The Dunes Club is a historic private beach club at 137 Boston Neck Road in

Narragansett, Rhode Island Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 14,532 at the 2020 census. However, during the summer months the town's population more than doubles to near 34,000. The town of Narragansett occupies ...

. The club occupies of land fronting

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sma ...

in central Narragansett, bounded on the north by the

Pettaquamscutt River The Pettaquamscutt River (also known as Narrow River) is a tidal extension of the Mattatuxet River in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Nati ...

History

The Dunes Club's centerpiece is a large rambling

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

clubhouse designed by Thomas Pym Cope and built in 1939, after the first clubhouse (built 1928-29 to a design by club member Kenneth Murchison), was washed away by the

New England Hurricane of 1938 The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express Hurricane) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The storm ...

. The only element of the club's original buildings to survive that hurricane is its gatehouse. The club's facilities include tennis courts and cabanas. The club was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2015. On 18 May 2016 around 6:30 p.m., an SUV crashed into the gatehouse at the entrance of the club. Steve Sterling, the manager of the club, as well as his wife and his teenage son Erik, were inside at the time but were unharmed. The house sustained significant structural damage as well as water damage.

Facilities and amenities

The Dunes Club consists of a main clubhouse, which includes a gift shop, formal dining hall with a stage and dance floor, indoor/outdoor formal bar, tea room used for small formal events, casual restaurant with deck dining, restrooms, kitchens and staff offices and living quarters. From the north side entrance of the clubhouse or through the parking lot is access to a casual snack bar offering lunch foods as well as ice cream, an outdoor snack bar, a casual outdoor food service, deck, pool, children's pool and two bars. Further down are the member bathhouses, which are small units for storing chairs and umbrellas, and the headquarters of the bathhouse staff who carry chairs and umbrellas for members. Located in proximity to the beach is the first aid center, where medical supplies are stored, and the children's camp, a day camp for those ages 4 and older. Further down and closer to Narrow River are member cabanas. These are small rooms with ground-level porches that have chairs and tables for relaxation and dining as well as storage for chairs, umbrellas and surfboards. These are staffed by two cabana stations, and cabana lease holders have access to a special cabana menu that changes daily. Bordering the parking lot and Narrow River, respectively, are four

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

s and four

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

tennis courts. Adjoining the asphalt courts is the pro shop, which sells rackets, balls, and other tennis equipment to members. A tennis pro and multiple instructors are employed each summer to offer private lessons, group clinics, and day camps for children.

List of presidents

# T. Pierrepont Hazard (1929–1941) # Henry B. Spencer (1942–1954) # Caryl Roberts (1954–1955) # Robert O. Lord (1955–1959) # John E. C. Hall (1959–1961) # R. Henry Field (1961–1963) # Darius L. Goff (1963–1967) # George C. Davis (1967–1971) # George S. Squibb (1971–1988) # James S. Smith (1988–1992) # Edward O. Ekman (1992–1996) # James M. Seed (1996–2001) #

Michael E. McMahon Michael E. McMahon (born September 12, 1957) is an American politician and attorney serving as the District Attorney for Richmond County, which is coextensive with Staten Island. A member of the Democratic Party, McMahon is a former U.S. Represen ...

(2001– )

References

External links

The Dunes Club web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunes Club, The Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Colonial Revival architecture in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Narragansett, Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Rhode Island

History

Facilities and amenities

List of presidents

See also

References

External links