WEST DENNIS — A stately mansion built by a 19th-century sea captain who was also a prominent figure in town has stood vacant and deteriorating for decades.

But local preservationists say there is now reason to hope the Columns, a Greek Revival home built by Obed Baker in 1862 that later became a restaurant and a hot spot for jazz, will be returned to its former splendor.

A family-owned development group called 1620 Capital LLC purchased the Route 28 property in October.

The firm paid $416,000 for the house and its surrounding 14 acres. During its time on the market, the Columns had at various times commanded asking prices of more than $800,000.

George Vasvatekis, who founded 1620 Capital with his brother Vanni and father, Nikolaos, said the group is working on a historic project in downtown Whitman but looks forward to turning its attention to its newly acquired property in West Dennis.

“We’re wrapping up the Jenkins Block April 1,” Vasvatekis said. “Then I hope to roll up my sleeves and focus on the Columns.”

The Columns was placed on a list of “most endangered historic resources” by the nonprofit group Preservation Massachusetts in 2018.

“This is a project we had been watching for quite a long time,” said James Igoe, the group’s president. “We know the new owner pretty well, and we’re familiar with a fair amount of his work. He is someone, we know, that cares a lot about historic preservation.”

Preservation Massachusetts is based in downtown Plymouth, just a few doors from the town’s Post Office Square, which was bought and restored by 1620 Capital.

The $4.5 million project refurbished the building and transformed the interior into four residential units, 13 commercial spaces and a renovated post office, which had operated out of the building for more than 100 years.

“We watched that restoration over the course of two years,” Igoe said. “George did a fabulous job, and really knocked it out of the park. Hopefully, he’ll do the same kind of thing with the Columns.”

Vasvatekis’ firm won Preservation Massachusetts’ Paul & Niki Tsongas Award for the Plymouth project. The firm won the award again in 2019 for its historic restoration of the 'Sconset Store on Nantucket, which the company redeveloped into two residential units.

As a first step in Dennis, Down Cape Engineering is conducting a survey of the property and flagging the considerable wetlands, Vasvatekis said.

Vasvatekis said the first floor of the house was essentially “gutted to the studs” before he bought it, “but there are still some nice period details like moldings and the central staircase.”

“It’s in pretty rough shape,” he said. “A restoration of this caliber is going to be quite costly.”

Ideally, he would like to renovate and rent the space, as he has done with his other restorations, to generate some income.

More details on the future of the Columns should be coming by late spring, when Vasvatekis presents his plan to local boards.

Both the Columns and the man who built it have interesting and well-documented histories.

Born in 1817, Baker began his maritime career at age 9, when he went to sea as a cook’s helper. By the time he was 20, Baker had command of his own ship, and in 1849, he captained the first American schooner to sail into the harbor of Malta.

Keeping abreast of the changing times, Baker switched to commanding steamships by the 1850s. He died in 1889, but the Dennis mansion stayed in the family well into the 20th century.

According to local histories, the Columns was a restaurant in the 1960s. From 1970 to 1976, it was the place to go to on Cape Cod for jazz. Marie Marcus, Dave McKenna, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Razzmatazz and Teddy Wilson all performed there.

“The Columns is one of the most iconic landmarks in Dennis, magnificent in architecture since the 1860s, a jazz landmark in the 1960s, languishing empty since the' 80s,” Diane Rochelle, chairwoman of the Dennis Historical Commission, said. “Now hopefully (it’s) on its way to preservation.”

Follow Christine Legere on Twitter: @ChrisLegereCCT.