Visiting The Kennel Cottage, 330 Gray Craig Road, Middletown, Rhode Island

by Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty

Original Post

Over the years I have been in the doghouse on more occasions than I care to remember. But recently I was very happy to be in a very special doghouse indeed. The Kennel Cottage was once the home of eighteen pampered Pekinese pets - owned by a late lamented Newport grand dame. Fortunately someone with great foresight recognised that it would make an even better home for pampered persons.

For a start this delightful house never fails to deliver. Inside the colour palate is sophisticated, subtle, natural and calming. It is furnished with restraint and seemingly effortless good taste to show off the superb architecture and detail with great élan.

But if the house and its interior enthral then the grounds will enchant. What is extra special about The Kennel Cottage is its secrecy. It is tucked away on the private 77 acre Grey Craig estate that it shares with only five other homes. Hardly a soul knows that the house is there. It is a hidden garden kingdom. Beyond the terrace and pool are almost nine acres of very special landscaping.

Apparently the gardens were designed to emulate those of an English country estate. Perhaps. But in some ways these are even better. No English garden has views to Martha’s Vineyard! But in true English garden tradition the space is divided into distinct areas. These include a formal rose garden, an amphitheatre garden with lake, walled fruit orchard with pillared Italianate tea house and a shade garden. Beyond, the land falls gently to a rocky strand and the ocean.

If you want to live in Newport and make a statement to passers by then this is not for you. There are no passers by. But if you want total privacy in your own coastal realm then it is hard to see how this can be beaten. I loved my walkies around The Kennel Cottage. It certainly makes my ‘I would buy’ list.

Nick Churton

Block Island's Surf Hotel: A Short Story

As I sat on the Block Island Ferry this past Friday I glanced at the front page of the Block Island times, the Valentine’s edition, and at the bottom of the front page a short article caught my eye, “Surf Hotel back on the Market.” The article announces that the potential buyers of the iconic hotel are unable to obtain financing. The group still remains very interested in the historic hotel and many others have expressed interest since the hotel has returned to the market. The hotel is owned and was operated by the Cyr family for over 50 years. Not only is the hotel back on the market, but so are the memories, myths and stories that go along with it. One story about the hotel stands out in my mind; a ghost story about two who met working at the hotel.

The summer of 1908 was a hot one on Block Island. Rose, a beautiful 19 year old from Westport Connecticut, decided to come to the island and work for the summer like many young people do to save money for her education; Rose wanted nothing more than to become a teacher. She arrived on a Thursday afternoon where she was met at the boat by John, the hotel owner's son. He was a tall young man wearing a cap, shorts, and a white cotton button up top. He greeted her with a polite hand shake and said “How do you do miss, welcome to Block Island.” His handsome looks caught Rose's eye. They took the short walk up the hill to the hotel, John carrying her bags. He showed her to her quarters and then it was off to work for the both of them.

Rose was a chamber maid and checked guests into their rooms; John maintained the hotel's grounds and often took to the sea early in the morning to catch fish for dinner for the guests. Rose and John crossed paths several times a day and within a few days became very friendly. The two began spending a great deal of time together. Early morning walks on the beach holding hands, splashing in the cold ocean leading to hysteric laughter, late night stargazing rocking away in the rocking chairs overlooking the ocean on the famous Surf Hotel porch, and secret romantic picnic lunches sharing heart felt kisses soon lead to love and it was pure and beautiful.

The two fell deeply in love that summer and Rose decided that she was not going to leave. The two got married the following year and continued working at the hotel and eventually took over operations and ownership from John's parents. They ran the hotel together for 30 years.

Every morning John would take off and head out on the Block Island Sound and fish for Stripers and Blues which Rose would cook up in the evenings for the guests. When John would leave in the morning Rose would patiently wait on the porch of the Surf Hotel in one of the rocking chairs waiting and watching for John’s boat to come in. Everyday she would calmly rock back and forth in her rocking chair. As soon as she would see his boat at the 1 mile marker she would go back inside and wait for him to bring the catch up to the kitchen and she would then start preparing the dinner for that night. Rose was the best seafood cook on Block Island.

Early one Saturday morning, Rose and John woke up to watch a beautiful sunrise full of brilliant reds and oranges. They enjoyed the sunrise for a moment then John was off to catch that night’s dinner. He kissed Rose on the forehead and told her, “A hundred hearts would be too few to carry all my love for you.” He promised that he would be back shortly and off he went.

That morning Rose had a strange feeling that something was off but continued on with her routine. She went to the kitchen, made herself a cup of tea and some breakfast, and headed out to her rocking chair to wait for her love to come back from sea. As she sat rocking, she was reminded of a familiar saying, “Red sky in the morning sailors take warning, red sky at night sailor’s delight”. That morning the sky was full of red. Her heart sank. The only thing she could think of was John's safety.

As Rose ate her breakfast the sky became dark, the rain began to come down heavy and the infamous Block Island North East wind began to blow. Rose pushed her rocking chair out of the rain under the roofs over hang and continued to rock calmly repeating the saying, “Red sky in the morning sailors take warning”. Rose waited and waited, but her true love never returned. Unbeknown to her, John’s boat had taken on water and slowly sunk down to the bottom of the ocean off Pots and Kettles. John went down with his boat and was never seen again.

