The Foundation of Three Centuries

Photo Courtesy of the Chatham Historical Society

Chatham Bars Inn

The history of Chatham Bars Inn is as old as Chatham The history of the Chatham Bars Inn is as old as Chatham itself. After buying the land that had once been the Squire Sears Farm, Charles Hardy, a wealthy stockbroker from Boston, intended to turn his purchase into a hunting lodge. He contracted Boston architect Harvey Bailey Alden to build a three-story structure on 70 acres overlooking Chatham Harbor. His dream was realized in June of 1914, when the Chatham Bars Inn opened its doors as an elegant, self-sustaining resort, complete with its own farm and water towers.

Early advertisements for the resort boasted of private bathrooms and a nine-hole golf course, drawing famous guests including Henry Ford, Henry Morgenthau, William Rockefeller, and the royal family of Holland, who stayed during part of their World War II exile in 1944. Along with the tourists came early summer hotels like The Chatham House, The Mattaquason Hotel, and Hawthorne Inn. Today’s sole survivor is the Chatham Bars Inn, which has become a highly regarded year-round resort.
In recent years, cbi (as it is called by those in the know) has acquired numerous distinctions as one of the world’s premier hotels. The inn is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, earned the AAA Four-Diamond Award, and in 2010 was voted by readers to the Condé Nest Readers Choice Top 100 Awards.