The Surf Hotel, one of the last of the grand dames on Block Island, is having its first significant renovation in a century.
Unlike some grand hotels, which were designed as a single building, the Victorian-era Surf Hotel on Dodge Street was initially constructed in 1876 as a single beachside bungalow, then added-on over time in multiple phases.
Inside, its rooms still carry the history of vacationing in the early 1900s. Some elements will remain – including the original tin ceiling on the first floor. Others are going the way of the dumbwaiter – such as the shared bathrooms at the end of the second-floor hallway. Each renovated guest room will have its own bathroom in 2019.
The historical renovation of the hotel has been the work of Newport Collaborative Architects since October 2018.
When the work is completed this season, the iconic hotel, with its commanding veranda and view of Block Island Sound, will become part of a four-property configuration to be called the Block Island Beach House.
Lark Hotels, a hotel management and development company that is focused on boutique hotels in California, New York and New England, is the new owner. It purchased the Surf Hotel property in February, along with several other adjoining sites, and is preparing to rebrand the site with an eye at capturing younger visitors with clean, refreshed interiors and modern services.
Established in 2012, the company has since renovated and managed numerous hotels, including several on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. This is its first project on Block Island. In Rhode Island, Lark Hotels also has the boutique properties of the Attwater and Gilded in Newport.
The website for the Block Island Beach House offers a sense of what is coming this summer: private bathrooms, free wireless, all-day coffee and cocktail bar, and personalized concierge services.
‘If you miss the season, you miss the whole income for the year.’
J. Michael Abbott, Newport Collaborative Architects principal
NCA principals J. Michael Abbott, Glenn R. Gardiner and John K. Grosvenor have joined together on the project this year. Logistically, this has required frequent travel to the island in the offseason with its challenges, including the occasional wind storm that cancels the ferry.
Their work is a return to form. Newport Collaborative Architects was established in the early 1980s and made its mark in renovation of historical hotels, said Grosvenor.
“We love boutique hotels,” he said.
Its portfolio includes award-winning designs for Castle Hill Inn in Newport, the Vanderbilt Hotel, Cliffside Inn, Hotel Providence, Hampton Inn, the National on Block Island, the Lord Jeffrey Inn in Amherst, Mass., and, another ongoing project, the renovation of the Biltmore in Providence.
Typically, boutique hotels are small in scale and have historical aspects, “And it typically has things that are specific and special to the local area,” Grosvenor said.
The Surf Hotel, for years known for its long veranda with rocking chairs and its indoor dining, had in more recent years added a bar facing the water.
The long veranda is going to be retained, along with the beach-view dining area. The interior restaurant will be renovated, and more outdoor spaces created.
The architects, with the help of the former owners, were able to find historical photos that showed the hotel once had a second-floor balcony, and that will be reintroduced and extended along the length of the hotel.
Timing is critical for the success of the project, because the island calendar operates on a season, said Abbott. “You have a season, and if you miss the season, you miss the whole income for the year,” he said.
The renovations have been conducted over the winter, with the first phase set to open this summer, and the final phase by the summer of 2020. That’s an ambitious 18-month timeline.
The planned, two-phase campus of the Block Island Beach House will include new construction of 16 small cottages with slightly larger footprints than the hotel guest rooms, aimed at families or larger groups of friends, as well as a full renovation of the nearby Gables Inn.
Over the Beach House complex, a total of 75 to 85 units will be created.
The Surf Hotel now has 34 guest rooms. On completion, it will have 31 – a fewer number because each will now have a private bathroom.
Although the last significant renovation for the Surf was the installation of sprinklers for a fire-code upgrade, the hotel itself is a combination of three distinct buildings. The first, built in 1876, was followed by the central building with the cupola in 1900, and the final addition about 15 years later.
The new renovations will retain the historical exterior finishes but also modernize the building to comply with current law. The hotel, for example, will become accessible for visitors under the Americans with Disabilities Act for the first time. It will have a lift to allow entry to the first floor and veranda, ADA-compliant bathrooms on the first floor and two accessible guest rooms on the first floor.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
