Real Estate: How a family saved a historic Cape Cod in Orient

What convinced them to proceed was the enthusiastic endorsement of the house’s structural integrity by Robert Sorenson, an Orient contractor specializing in restoring old homes.

“It’s such a historic gem,” said Mr. Sorenson, who would become the Venturas’ general contractor. “When you have joists [parallel beams set from wall to wall] with bark on them, that tells me it’s probably built in the 1700s.”

Mr. Ventura, a portfolio manager at a bank in Manhattan, credits his wife with having an appreciation for how special their house is — which isn’t surprising given her professional and educational background.

Ms. Ventura, who once designed exhibitions for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., holds a master’s in decorative arts and design history from Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.

Restoration of the house began early last year with work to stabilize it. This included excavating around the original stone foundation so that it could be repointed. (It underlies a high brick foundation that, according to the Oysterponds Historical Society, was added in the 1880s, when the house was raised as protection against flooding in this low-lying part of Village Lane near Orient Harbor.)

To further stabilize the house, additional joists were installed to supplement the original beams, which the Venturas have preserved for historical reasons, and two dozen new wooden support columns made were inserted in the basement to replace old metal posts that had corroded because of saltwater intrusion.

By the time the couple moved into their four-bedroom house in June 2013 with their twins, Augusta and Michael, now age 9, the exterior restoration of the house, which received new cedar shingles on both roof and sides, was complete. Inside, however, their home was still “a mess,” Ms. Ventura recalled.

It’s gotten steadily better since then.

Both bathrooms have been completely redone and a new ducted, forced-air heating system has just been installed. But “we didn’t do much to the kitchen,” said Ms. Ventura as she led a visitor into a cheerful space with windows on three sides. The eat-in kitchen is believed to date from the late 1800s.

The recently repainted living room is especially attractive because it has an unusually high ceiling for a Cape; Mr. Sorenson estimates that it’s “every bit of eight feet” high — about a foot more than normal.

If the Venturas are pleased with their restoration, so are their neighbors.

“They really improved the consistency and quality of Village Lane,” said Bill Matassoni, who owns a beautifully restored circa-1730 house two doors away. “Every house on Village Lane now looks good.”

Another Village Lane resident, Janet Markarian of Daniel Gale Sothe

by’s International Realty, who ended up selling the house for Mr. Terry, said the Venturas did such a fine job restoring it that some prospective buyers to whom she had shown the house regretted not purchasing it.

“People really liked it, but they were afraid,” said Ms. Markarian. “For the Venturas, it was a leap of faith.”

Now a Cutchogue resident, Mr. Terry, whose family acquired the property in the 1960s, is also pleased. His old home “looks a lot nicer,” said Mr. Terry, who still has a vintage 1930s oil painting of the house by prominent Orient artist William Steeple Davis. “I’m happy they found someone who enjoys old houses.”

No. 1780 is just one of several very old houses on lower Village Lane. Besides the Matassonis’ there are two homes said to date to 1845, another to the mid-1750s and one, described by the historical society as the best documented, to 1701.

Mr. Ventura believes his newly restored home will be around for a lot longer. “Now the house is good for another couple of hundred years,” he said, smiling broadly.