A touch of spice
Spicer Mansion in Mystic is getting new life as boutique inn
The freshly restored Spicer Mansion across from Mystic & Noank Library will open May 4 as an eight-room ultra-luxury boutique inn featuring a speakeasy with a cigar lounge, private restaurant, parquet floors and a widow’s walk big enough for entertaining.
Last week, renovators were still feverishly working to get the yellow 1853 mansion ready for the tourist season. In the common areas, intricate plaster moldings, hand-painted ceilings, carved doors and the magnificent central mahogany staircase have been restored, but many of the guest rooms still have a ways to go.
“They’re working seven days a week, almost around the clock,” said Candice Traskos, director of communications for the Ocean House in Watch Hill, which holds the management contract for the inn and is coordinating the renovation.
Adding a small hotel to the lodging mix in Mystic was the brainchild of Brian Gates, marketing manager for the Valenti family of car dealerships in the region. Gates said he stayed at a boutique hotel in Prague and wanted to bring Mystic visitors a similar experience, encouraged by his son Tomas to buy the mansion basically sight unseen in 2013.
“This is the grandest house in all of Mystic,” said Judi Caracausa, principal of Market Realty and the agent who sold the 12,000-square-foot former summer mansion to Gates Realty Holdings.
One-night stays at the inn will range essentially between $400 and $1,500, though rates can change according to the season. In addition to facilities at the Spicer Mansion, which are expected to include a conservatory once approved by Groton officials, guests will
be able to use the spa, pool, fitness area, private beaches and other amenities at the Ocean House, considered one of the premier resorts on the Eastern Seaboard.
At first, Gates had hoped to open the mansion as a bed and breakfast. But the property had previously received approvals for a hotel, and when Gates started talking with the Ocean House about managing the business it seemed only natural to go the luxury-inn route, he said.
“It’s a win-win for Mystic,” Gates said in a phone interview. “We want to give everyone a great experience.”
The heart of Spicer Mansion, previously owned by the operators of the former Mystic Emporium gift shop in downtown, are its three high-ceilinged grand salons. Here, guests will be able to enjoy canapes and cocktails as they take in the Victorian-era furnishings, enjoy some soft music and anticipate the special six-course gourmet meals by executive chef Jennifer Backman prepared for an extra fee exclusively for them and invited friends Wednesday through Sunday.
“Our reputation for service is at the forefront of this property’s DNA,” Daniel A. Hostettler, president of Ocean House Management LLC, said in a statement.
Spicer Mansion, led by innkeeper Louis Shapazian, is open only to guests 16 or older, adding a splash of adult accommodations to a market that Traskos said has been dominated by family-style hotels and motels.
“We’re getting a lot of referrals by word of mouth,” Traskos said. “We’ve already had a number of bookings.”
And the inn’s marketing material promises some rare treats, such as Italian hemstitch linens, fine whiskeys and Baccarat crystal. Private after-hour tours of Mystic Seaport and helicopter rides around the area also are in the mix.
At the very top of the three-story structure is the Belvedere, a widow’s walk used by women to track their men’s return from sea. It was termed widow’s walk because many women would wait for eternity for their husbands to return from voyages, but in this house the famed Captain Elihu Spicer Jr. was luckier than many.
Spicer, a native of Noank who built and donated the building that now houses Mystic & Noank Library, was known for his business acumen and charitable inclinations. A resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., he nevertheless formed a partnership with Mystic friend Charles H. Mallory to engage in trade as far south as Florida and Galveston, Texas, according to a history provided by the inn.
Gates said it is these types of memories he is trying to restore as he renovates the Spicer Mansion for today’s traveler, some of whom likely will be famous movie stars and sports stars wanting to protect their privacy.
“You’re going to be totally set back (in time),” he said. “When they come they are going to say that ‘I stayed in one of the wealthiest people’s houses back in 1853. And I have to come back.’”