![]() An outside consultant concluded that the only way to save Ocean House would be to tear it down and replicate the original by rebuilding with modern materials and techniques. The fact remained, however, that the building could not be preserved. Then, in 2004, a developer bought the property with plans to demolish and build several oceanfront homes, but the residents of Watch Hill rose up, and in an early display of crowd sourcing they banded together and saved the property from the threat of McMansions. Ocean House was once the kind of place where one might attend teatime after a morning out on the yacht, where the silent film classic American Aristocracy starring Douglas Fairbanks was filmed in 1916, but by the early-2000s the building had fallen into such disrepair that it could not feasibly be brought up to modern safety codes. It now stands pale yellow and obstinate against the harsh Atlantic, the only hotel from the Gilded Age on Watch Hill to survive seasonal hurricanes and catastrophic fires, but it nearly succumbed to the elements. Originally built in 1868, Ocean House’s story is one of resilience. Stepping inside Ocean House is like traveling back in time to the Gilded Age itself. The white staircase leading to the front doors turns into a wrap-around veranda where, during the warmer months, guests can enjoy a casual meal in the sunshine. ![]() We pulled up to the entrance and were whisked away towards the lobby as the smiling and cordial valet and other attendants took our bags and belongings up to the room. As we passed through the picturesque New England landscapes dotted with mansard roofs and farms, we rounded a corner and the Ocean House resort erupted into view in all its majesty and grandeur, and it was in that moment that I realized we were about to be transported to another moment in time. It’s the kind of song that feels like it’s frozen in a certain moment in time, and has the ability to transport you back to that moment. While driving down the winding streets of Westerly, Rhode Island towards the historic Watch Hill district my copilot, Kate Kolenda, decided to put on a song I had never heard before called, New England,by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers.
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