Despite growing up in more than half a dozen places from Connecticut and New Mexico to across the world, it’s Weekapaug’s crisp ocean air, golden-hour light, and summertime simplicity that left an indelible mark on Thomas Kligerman’s childhood, inspiring his fifth and highly anticipated book, Summer by the Sea.
Kligerman, a well-respected architect and founding partner of New York-based Kligerman Architecture and Design, intimately knows coastal design; his firm has led residential projects from Maine to Martha’s Vineyard, the Hamptons to Hawaii. But his experience designing homes in the most prestigious zip codes hasn’t dulled his appreciation for simplicity.
“When I was 10, my parents started renting a house in Weekapaug,” said Kligerman. Though the family moved to Albuquerque and eventually, other places far and wide, he stayed in touch with childhood friends in Weekapaug who, as adults, encouraged him to visit. “Then I started going again some 20-odd years later, and we started renting the same house my parents did when I was a kid,” he says. “Nothing had changed – the same pictures on the walls, the same furniture, the same rug – it was like a time warp.”
After renting for 20 years, Kligerman bought nearby land and put his architectural skills to use. His Weekapaug home is a sanctuary for him and his wife, also an architect, and their three adult daughters when they visit. “My kids are third-generation Weekapaug, but my friends? Some of them have family who have been coming here since the Civil War. I’m a Johnny-come-lately,” Kligerman muses.
Inspired by his halcyon summers spent along the state’s southern coastline, combined with an appreciation for the distinctive shingle-style design of these Rhode Island “cottages” (which any Rhode Islander knows is a term that doesn’t necessarily denote diminutive), Summer by the Sea. Cottages from Watch Hill to Little Compton depicts 16 diverse homes; some that have stood the test of time, others that are newer but pay homage to the past.
Each chapter explores homes in a different town or village – Watch Hill, Weekapaug, Haversham, Block Island, Saunderstown, Jamestown, Middletown, Little Compton – with details that capture their essence. “The wood, the screened-in porch, windows open, the old cliche of the slap of the screen door,” these, he says, are the things that create that unmistakable Rhode Island summertime-by-the-sea alchemy.
Expect insights into each town’s unique landscape and historical notes like the origin stories of Native American names (like Quonochontaug), how Watch Hill became such a coveted summer colony, and more. “I talk about artists like Sydney Burleigh,” he begins, referencing the Little Compton-based painter who designed the Fleur-de-lys Studios in Providence. “I talk about lighthouses and shipwrecks. It’s a Rhode Island story, but its framework is houses and their interiors,” Kligerman explains. “You can look at all of these houses and think, “I can imagine living there.”
The project was a natural fit for photographer Read McKendree, who works worldwide but serendipitously calls Westerly home. He had been living in New York for years, but the Connecticut native ultimately answered Rhode Island’s call. “That’s the Rhode Island curse, kind of; once you come here, you don’t actually want to be anywhere else,” he says.
When McKendree met up with Kligerman, the synergy was palpable. Both share an appreciation for the indefinable magnetism of coastal Rhode Island and the homes here that feel treasured. “This was a huge project,” he says. “But I have such an appreciation for these homes that, whether they’re new or old, people actually live in, make memories in, and there’s such a richness to that. Rhode Island especially still has these little pockets of architecture and old cottages and homes that people just love.”
While the reference point of “where Almacs used to be” is fading from conversations, some place names and properties continue to puzzle even longtime residents. To address any confusion, we’ve assembled a guide – a “who’s who” or “where’s where” – to sort out some coastal locations from Clingstone to Haversham.
Many Rhode Island cities and towns encompass several villages, neighborhoods, and hamlets, some with names that may be unfamiliar even to folks nearby. Westerly, for one, is rich with history, architecture, and small designations. From the 1870s to the 1950s, the town was a major center for mining and stone-cutting – famous for its “Westerly granite” – pinkish, blue, and red stone varieties used in buildings along the eastern seaboard. Within town limits, there are myriad places like Avondale, once called Lotteryville, with its 50-acre preserve, and affluent areas like Watch Hill, home to the Ocean House and Taylor Swift; Weekapaug, featuring a historic inn overlooking Quonochontaug Pond, and Winnapaug, home to a Donald Ross-designed golf course. Other villages are Bradford, Dunn’s Corners, Haversham with its recently refreshed tavern, Potter Hill along the Pawcatuck River, Shelter Harbor, White Rock, and Misquamicut, well-known for its expansive state beach and lively summertime atmosphere.
Still in South County, but further north is Saunderstown, a small village and historic district spread across the four towns of Narragansett, South Kingstown, Exeter and North Kingstown. It has its own postal code, Casey Farm, a large family farm operated by Historic New England, and is known as the birthplace of Gilbert Stuart, who painted the portrait of George Washington that appears on the one-dollar bill. Nearby, discover villages like Kenyon, Usquepaug, and Carolina.
Meanwhile, on Conanicut Island is the town of Jamestown, just under a mile offshore from Fort Wetherill State Park is the distinctive shingle-style dwelling known as Clingstone. Nicknamed for being “a peach of a house,” the structure sits on a small rocky island in Narragansett Bay, part of an outcropping of small islands known as “the dumplings.” Built in 1905 to withstand hurricanes, the three-story, 23-room building is often called “the house on the rock.” In 1961, Boston architect Henry Wood purchased the neglected 10,000-square-foot property for $3,600 (the amount of back taxes owed); it was missing a roof, had smashed windows, and plenty of shingle damage. Wood gradually restored the home, which his family continues to use most summers. The 10-bedroom premises, which runs on wind power, offers stunning views of Fort Adams, the Pell Bridge, Hammersmith Farm, and the Rhode Island Sound. It was also the setting for a Mumford and Sons music video. Clingstone is noted to be available for rent at approximately $10,000 per week. –Elyse Major
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