Stylish Boutique Hotels on The Cape and Islands
June 4, 2018
Driven by design, Cape and islands inns cast a net for modern voyagers.
Text by Debra Judge Silber
The vintage sea captainâs home, meticulously preserved and unrivaled as the standard for luxury lodging on Cape Cod, is facing something of a mutiny. Eager to attract younger, design-savvy travelers, boutique inns across the Cape and islands are updating stodgy lodgings with designs that are contemporary, sometimes funky, and thoroughly original. This summer, if youâre looking for a stay that will stay with you, here are a few to consider.
Salt House Inn
6 Conwell St.
Provincetown
salthouseinn.com
![Salt House](https://www.nehomemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CI18_Salt-House.jpg)
Photography by John Caplice
New York designer Kevin OâShea and hotel industry veteran David Bowd opened the Salt House Inn in Provincetown, intending to lead a simple life on the Cape. It didnât turn out that wayâtheir retirement plan evolved into Salt Hotels, with properties in Shelter Island, New York, and Asbury Park, New Jersey, as well as Provincetown. But the cheery, minimalist rooms here allow visitors to reside in that fantasy even if the owners canât. Boxed in whitewashed clapboard, each guest room is decorated with curated clusters of objects native to New Englandâbright red lanterns here, oars thereâoffering a refined re-creation of traditional Cape cottages. âThe trend lately is to strip everything away and rebuild it modern,â says OâShea. âTo me, thatâs losing the character. I want to offer an authentic experience, but not in an old crusty way.â
Eben House
90 Bradford St.
Provincetown
ebenhouse.com
![Eben House](https://www.nehomemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CI18_Eben-House.jpg)
Photography by John Caplice
Kevin OâShea and David Bowd may pay the taxes, but at Eben House, Captain Eben Snow still presidesâafter a fashion. An oversize portrait by local artist Michael Gredler captures the innâs namesake in eighteenth-century styleâexcepting, perhaps, the sultry drag-queen eyes and diamond drop earring. The playfully naughty portraits of Snow and his family are just one way OâShea distances the 1776 center hall colonial from its former life as a house museum and celebrates its rebirth as a B&B. Time doesnât stand still here; it bounces happily from four-posters and convex mirrors to bistro sets and floors dotted in colorful penny rounds. Behind the captainâs house, three more vintage buildingsâthe four-bedroom Residence, two-bedroom Cottage, and single-suite Studioâoffer travelers a whole-house rental experience layered with amenities that include handmade breakfasts and dips in a saltwater pool. Inside all three, OâSheaâs mix of antiques and odd finds could fool guests into thinking theyâve just unlocked the long-forgotten beach house of a very interesting family.
The Old Homestead
508 Commercial St.
Provincetown
theoldhomesteadprovincetown.com
![](https://www.nehomemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The-Old-Homestead_02.jpg)
Photos by Isabel Wilder, Paul Freehof, and Kristin Hein
Four years ago, designers Kristin Hein and Philip Cozzi discovered a rather rundown nineteenth-century house, originally a sea captainâs home and later a guest house, in Provincetownâs East End. Drawn by its stunning views, they bought it and got to work. Within a year, they relocated their home and Hamptons studio there, and opened the remainder as a laid-back, two-bedroom, two-bath luxe rental. They shiplapped interior walls, spruced up original beams, and left the âcanted, kooky, and charmingâ floors (Heinâs words) as they were. A brick chimney still intersects the guest suite, where seating options include an African bench as well as vintage club chairs arranged beneath pendant lights hanging by their cords from ceiling beams. In one bedroom, the dragon-embossed headboard of a Chinese fertility bed rises ferociously over its organic Saatva mattress, Society Limonta linens, and Yves Delorme bedding. Quirky and soulful, the space has become a favorite of writers, musicians, and other creatives seeking inspiration in this longtime artistâs colony. âItâs worked itself into a bit of a salon,â Hein says.
