping, harbor, ferries and beaches. Accommodates 10 guests. Easy breezy outdoor living, dining, bluestone patio and BBQ grill. Relax on the covered porch surrounded by a lush flower garden or unwind in the outdoor shower. Updated stone and stainless kitchen. Formal dining for eight. A/C, WIFI and
Allison Cameron ParryDouglas Elliman Real Estate - Nantucket
**PEAK SUMMER WEEKLY RATE** Water view Victorian fronting Waban Park, steps to Inkwell Beach. Newly restored 9-bed, 6+ bath Main and Guest House houses 18 guests. Internet, A/C and cable TV. Coastal chic interior with all new furnishings. Large open floor plan, ample gathering and relaxation spaces. Dining for 10, Wet Bar, gourmet kitchen, gas range, stainless appliances and distinctive design.
Allison Cameron ParryDouglas Elliman Real Estate - Nantucket
THIS PROPERTY IS A WEEKLY RENTAL PROPERTY!! Newly renovated, Great for Family Gatherings, Corporate Retreats, Central Air & Heat, very close to Circuit Ave and Beach, 5 Bedrooms, 3 full baths, galley kitchen, new appliances, dining room, family room, Flat Screen TV, FREE Wifi, washer & dryer, bay window breakfast nook, Oak and Pine wood flooring, outdoor shower, wrap around porch, blue stone
Interested in learning more about homes in this area?
Reach out to
Wendy Harman,
an experienced agent in this neighborhood.
Average Home Value
Source: Public Records
Property Mix - Square Feet
This Neighborhood Has More Owners
Demographics
Total Population
7,773
Median Age
49
Population Density
2 ppl/acre
Population under 18
18.2%
Below the national average
23.8%
Population over 65
27.2%
Above the national average
19.1%
Finances
Median Household Income
$106,882
Significantly above the national average
$71,702
Average Household Income
$133,511
Education and Workforce
High School Graduates
96.2%
College Graduates
46.9%
Above the national average
34.1%
Advanced Degrees
24.6%
Above the national average
13.3%
% Population in Labor Force
67.5%
Weather
Annual Precipitation
42''
Average Winter Low Temperature
23°F
Average Summer High Temperature
79°F
Annual Snowfall
6''
Area Factors
Somewhat Bikeable
Bike Score®
27/ 100
Car-Dependent
Walk Score®
6/ 100
Source: Walk Score
Source: Walk Score
Sound Score® measures the noise level of any address. Transit Score® measures access to public transit. Bike Score® measures the bikeability of any address.
Disclaimer: Certain information contained herein is derived from information provided by parties other than Homes.com. Our sources include: Accuweather, Public Records and Neustar. All information provided is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and should be independently verified.
