Nestled amongst stoic Colonial and Quaker-style buildings, Greydon House embodies the island’s rich and varied history. The original structure – an original Greek revival building dating back to the 1850s – has been connected to a new addition under the experienced eye of Matthew MacEachern and his team at Nantucket-based firm, Emeritus, to create a complex building project that blurs historic and modern Nantucket.
Within the hotel’s elevated reception area, a palette of rich cranberry and inky marine blue tones are balanced out with humble pine. Striking hand-painted Portuguese tile work borders the ceiling, while Roman and Williams has created brass lighting fixtures from reclaimed ship portholes.
The hotel’s living room, meanwhile, showcases a collection of low-slung vintage sofas, re-interpreted for Greydon House using traditional weaving techniques from Indonesia. An eclectic mix of old and new pieces – including wood-framed French ceremonial chairs and throne-like chairs from the Cote d’Ivoire – create a melange of eras, cultures and generations.
Found objects, from Native American ceramics to whaling artifacts, allow visitors to connect with local history in an intimate setting.
The hotel also features a stylish restaurant overseen by Executive Chef Marcus Gleadow-Ware, who was most recently the executive chef at the 2-Michelin star Aureole in NYC. The 24-cover dining space provides a light, airy place to enjoy breakfast, or a cosy venue for dinner, extending out onto the verdant New England patio, which is sheltered by the extended roof.
The Roman and Williams team has selected long, plush silk and velvet banquettes, Edwardian dining chairs and traditional bistro tables here. Hanging lights, adorned with flaxen fabric shades, emit a soft rosy glow in the evenings.
Adjacent to the dining room, guests can choose from a menu of six original cocktails curated by Boston’s award-winning bartender, Jackson Cannon, at a 20-seat bar. The bar itself has been reclaimed from a former general store and fitted with a new pine top and Atlas brass fixtures to bring an air of authenticity to the space.
Within the hotel’s warm, bright guest rooms, blues and creamy whites combine with hearty wood contrasts and the gleam of brass. An eclectic selection of furniture – including Roman and Williams’ custom-designed pieces – has been selected, along with beautiful paintings of the sea.
Each guest room is entirely unique, with custom-designed metal beds and pendant light fixtures. The palette of chestnut, earthy greens and warm wood floors reflects the island’s landscape, while the lighting has been customised to appear softly brighter as it ripples into the room.
The guest bathrooms follow the same palette with nautical-inspired Waterworks faucets, and crisp blue hand-painted Portuguese tile murals of the sea.
Down to the smallest of details – the candles from local purveyors, for example – each guest room, and indeed the entirety of the hotel’s interior – is an inventive celebration of Nantucket’s prosperous past, serene present and enduring appeal.
