"...wraparound veranda and a breezy, hilltop location
in the elite historical district on prestigious Cliff Road,
a very short walk away from downtown Nantucket,
with its fabled cobblestone streets and myriad of stores. 

...walking distance are some of the most spectacular beaches on the East Coast."

Art is many different things to many different people. To Gerry Connick and his wife, Jean Ellen Heron, it is a vital part of their cultural lives.  And at one time it was a very pretty way to cover up holes in the wall.

“There were a lot of holes,” Connick says now, who with his wife are innkeepers at Century House on Nantucket, which was built in the 1840s and is the oldest continuously operating guesthouse on that picturesque island.   “For awhile we didn’t have enough art to cover them all.”

The do now. The couple, corporate dropouts as they call themselves (he was a capital equipment manufacturing executive, she a medical systems sales director), have run the inn since 1984, taking it over when it was in such disrepair holes abounded throughout the three-story antique structure.  They have instituted an artist-in-residence program at their quaint boutique inn, a business that Forbes.com once billed in the top five for American summer inn destinations.

This year marks the inn’s third annual educational art charrette that is taking place throughout the season in to mid-October when the inn closes for the winter.  Connick is hosting the artists-in-residence program and while regular guests cannot participate in the creative process of the artists’ group, they are welcome to connect with the artists during their stay.

Renowned artists who have visited in the past seasons include Jacob Collins, George Augusta, Julia O’Malley Keyes, Marla Korr, former Boston Celtic Tom Heinsohn, Lori Zummo and Robert Farber.

When the inn began, the innkeepers had artists create pieces for them in lieu of paying for their stay.  It’s worked out well, because now art abounds on the inn’s walls, taking up nearly every available inch, making the entire establishment a living landscape of creativity.  Art is a key part of the innkeepers’ lives.  Heron, who also sells real estate in Palm Beach, Florida, is a senior docent at the Norton Museum of Art in that community.

The couple was looking for a change of pace when they decided to get into the inn business, knowing nothing of the hospitality trade other than having a love of stying in fine hotels an dining in the best restaurants.  The Century House was a “rundown mess” when the couple took it over, Connick says, complete with the aforementioned holes in the walls.

 The transformation of the handsome old building has been impressive, the 16-room inn a showpiece on an island brimming with inns and B&Bs.  The home was built by seafarer, Capt. Robert Calder, and in the early 1870s became a boarding house for islanders during the winter months and gust home during the summer.

The building boasts a wraparound veranda and a breezy, hilltop location in the elite historical district on prestigious Cliff Road, a very short walk away from downtown Nantucket, with its fabled cobblestone streets and myriad of stores.  Still very much within walking distance are some of the most spectacular beaches on the East Coast.

If the building looks familiar to you, perhaps you’re a fan of the old television show “Wings.”  In 1989, the executive producers of that show chose Century House as their place to stay while they  scouted locations for the series.  The inn became a sporadic star, making cameos during the series with the innkeepers themselves once getting a walk-through appearance in one show.

The rooms of the Century House are small and very well appointed with such amenities as luxurious Molton Brown toiletries.  Various rooms are completely renovated each year and deluxe rooms included non-operational fireplaces.  The “Red Dahlia Room,” for example, features a marvelous antique ornate red dresser, a mustard-yellow secretary, marble fireplace, baby-blue trey ceiling and spectacular bulls-eye molding.  Completing the lush appointments are lace curtains and a king bed with upholstered headboard.

Every room has up to 50 books, most of which Connick has read (“I don’t watch TV,” he says. “I read.”) Help yourselves to any you’d like to take home, and feel free to leave any you’d like to swap out in return.

Not to be missed is Connick’s “Gerry’s Berry Buffet Breakfast,” a massive and tasty spread that includes his famous granola, yogurt, island berries, frit, bagels, muffins, homemade coffee cake, pastry, juices, jams, jellies, teas and the best perked coffee you’ll likely ever find,  this magnificent morning repast has been mentioned in Forbes.com and a Zagat guide.

Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cappuccino, and espresso are available throughout the day and then “cookies and cream” or afternoon snacks roll into the cocktail hour. Late afternoon and early evening is the best time to relax with a glass of wine on the veranda before walking into town for dinner.  And Century House in general is a great place to escape the relative rush of downtown Nantucket; those cobblestone streets are quaint, but get pretty crowded in mid-summer.  Take a break, sit outside in the setting sun and then come back inside to admire the fantastic paintings that grace the inn’s walls. 

Those holes are long gone but thankfully, the art remains. 

For more information on the inn, visit www.centuryhouse.com