When it comes to historic preservation in the Northeast, Greenwich resident Charles (Chuck) Royce”™s name is a highly respected one. President and chief investment officer of Royce & Associates, a small-cap investment company, he will be honored Sept. 14 with the Greenwich Historical Society”™s”¯prestigious David Ogilvy Preservation Award”¯for his dedication to preservation and revitalization. The event takes place at the historical society”™s annual meeting, to be held at the Riverside Yacht Club.
One of Royce”™s most celebrated projects to date was his 2003 purchase of Ocean House, a storied yet dilapidated Victorian hotel overlooking Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. The building dated from 1868 and, clearly, it was going to need an angel with very large wings ”“ read “deep pockets” ”“ to rescue it. Royce and his wife, the former actress Deborah Goodrich Royce, duly dug deep ”“ Royce saying he could not bear to see the old historic hotel torn down and replaced with McMansions ”“ and paid $11.5 million for the crumbling grande dame, with another $146 million raised to transform it.
Following a meticulous reconstruction that honored the original property, Ocean House opened in 2010 as a five-star luxury hotel and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Properties.
“I”™m not a developer per se in any way, but once I got involved in this, it became a full-form development project,” Royce told Forbes magazine in 2012.
Located on the Atlantic shore in Watch Hill (population 154), an affluent dot on the map at Rhode Island”™s southern tip, Ocean House is one of the last remaining grand ocean-front hotels in New England. With the original design faithfully replicated, the hotel boasts magnificently well-appointed guest rooms and suites and outstanding service in a glorious beachfront locale, evoking New England”™s golden age of hospitality.”¯Factor in the (Forbes 5-Star) OH! Spa, multiple restaurants, art events and programming, a Center for Wine & Culinary Arts and sports such as golf, tennis and croquet, and you can see why Ocean House is no ordinary resort.
But it doesn”™t stop there. A mere two and a half miles along the coast, the Weekapaug Inn is another 19th historic hotel, one that had endured several punishing hurricanes and partial collapse, and was on the verge of extinction before the Royces stepped in, helping to underwrite and oversee a $20 million restoration.
Under the Ocean House Management flag, but more intimate than its monumental Ocean House cousin, the Forbes 5-Star Weekapaug is a natural gem, nestled amid the scenic Atlantic coast, a salt pond and a barrier beach. It contains 33 guest rooms (including four two-bedroom signature suites) that offer sweeping waterfront views, an outdoor pool and access to a private community beach. The property’s dedicated on-staff naturalist team, meanwhile, helps guests discover and engage with their surroundings, facilitating everything from guided beach walks and boating excursions to biking, bird-watching and stargazing. And as part of the Ocean House Collection, guests enjoy the amenities and activities of both Weekapaug and Ocean House, making the inn ideal for business retreats, family vacations and weekend escapes.
Like Ocean House, Weekapaug Inn is a member of Relais & Châteaux and both properties are open all year, a boon in a part of the country where beach hotels often shut up shop over the colder winter months.
The complementary pair should go a long way to making this winter a warm one.
For more, visit oceanhouseri.com and weekapauginn.com.
