| Gray Gables | |
|---|---|
_(14577096189).jpg) Sketch of Gray Gables (1890) | |
  Location on Cape Cod Show map of Cape Cod Gray Gables (Massachusetts) Show map of Massachusetts Gray Gables (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Former names | Tudor Haven[1] |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Shingle style architecture |
| Location | Bourne, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 41°44′03″N70°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'sSummer White House |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 20[2] |
| ||
|---|---|---|
28th Governor of New York 22nd & 24th President of the United States
Tenure Presidential campaigns Legacy
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Gray Gables was an estate inBourne, Massachusetts, owned byPresidentGrover Cleveland that served as hisSummer White House from 1893 to 1896. It was later converted into theGray Gables Ocean House hotel, which was destroyed in a fire in 1973.
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 (equivalent to $640,000 in 2024), 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 onBuzzards Bay, the main house, and a hunting lodge.[2] He had initially tried to purchase Harbor Lane, a home inMarion, 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 anelectric telegraph was installed in the house so he could follow theDemocratic National Convention inChicago.[2] That fall, he won the election, and Gray Gables served as his Summer White House from 1893 to 1896. In 1892, the smallGray Gables Railroad Station was built nearby on theOld Colony Railroad to provide easy transportation toWashington, 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 aboard his friendElias Cornelius Benedict's yachtUtowana as it sailed from New York City to Gray Gables.[5][6] Two of his children were born at the house: Marion in 1895[7] and Francis Grover in 1903.[6] Following his presidency, the Cleveland family continued to summer at Gray Gables until 1904, when his daughterRuth died of diphtheria at the age of 12. 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]
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]
The neighborhood of Gray Gables and the formerGray Gables Railroad Station in Bourne take their names from the house. In 1976, the station building was moved to theAptucxet Trading Post Museum.[8] 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 was the 1943 lighthouseCleveland East Ledge Light that sits on top of it.[9]
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