Edgartown, Marthaâs Vineyard
The Christopher
24 South Water St.
thechristophermv.com
![](https://www.nehomemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CI18_The-Christopher.jpg)
Photos courtesy Lark Hotels
No two personalitiesânot even brothersâare alike, and so The Christopherâs coastal resort vibe is distinctly different from the gentlemanly refinement of The Richard, its new sibling hotel across town. Channeling inspiration from St. Bartâs as well as the Vineyard, designer Annsley McAleer avoids beachy clichĂŠs from either destination, and lets our imaginations do the work. Does that ceiling fixture resemble a spiny sea urchin? Is that a lighthouse beacon I see in the reflective sconces in the hall? Balancing style with durabilityâthis is a hotel, after allâMcAleer relies on commercial-grade furnishings from Noir to create breezy, casual rooms bursting with color in lively patterns from Quadrille, Lindsay Cowles, and Tulu. Local connections include colorful island photography and a display of island-made Chilmark Pottery in the breakfast room, where the characteristic color of the dishes picks up blues from the trim, banquette, and woven bistro chairs.
The Richard
104 Main St.,
Provincetown
therichardhotel.com
Like its sibling hotels, The Sydney and The Christopher, The Richard, opening in July, challenges the traditional mindset that has long held sway in this postcard-perfect village of stately homes and picket fences. Extensive renovations restored the vintage exterior of the former 1870 Point Way Inn, but inside, the sixteen guest rooms and reconfigured public spaces adopt an ambiance owner Anne -Hajjar describes as âcrisp and modern with a little bling.â The new look of the hotel, named for Hajjarâs third son, references a youthfulness that is sophisticated, elegant, and current. âItâs where modern meets coastal,â says Boston-based designer Rachel Reider, who mixed sleek, sculptural pieces with seaside textures of sisal and rattan. Metallic accents play against muted backgrounds of gray and sand, with splashes of deep purple that reference the nameâs royal origins. Concurrent with The Richard, Reider just completed work on an expansion of Hajjarâs Sydney (22 North Water Street), opening in July. There, jewel tones pop against a similarly contemporary backdrop.
Union Street Inn
7 Union St.
Nantucket
unioninn.com
![](https://www.nehomemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CI18_Union-Street-Inn.jpg)
Photography by Jeffrey Allen
There are two ways to get to Nantucketâby air or by seaâand both are referenced in the cloud-swept Fornasetti wallpaper that welcomes visitors who step into the foyer of the Union Street Inn. The Innâs decor has been an eighteen-year labor of love for Westport, Connecticut, designer Trudy Dujardin (sheâs overseen three renovations), and the new foyer is her latest tweak. Together with senior designer Price Connors, Dujardin guards historical elements that date from the 1700sâbullseye-glass transoms above doors, original fireplaces, and pieces of export porcelain tied to Nantucketâs seafaring daysâwhile introducing updatesâcontemporary marble baths, Frette and Matouk linensâthat appeal to well-traveled guests. Natural textiles and VOC-free paints and papers from Farrow & Ball reflect Dujardinâs commitment to healthful interiors. âItâs crisp, clean, Nantucket with a nod to the past,â she says.
Greydon House
17 Broad St.
Nantucket
greydonhouse.com
![](https://www.nehomemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CI18_Greydon-House.jpg)
Photography courtesy of Roman and Williams
Nantucket visitors tend to be a well-traveled lot, but letâs face it: the jaunts of the most adventurous modern-day jetsetters pale in comparison with the intrepid journeys of New Englandâs old-time seafarers. Manhattan-based designers Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch recall this spirit of discovery in their design of Greydon House, where throne-like chairs from the Cote dâIvoire mingle with vintage French stools, whaling artifacts, and Native American ceramics in tea-tonedâpaneled public rooms steeped in history. The inn links an 1850 Greek Revival home with a new structure built in Second Empire style. The whitewashed shiplap walls and chestnut floors of its twenty guest rooms are a crisp backdrop for custom Roman and Williams lighting and unique metal beds dressed in John Robshaw and Les Indiennes linens. Bathrooms are outfitted with Waterworks fixtures and showers clad in hand-painted Portuguese tiles depicting maritime scenes. Here, as everywhere on the Cape, the sea is never far away.
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