7.14.2009

On the Rocks...


Isn't this house amazingly interesting. I received an email today with images of the home and the information included. Although it seems to be all over Google and blogged before, this is the first time I have seen it. I would be happy and willing to do a work weekend here! Has anyone seen it in person, or better yet, visited?

Clingstone, an unusual, 103-year-old mansion in Rhode Island 's Narragansett Bay survives through the love and hard work of family and friends. Henry Wood, the owner, runs the house like a camp: all skilled workers welcome. The Jamestown Boatyard hauls the family's boats and floating dock and stores them each winter in return for a week's use of the house in the summer. Mr. Wood, a 79-year-old Boston architect, bought the house with his ex-wife Joan in 1961 for $3,600. It had been empty for two decades. Clingstone had been built by a distant cousin, J.S. Lovering Wharton. Mr. Wharton worked with an artist, William Trost Richards, to create a house of picture windows with 23 rooms on three stories radiating off a vast central hall. The total cost of the construction, which was completed in 1905, was $36,982.99. Many of the historic photos he has were provided by the company that insured the house for its original owners. The house is maintained by an ingenious method: the Clingstone work weekend. Held every year around Memorial Day, it brings 70 or so friends and Clingstone lovers together to tackle jobs like washing all 65 of the windows.



15 comments:

paula said...

what a fairy tale. Sometimes I would love to just escape with my family and this place would be perfect.

Southern Aspirations said...

I've not seen this before either. It is fabulous!! What a great getaway.

DONNA OWNER OF "ON A WHIM" said...

What a great place, would love to be there, your pictures are wonderful as always, great post..Donna

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Just LOOK at that! talk about off the grid! Amazing!

Mommy Harris said...

Yes, please, I'll take two! :-)

mb said...

This is just the house I imagined when I was reading Shipping News... did you ever read it? The house was secured on a rock "island" with huge chains. It was set in Newfoundland.

The house in the post is perhaps far more user friendly.
Thanks for the fabulous images.

AnnĂ¡s said...

I see these pictures and I'm just dreaming... What a lovely place!

Jessica {lovely jubbly london} said...

Wow, it is amazing!

Maya said...

Oddly..., I love so close (half an hour drive away), but have not seen it (yet). It's stunning, maybe not so practical..., and the owners spend actually very little time there.

Maya said...

So sorry about the spelling. I "live" so close...

Outside The Lines said...

What an amazing place!

ArchitectDesign™ said...

I remember seeing this house and being fascinated! I'm so glad to see the interiors -thank you!

Dorm Bedding said...

Oh, how I'd LOVE to take a tour!

mag duru said...

thanks for sharing this awesome post. very inspiring.

muralimanohar said...

I absolutely adore this house. It would be a fantasy to be able to spend the weekend there! I have the images saved in a folder somewhere for a someday post...though it's been close to two years and I still haven''t done it! :p