Boutique Design - Fall 2021 - 87

BLUE FL AG PARTNERS AND LI FE HOUSE GI VE NANTUCKET A
NEW HOTEL WI TH A STOR I ED PAS T-BOTH REAL AND FI CT I ONAL
By Meghan Dwyer
Centrally located on India Street on posh
Nantucket, the tiny island off the coast of Cape Cod,
Massachusetts, the 62-room Faraway Nantucket is
a revelry tucked into a historic collection of four
cedar-shingled buildings. A partnership between
Boston-based owner Blue Flag Partners and New
York-based operator Life House (part of a longstanding
relationship between the companies), it is the fi rst
outpost for Faraway, which seeks to redevelop existing
urban core historic properties in high-barrier-to-entry
resort markets.
" The brand was an idea that was truly gifted
to us from the history and location of the buildings
that we ultimately brought back to life to create the
fi rst Faraway, " says Jason Brown, partner at Blue Flag
Partners. " When we purchased the buildings in the
heart of Nantucket a few years ago, we were drawn
to the fact that one was a historic meeting house. It
was with that thought, coupled with Nantucket's deep
roots of whaling and exploration, that we created the
story of Faraway. "
The inspiration for the hotel is grounded in a
narrative that the design team created about a woman
who grew up in Nantucket and stole away on a ship in
her teens, only to arrive back on the island decades later
with her own ship, a pile of treasure, and stories to tell.
" We loved the idea of designing a space that felt as if
she bought this old collection of houses in the center of
it all, dropped her belongings (collected over the years
on her rum and spice routes), and opened her eclectic
residence to those looking for a bit of fun, a bit of
inspiration, and a good laugh, " says Brad Guidi, partner
at Blue Flag Partners, which overhauled the interiors
along with Jenny Bukovec, Life House's vice president of
design and creative.
A 140-seat restaurant and bar is the heartbeat
of Faraway Nantucket and a destination in itself in
the cobblestoned downtown. Partially occupying a
formerly unused courtyard, guests can enjoy coffee
during the day, while come nightfall, Sister Ship comes
to life. " We always felt that Sister Ship was her living
room and we were guests at her table, " says Brown of
the plant-fi lled retreat. " The guests experience the
hotel through this lens-it feels residential, but also
exotic and sexy. We envisioned a property where our
guests would experience something similar to what
happened back in the 1920s in Gertrude Stein's living
room in Paris-a place where stories are told, ideas are
exchanged, and art and curiosities adorn visitors. "
To manifest Blue Flag's vision of a locally rooted
lifestyle hospitality experience, the design team
embraced lacquered sea green walls in the public
spaces that play with the refl ections of candles in the
evening. " Objets d'art that were sourced from all over
the world adorn the property as treasures that were
taken back from a worldly adventure, " says Guidi.
(Think a siren made of seashells and semi-precious
jewels, which admires the action from above the
Sister Ship bar.) " Public spaces are wildly eclectic
while guestrooms offer a more tranquil take on our
exotic design-playing off of a historic palette, " with
custom bleached-wood furniture that nods to the
island location.
THE HOTEL' S PLANT- FILLED COURT YARD
BOU T I QUE DE S I GN . COM
87
PHOTOS: MATT KISIDAY
http://BOUTIQUEDESIGN.COM
Boutique Design - Fall 2021

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