Rose never tried to find love again because she truly believed that “Some love lasts a life time, true love lasts forever”. She felt John was her only true love and nothing could compare to the love the two of them shared. Rose died at the age of 76 in her sleep; they say she suffered from a broken heart every day until the day of her passing. Rose would go out to the front porch of the hotel and rock calmly in her rocking chair and wait for her husband to return from sea. She never gave up the hope of seeing her true love again.

After John's passing, Rose did not want to continue to run the hotel. It closed for 17 years, and in 1956 the 35 room Victorian hotel was sold. After the sale of the hotel visitors would report seeing the rocking chair moving on the front porch with no one in it and not a hint of wind. When visitors ask about why that rocking chair rocks by itself, the hotel workers tell this story and or simply explain it is Rose waiting for the love of her life to return from sea.

Love at First Sight by Nick Churton, Mayfair International Realty

With romance in the air this February Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty takes a loving look at how we can often fall head over heels with…a home.

February is the month of St Valentine and it is worth remembering that it is not just people that can become the love of our lives. We can also fall under the spell of property.

Often it seems that people don’t really decide on a home. Instead homes seem to decide on people. Some homes just grab hold of buyers and make them fall in love immediately. Others flirt and intrigue but then take their time before revealing all their charms - slowly they become more comfortable, dependable and familiar until the owner’s heart is quite lost.

Do people really fall in love with their home? Of course they do. History and literature is full of stories about how a home became an important and even beloved part of someone’s life and even their soul. For many it was love at first sight.

For so many owners their home does far more than provide a shelter against heat, cold, rain, robbers and the nosey. It is their sanctuary and their muse, a place that inspires, nurtures and restores and where they can be most at peace with themselves. Perhaps that is why so many artists and other creative people care so much about where they live.

So if you are on the hunt for a new home this spring, whether it is a tiny apartment or the grandest of houses, listen to the voice of reason certainly, but also listen to your heartstrings. Love for a home is seldom unrequited. Love it and it will love you right back. And falling in love with a home can sometimes even be safer than falling in love with a person. At least your home doesn’t complain when you bring all your friends back unexpectedly!

Ice boating (Block Island)

With most of the local venues and businesses on Block Island sutting down for the winter months, the island becomes a bit of a ghost town. There is a limited ferry schedule making it difficult for people to get off the island for recreation activities. With that being said local islanders take to the ice. Families strap their skates on for fun weekend hockey games and for the thrill seeker they begin ice boating.

I had never heard of Ice Boating until I moved to Block Island this past spring. Growing up on the ocean my family took to sailing during the summer months, so with the Passion of boating in my blood the idea of boating during the winter sparked my curiosity. I began going down to the the ponds on the weekends and observing the thrilling sport. possible about the sport. I began asking the boaters information about the activity and this is what I have learned.

Please click on link to view an ice boating video www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC45QJOn8G0

An Ice boat is strictly powered by wind and needs relatively snow free ice to sail. Luckily for the ice boaters on Block Island most of the snow that has been hammering down on New England has avoided landing on the island or due to high wind conditions it has blown off the island and into the ocean, making ice conditions and wind great for ice boating. An ice boat is a a hull attached to a perpendicular cross piece called a runner plank. There are three skates, or runners, attached to the boat one on each end of the plank and one on the force end of the hull. Below is a drawing of the top view of an ice boat showing the the hull and the runners.

There are different classes of ice boats. The Dn is a small, light and relatively inexpensive boat. it offers fun performance and very competitive sailing. Although it is not as fast as the larger ice boats many ice yactors experienced or not find the DN to be a very satisfying boat.

The Nite ice boat is a newer design that was introduced in 1976. The Nite combines a side-by-side fiberglass hull. It is a very versatile day sailor/ racer. It is compact in size and very light weight.

The Renegade is a very spirited Ice yacht. It is offers lots of power but in a small package. It is light and small enough to put on the roof rack of a car. It has been a true trend setter since coming out in 1947.

The Skeeter is the "Formula one" of ice boats. Instead of being a rear seater like most ice boats the Skeeter is the only front seater they are built out of high tech materials such as Carbon and Kevlar. They are super powerful and are the fastest boat on the ice. They are the most challenging boat to skipper.

The Stern Steerers, Known as the big boats. This is where ice boating began. They are fly jib and steer from the stern. They only have a resemblance of their ancestors but have been updated in performance design. With modernized hardware and improvements with aerodynamic rigging allowing the Stearn steerers to out class its ancestors.

Ice boats will reach speeds up to five times higher than the wind speed. This depends on a few factors such as conditions, the design and class of the ice boat. The reason why ice boats reach high speeds is because of the low friction between the runners and the ice and also because of the sail shape. The sail acts more like vertical wing that a sail. The smaller DN class of ice boats reaches speeds between 50-60 mph and the ultra modern class A (formula 1 class of ice boats)reach speeds over 100 mph.

Ice boats do travel at high rates of speed and do not have breaks. Stopping an ice boat is not a huge challenge, to stop an ice boat the skipper must steer the boat directly into the wind. To slow the ice boat down by easing the sheet rope (the rope that controls the sail shape). Ice boats do have parking breaks for when they are stopped but the break can only be engaged when the boat is at a complete stop.

Any activity involving high rates of speed has the potential for disaster. If you learn how to properly sail an ice boat, sail by the established right or way rules, always use common sense, properly maintain your equipment and only boat during safe conditions (stay off the ice when it is not safe). Ice boating can be a safe sport.

Ice boating on Block Island Photos below