Take a Peek Inside Cottage 29
We have to say, each of our guest stay properties have a personality—the Quonset Hut instantly puts you into a party mood and Cottage 29 makes you want to relax and curl up with a good book. As you know, we’ve got this thing for old homes—the more challenging the better. That’s how our guest stay business really got started. We found historically significant properties around Rhode Island that were in disrepair and wanted to fix them up. Cottage 29 started out as a forlorn old structure that felt like a bag of Skittles inside—every room was a different, vibrant color—so we wanted to tone it down to turn it into a relaxing retreat.
The outside of the cottage looks like an updated New England classic (painted in Benjamin Moore’s Hague Blue), with a beautiful waterfront, wrap around veranda and a bright citron door. The small yard feels private and the ocean views remain unobstructed but still feel removed from the rest of the world thanks to Moore House-designed bamboo privacy shades. When you walk in you can almost see the entire first floor, the interior is open concept. There’s an entrance table to put your keys down right near the staircase and the stairs are a major focal point. The dining room is where we typically greet guests with fresh, seasonal produce for their stay on the table. We also have a little area we like to call the bar lounge because it’s so close to the kitchen.
The entire interior of the house is reclaimed wood, as a way to pay homage to where it came from, we sanded down some of the painted wood and incorporated it in an arched ceiling reading nook. While the rest of the cottage is bright whites and warm wood tones, this was our area to keep a little bit of her former color. There’s a little slogan in this room too that the best things in life aren’t things and it’s truly the mantra for the house.
The staircase was enclosed, so we opened up the space and added nautical touches that nod to its location, like the oar railings. We’re all about non-traditional coastal vibes in this house. The stairs were completely painted originally, so we steamed them to remove the paint and the original wood tone was so beautiful that we knew we wanted it peeking out. We decided to paint the sides in a beautiful white paint, Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace and it helps draw the eye up the stairs.
The cottage sleeps two couples and has one bathroom upstairs and it started out very, very small. But we’re aces at maximizing a small bathroom space and using visual tricks to make a small space feel larger. We built a custom, tall, black-framed glass shower that went all the way to the ceiling to bring the eye upwards. Inside we installed a massive rainfall showerhead and hid the toilet with a small knee wall—we never like a toilet to be front and center in a bathroom. We also use all zero waste products in the bathrooms our hand soap, body, and more comes sans plastic, guests take what they need from bulk style glass containers.
There are two bedrooms, the main bedroom features a built-in queen bed and has a stunning view of the water, the other bedroom features a full-sized bed. We go all out with the bedding: heated mattress pads and premium bedding that makes it challenging to actually get out of bed when you’re there. We do a drop of eucalyptus oil on the pillowcase to impart the lightest scent.
Book your stay and come meet Cottage 29 in person!
Images: Erin McGinn
The Roweam Yuletide Collection is a nostalgic homage to the timeless beauty of classic holiday décor, reimagined for the modern home with a warm, vintage charm. Drawing inspiration from the grand traditions of Christmastide, this collection marries old-world elegance with contemporary flair, evoking the joy and wonder of holidays past.