A time-honored landmark finds new life at The Ocean Club in Vineyard Haven.

Few things matter more to Cape and Islands folks than tradition. Generation after generation—summer after summer—they return to the same beloved restaurants their grandparents first brought them to decades ago, finding comfort in the familiar. So when developer Sam Dunn partnered with Boston-based hospitality group the Lyons Group to open a new restaurant in Vineyard Haven, it seemed only natural to nod to the island’s heritage.

First, they named the place The Ocean Club after the beloved Martha’s Vineyard bistro and bar of the 1980s. Second, they opted to house it within the historic walls of the Old Stone Bank building. Entrepreneur William Barry Owen built the whimsical-looking structure in 1905 after a fire had razed a stable-and-harness shop at the site in the 1800s—and took down most of Main Street with it. As a majority owner of Martha’s Vineyard National Bank, Barry Owen decided to move the bank to this new fireproof building in Vineyard Haven. To make sure it would last for years to come, he constructed it from a series of nearly inflammable materials: steel and concrete, naturally, but also beach stones plucked from nearby shores and Mediterranean-style terracotta tiles for the roof. Thanks to Barry Owen’s sturdy construction decisions, it looks much the same as when it was built.

For over a century, the building continued operating as a bank, and most recently was a Santander Bank branch until it closed in 2017. After Dunn purchased the building, several years of careful renovations turned it into the restaurant it is today. Now, where the bank vault once was is a sleek wine storage room. The five-ton door to the vault...