Want to party like it’s 1899 (or need an excuse to wear your croquet costume)? Head to the Cape.
BREWSTER — Guests and staff wearing waistcoats and velvet: Check. A menu featuring roasted venison loin: Check. A pre-dinner game of croquet on the greensward: Check.
You’d think we were attending a fancy fete at one of Newport’s Gilded Age mansions at the turn of the 19th century. But no. We’re on Cape Cod, circa 2023.
“People think of the Cape as a beach destination, but — surprise! There is a lot of history here as well,” says Brendan Carey, director of marketing at Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club. Those who drive by its signature waterfront mansion, set back from Brewster’s Main Street, may well think, “What’s that about?” says Carey. This storied 429acre property was inducted into the Historic Hotels of America last spring. Historic Hotels of America is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; these hotels have faithfully maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity, according to the organization’s website. To that end, “we’re adding amenities and programming that highlights the hotel’s intriguing history,” Carey says — including a series of festive Party Like It’s 1899 dinners.
We attended the inaugural event in April and discovered a portal to the past — even though our outfits were a bit too modern to mesh with the top hat-andtails crowd. Next time, we’ll make a predinner pilgrimage to Vintage in Vogue (www.vintageinvogue.com) with shops in Orleans and Provincetown devoted to clothing and accessories from 1840 to 1970. One needs a proper frock to dine like the Nickersons, after all!
Oh, those Nickersons
Who were the Nickersons? You probably know the name. Nickerson State Park, the first state park in Massachusetts, occupies 1,727 acres donated by the Nickerson family in 1934. The Queen Anne shingle-style mansion on Cape Cod Bay was known as Fieldstone Hall when three generations of Nickersons lived here. The home was built between 1886 and 1890 by wealthy Chicago merchant Samuel M. Nickerson, born in Chatham, and his wife, Mathilda Pinkham Crosby, of Brewster, as a home for their son Roland and daughter-in-law Addie.
You’ll learn all of this, and more, at one of the resort’s 1899 dinners — one of the hosts is Renée M. Dee, the hotel’s historian, author of “The Nickerson Family of Brewster and Chicago.” As you step into the great room, with its ornate woodwork, soaring fireplace, and sparkling crystal chandelier, you’ll probably wonder: What remains of the original décor? “Almost nothing except the woodwork!” Dee will tell you. In 1945, the Nickerson family sold the property to the Missionaries of La Salette, a Catholic Order of priests and brothers, who used the land and mansion as a college and seminary — ”marching their cattle across the street to the meadow on the other side of Route 6A to graze during the day,” she writes. They sold virtually every bit of décor in the mansion. Spanning nearly a week, “the auction was one of the largest yard sales ever held on Cape Cod!” Dee says.
The La Salette order inhabited the mansion until 1973, and owned it until 1980. The property was initially offered to the Town of Brewster, but it was ultimately purchased by Corcoran Jennison Development. Renaming it Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club, they purchased additional land, developed a golf course, and added condominiums and private homes for a total of 342 guest rooms. (Fun fact: The tennis pro shop was once a chicken coop.)
A feast for the (gilded) ages
A mansion tour led by Dee is part of the festivities of the 1899 dinner (a highlight: popping into the subterranean Bayzo’s Pub). In the Nickerson’s time, you’d have been greeted by, perhaps, 22 servants as you arrived for dinner. Now, you’ll gather in the great room for lemon-blueberry cocktails and appetizers (the salted cod bites were especially good) and eventually head into the library for dinner. Guests sit at one long table (seating up to 24 adult diners for this event, no kids), elaborately adorned in the style of the time, with candelabras, cream-colored plates trimmed in gold, vintage stemware, and fresh flowers.
Although guests are encouraged to dress in finery that reflects the era, it’s required for the wait staff and adds to the late-1800s time-travel vibe. The prix fixe menu features four courses that might well have been served by the Nickerson family to cherished guests, relying on farmed and fished duck, chicken, and seafood with their signature bon-bon for dessert.
The menu will vary according to what’s fresh, Carey says, and the hotel will likely offer an 1899 dinner twice per season. Our meal featured oysters with tomato-horseradish chutney; Waldorf salad with butter lettuce, apples, celery, and walnuts; rustic bread with sea salt maple butter; and for the entrée: roasted venison loin with blackberry mustard, served with chive mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and roasted carrots. Dessert was an apple galette with vanilla ice cream, followed by assorted macarons and truffles for the table.
Admittedly, we had checked the menu online and weren’t too excited by the prospect of venison. Neither were some of our dinner companions, as it turned out, and several had never tried deer meat before. But, wow, it was terrific, served in dainty slices with a slightly salted crust — and that blackberry mustard sauce was so delicious, we all sounded like happy “Chopped” judges as we sampled it. “What a great layering of flavors!” said one diner. “This tastes like the finest prime rib,” said another, polishing off his venison.
So, the 1899-style dinner suited 2023-style diners, but there’s more to this event. The themed dinner is part of a lodgings package that includes an overnight for two. There are no guest rooms in the mansion proper, but two wings are comprised of 45 guestrooms each. The property also has two- and three-bedroom villas. The Party Like It’s 1899 package includes use of the amenities at Ocean Edge. Among them: a private beach on Cape Cod Bay with a beach bar, a spa, five swimming pools, tennis, bikes, kayaks, and standup paddleboards, and mini-golf on the beach at low tide. There’s also a complimentary shuttle to Crosby Landing, a beach on the Atlantic side of the Cape.
Guest rooms are beachy and modern, reflective of Cape Cod as expected, not the 1890s. But, as you wander around the mansion, passing photos of the Nickerson family and gazing across the manicured grounds toward the bay, it’s nice to imagine living here for the summer. We’re picturing a genteel sporting scene: swinging a wooden ball through the wickets, wearing flouncy white linen and a voluminous hat alongside a top-hatted gent.
What’s next at Ocean Edge when it comes to recapturing those glory days? Possibly a huge masquerade ball, something the Nickerson family was famous for. “Ocean Edge has held onto its history. They’ve embraced it, and that’s such a joy,” says Renée Dee.
IFYOUGO...
Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club, 2907 Main St., Brewster; 508-896-9000, www.oceanedge.com. Party Like It’s 1899 package dinner, $150 per person; includes wine.