Its efforts to restore the Cadman-White-Handy House on His Bridge Road has earned the Westport Historical Society one of the region’s foremost honors for preservation.

The Waterfront Historic Area League of New Bedford (WHALE) awarded the Sarah Delano Preservation Award to the Westport Historical Society recently at its 52nd annual meeting.

The honor, named for the late WHALE president who served between 1966-1982, was given for the society’s restoration and  interpretation of the Westport house whose construction began circa 1713 and continued through three phases.

“The Handy House is the largest artifact in the collection of the  Westport Historical Society. It has been left mostly unfurnished so  that visitors can view the walls, floors, windows, doors, hinges, moldings, plaster, and other parts of its structure,” said WHALE  President Wendy Nicholas as she presented the award.

“Inside a visitor can discover the secrets of this 300-year-old  house which includes an 18th century house buried within an 1800  house, buried within a Federal style 1830s structure,” she said.

“Utilizing Community Preservation Act funds available in Westport,  the Westport Historical Society completed the careful exterior and interior restoration of the Handy House creating an innovative way to explore Westport’s past and to engage the community.”

Executive Director Jenny O’Neill and Tony Connors, president of the Westport Historical Society, accepted the honor at the Wamsutta Club.

Also during the meeting, the architect and historic preservationist Chip Gillespie, a Westporter who also served as WHALE’s president for many years, was posthumously honored with the George Perkins  Award.

The featured speaker for the meeting was Marita Rivero, chairman of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who said that the National Trust “shouldn’t be limited” to saving  buildings of “architectural significance.”

“We need to know who was involved in this space and what are their stories,’” she said. “There are many overlooked treasures out there  with stories of women and communities of color.”

She noted that preserving history is also about "understanding that  places that look ordinary are nothing but extraordinary."

Handy House, located at 202 Hix Bridge Road, is open to the  public on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month June- October. For information contact the Westport Historical Society

www.wpthistory.org