Gray Gables

For other uses, see Gray Gables (disambiguation).
Gray Gables

Sketch of Gray Gables (1890)
Location on Cape Cod
Former names Tudor Haven[1]
General information
Architectural style Shingle style architecture
Location Bourne, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°44′03″N 70°37′26″W / 41.7343°N 70.6240°W / 41.7343; -70.6240
Estimated completion 1880[1]
Renovated 1890
Destroyed December 11, 1973 (fire)
Owner Grover Cleveland (1890–1908)
Cleveland family (1908–1920)
Gray Gables Ocean House (until 1973)[1]
Known for Grover Cleveland's Summer White House
Other information
Number of rooms 20[2]

Gray Gables was an estate in Bourne, Massachusetts owned by US President Grover Cleveland that served as his Summer White House from 1893 to 1896. It was later converted into the Gray Gables Ocean House hotel, which burned down in 1973.

History

Grover Cleveland

Gray Gables was built in 1880 and was named Tudor Haven by its first owners.[1] Grover Cleveland purchased the house for $20,000[2] in 1890, renovating it and renaming it Gray Gables. The property at the time consisted of 110 acres (45 ha), 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of beachfront on Buzzards Bay, the main house, and a hunting lodge.[2] He had initially tried to purchase Harbor Lane, a home in Marion, Massachusetts where he had spent his previous four summers, but decided not to after the owners raised the price.[3]

In 1892, Cleveland ran for what would be his second term as president, and an electric telegraph was installed in the house so he could follow the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.[2] That fall, he won the election, and Gray Gables served as his Summer White House from 1893 to 1896. In 1892, the small Gray Gables Railroad Station was built nearby on the Old Colony Railroad to provide Cleveland with easy transportation to Washington, D.C.[2] A dock was also constructed next to the house to accommodate a Navy gunboat.[4]

In 1893, Cleveland recovered at Gray Gables following a secret surgery to remove a tumor.[5] Two of his children were born at the house: Marion in 1895[6] and Francis Grover in 1903.[5] Following his presidency, the Cleveland family continued to summer at Gray Gables until 1904, when daughter Ruth died of diphtheria at the age of 13. After her death, the family stopped summering there and rented out the house. Grover Cleveland died in 1908, and the family sold the house in 1920.[1]

Gray Gables Ocean House

In the mid-20th century, the property was converted to a restaurant and hotel known as the Gray Gables Ocean House. The hotel was destroyed by fire on the morning of December 11, 1973.[4] In the 2000s, a private home was built on the former site of Gray Gables.[1]

Legacy

The neighborhood of Gray Gables and the former Gray Gables Railroad Station in Bourne take their names from the house. In 1976, the station building was moved to the Aptuxcet Trading Post Museum.[7] Because of the time Grover Cleveland spent summering at Gray Gables and fishing in Buzzards Bay, a shallow area of Buzzards Bay, Cleveland Ledge, was named after him, as well as the 1943 lighthouse Cleveland East Ledge Light that sits on top of it.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jack Coleman (December 7, 2003). "Rebuilding on a historic site". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jaci Conry (July 30, 2010). "Gray Gables". A History Through Houses: Cape Cod's Varied Residential Architecture. Arcadia Publishing. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  3. ↑ Chris Reagle (November 15, 2007). "Grover Cleveland slept here". Marion Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  4. 1 2 "Fire Destroys Cleveland House". Nashua Telegraph. December 11, 1973. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
  5. 1 2 Robin Smith-Johnson (August 25, 2010). "Gray Gables: Grover Cleveland's Summer Retreat". Cape Rewind: Cape Cod History Blog. Cape Cod Online.
  6. ↑ "Presidential Key Events: Grover Cleveland". Miller Center, University of Virginia. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Gray Gables Railroad Station". Bourne Historical Society. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Cleveland Ledge Light Station". National Park Service. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
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