A GRANDE DAME RETURNS • Five years and $140 million later, the landmark
Ocean House once again looms large on a Watch Hill, Rhode Island, bluff
Known fondly for its bright yellow clapboards and enveloping verandas, the Ocean House clung to its bluff on the Watch Hill, Rhode Island, shoreline for more than 130 years before meeting its demise in 2005, when it was demolished. Now its familiar profile once again looms
above the Atlantic with the opening of a $140 million remake
of the Gilded Age hotel.
A pet project of Wall Street investment adviser and
Watch Hill summer resident Charles M. Royce, the new
Ocean House, a sprawling resort with 49 hotel rooms and 23
architecture: centerbrook architects and planners
private residences, has been refashioned to capture the historic
essence of the original and restore its early reputation as a
destination worthy of the rich.
Its provenance dates to just after the Civil War, when
a half-dozen or so rambling wooden hotels gradually transformed this seaside village in Westerly, Rhode Island, into a
summer colony for the wealthy. Over time, as the hotels fell
out of fashion, the Ocean House became the sole surviving
grande dame and continued to welcome guests until just a
few years before it was torn down.
the new ocean house replicates the original landmark hotel
and offers the luxury amenities of a modern resort while
incorporating historical architectural touchstones.
OCEAN HOUSE
1 Bluff Ave.
Watch Hill, Rhode Island
888-552-2588
oceanhouseri.com
