Gray Gables
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Gray Gables was an estate in
Bourne, Massachusetts Bourne ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne (CDP), Bu ...
, owned by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
that served as his
Summer White House Listed below are the private house, residences of the various President of the United States, presidents of the United States. For a list of official residences, see President of the United States#Residence, President of the United States § Re ...
from 1893 to 1896. It was later converted into the Gray Gables Ocean House hotel, which was destroyed in a fire in 1973.


History


Grover Cleveland

Gray Gables was built in 1880 and was named Tudor Haven by its first owners. Grover Cleveland purchased the house for $20,000 in 1890 (), renovating it and renaming it Gray Gables. The property at the time consisted of , of beachfront on
Buzzards Bay Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is approximately 28 miles (45 kilometers) long by 8 miles (12 kilometers) wide. It is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and tourism. Since ...
, the main house, and a hunting lodge. He had initially tried to purchase Harbor Lane, a home in
Marion, Massachusetts Marion is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,347 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the village of Marion Center, please see the article Marion Center, Massachusetts. His ...
where he had spent his previous four summers, but decided not to after the owners raised the price. In 1892, Cleveland ran for what would be his second term as president, and an
electric telegraph Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...
was installed in the house so he could follow the
Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. 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 Gray Gables station is a former train station in Bourne, Massachusetts. History The station was first built by the Old Colony Railroad as a stop for President Grover Cleveland's nearby summer home of Gray Gables Gray Gables was an estate in B ...
was built nearby on the
Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...
to provide easy transportation to
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
A dock was also constructed next to the house to accommodate a Navy gunboat. In 1893, Cleveland recovered at Gray Gables following a secret surgery to remove a tumor aboard his friend Elias Cornelius Benedict's yacht ''Utowana'' as it sailed from New York City to Gray Gables. Two of his children were born at the house: Marion in 1895 and Francis Grover in 1903. Following his presidency, the Cleveland family continued to summer at Gray Gables until 1904, when daughter
Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...
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.


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. In the 2000s, a private home was built on the former site of Gray Gables.


Legacy

The neighborhood of Gray Gables and the former
Gray Gables Railroad Station Gray Gables station is a former train station in Bourne, Massachusetts. History The station was first built by the Old Colony Railroad as a stop for President Grover Cleveland's nearby summer home of Gray Gables Gray Gables was an estate in B ...
in Bourne take their names from the house. In 1976, the station building was moved to the
Aptucxet Trading Post Museum The Aptucxet Trading Post Museum is a small open-air historical museum in Bourne, Massachusetts. The main attraction is a replica of the 17th-century Aptucxet Trading Post which was built by the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in order to trade with ...
. 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 lighthouse
Cleveland East Ledge Light Cleveland East Ledge Light is a historic lighthouse in Falmouth, Massachusetts. It sits on a man-made island in shallow water on the eastern of the two halves of Cleveland Ledge, which is said to have been named for President Grover Cleveland beca ...
that sits on top of it.


See also

*
List of residences of presidents of the United States Listed below are the private residences of the various presidents of the United States. For a list of official residences, see President of the United States § Residence. Private homes of the presidents This is a list of homes where p ...


References

{{Grover Cleveland Houses in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Burned houses in the United States Grover Cleveland Shingle Style architecture in Massachusetts Presidential homes in the United States Bourne, Massachusetts