Architecture Here and There

Come with your intrepid correspondent on a tour of Ocean House, the rebuilt - and expanded - resort hotel that opened in 1868 but was razed in 2005 - and rebuilt in 2010. The ribbon cutting is this Thursday, but I toured the project with architect Jefferson Riley and a family from Connecticut last Thursday. Here is your own tour through my camera lens.

Here is the entrance. The famous round porch and what you see from the front is what you'd have seen in 1908 if you'd been there, and alive 102 years ago:

Here is another view from the front:

And another, looking across the international croquet field at the rear addition:

The grand verandah extends to the rear of Ocean House:

Here is the view as you enter the lobby. Note the fine columns from the original:

In the restaurant I met Jefferson Riley, the lead architect for Centerbrook Architects & Planners, of Centerbrook, Conn. With him was Robert Labulis & family. Dad is the building inspector of Hamden, Conn. He, his wife, daughter and son (partly hidden) were pleasant companions as we ooo'd and ahhh'd our way through Ocean House:

As we began the tour we strolled along this curved corridor just inside the rear terrace:

We started the tour underground, first seeing the spa and lap pool with-a-view:

The pool ceiling featured a painting of the sky. Note the two birds:

Here is the Doric entrance from the condo garage into the lower condo common area:

On the way outside from the cabana area:

As you emerge outside, this is your view:

As you turn, you see upper and lower tiers of condos and rooms, and stairs up to the terrace:

Here is the terrace we reached by climbing that elegant set of stairs:

As you enter the terrace you see to upper tiers of hotel rooms and condos to your left:

And to your right you see more upper tiers of hotel rooms and condos:

Here, in a high-concept photograph, are some high-concept lamps on the terrace:

We mounted to the upper levels on an elevator rescued from the doomed hotel:

Here is the entrance hallway inside one of the pricier condos:

Here is the view from a hotel room:

Here is a large room in a lush condos. Note the outsized bracket in the distance:

Couldn't quite see it? Here it is close up. A clunker, but an elegant clunker, yes?

We went out onto the deck of a fancy condo. See the Watch Hill beach on the horizon:

At the far end of a large deck is a round cabin that's heated in the winter:

Over the ledge of the uppermost condo you see the lower tiers of rooms and condos:

From this deck you could see up to the tower with the widow's walk:

"Hey, let's go up there!" Like most condos it's not finished yet, but it's not uninteresting for that. Check out the spiral staircase up to the widow's walk:

Well, that's it! But not quite. I sat down for a bowl of garlic soup in the restaurant. Yum!

The servers were wonderfully nice and helpful, and they liked to stand around outside of the kitchen (who wouldn't!):

Thank you, Jeff Riley, for this marvelous tour. I hope to return someday with my wife and little boy Billy (age 1), but I'll have to collect every single nickel referred to in the last paragraph of Thursday's column!

 Tags  Centerbrook Architects Jeff Riley Ocean House Watch Hill Westerly RI

Comments

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John Allen said:

Great shots of the 'new' O.H.
I worked on the 'old' one for many years.
My dad and I painted the exterior over the
span of 25 years. I even painted the flagpole a few times .
Having worked on the roof many times, I was
struck by picture #22 ( caption begins "at the far end of a large deck") .
That view ,looking east towards Misquamicut is an amazing sight. It always puzzled me that looking 'up' that beach,it looks curved. Yet,look on any map...and the coast is depicted as straight. Optical illusion I guess.
The view atop O.H. is unmatched. Fisher's Island,NY. Little Narragansett Bay, Block Island, The CT shoreline, and Napatree point.

Link | May 19, 2010 1:32 AM
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David Brussat said:

Mr. Allen - Thanks very much for your note. I wish we could have gotten up to the widow's walk itself, but so much of the residential portion of Ocean House was filled with workers putting the final touches on units whose purchasers' decorators have yet to take their first stab. Oh well. Just the views from the windows and the terraces and decks were phenomenal. As for the conundrum you unveil, I have no answer for that. Maybe it's just the curvature of the Earth! But I must say, a quarter of a century spent slapping paint on such a lovely structure with such a lovely view to take in as partial recompense for your toil seems the epitome of a quarter century well spent.

Link | May 19, 2010 7:48 AM
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True Design said:

It looks like a nice Marriott - if they think this is 5 star, they need to get out a little more.

Link | May 19, 2010 11:09 PM
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