CAPE MAY — The Hotel Alcott at 107 Grant St. may be returning to its original use.
On June 15, the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) granted conceptual approval for the return of Hotel Alcott from Cape Resorts staff housing to a functioning accommodations facility.
The HPC granted conceptual approval, with comments on requesting cut sheets for all materials and lighting fixtures, additional details on the seasonal enclosure panels, formalized dates for the panel removals, window, door and trim schedules and a landscaping plan.
The application was presented by Cape Resorts group owner Curtis Bashaw and Robert Shepanski, senior project manager at Cape Resorts.
Bashaw said the property, previously called the Huntington House, is a late-19th-century building built at the time of Summer Station, the second train station built in Cape May.
“It was nicer than a boarding house when I was a young man working in Cape May,” Bashaw said, adding that it was used for staff and that there was a buffet in the dining room.
The Italianate villa was renovated in 1996 and Bashaw noted it was returned to Hotel Alcott, its original name.
“We acquired it during the COVID pandemic and have used it for many years,” Bashaw said. “We haven’t used the restaurant, but we have used the guest rooms for staff housing. In the ensuing time, we’ve acquired other staff housing that we think is adequate and we want to open the hotel as it was originally intended.”
Bashaw said the hotel has a 140-seat restaurant license and 31 guest rooms. He added that they felt the need to downscale the food and beverage service and that, since there is no liquor license, they could increase the guest room size, open the courtyard and add other amenities.
“The plans we’re presenting are just really keeping the existing building pretty much intact,” Bashaw said. “It’s a U-shaped structure and currently has just two metal fire escapes coming out of the end of the two wings, and we want to address that life safety issue by adding two proper egress stairs and an elevator for accessibility.”
Bashaw added that they want to increase to 39 rooms and will have to seek approval from the Zoning Board.
Shepanski said the conceptual approval sought includes renovations and improvements, such as accessibility, safety, egress compliance, seasonal front porch closure with dividers, a third-floor rear balcony and a restored rear courtyard.
“The intent of the project is to improve our guest amenities, accessibility and architectural balance while maintaining the historic character of the building,” Shepanski said. “All proposed improvements have been developed with sensitivity to the historic significance of this key contributing structure.”
To protect guest privacy on the porches, proposed vertical dividers with louvers are being considered. Shepanski said there was an old picture with louvered enclosures on the front of the porch and they believe the porches were used for sleeping when the hotel was originally constructed.
“In the wintertime, should occupancy warrant it, we want the ability to put up those seasonal Plexiglas enclosures to take the edge off the winds and give people the opportunity to go outside,” he added.
HPC Chairman John Boecker asked about seasonal enclosures, and Bashaw said they did not want a permanent enclosure and could use a seasonal enclosure instead.
In December 2025, the HPC granted approval for Cape Resorts to erect a seasonal enclosure on the porch at The Star Inn at 29 Perry St. The request had two conditions: the first that the owners agree to remove it from May 15 to Oct. 15, and the second to bring the details back to the review committee, indicating that the enclosure is easily removable.
HPC member Kevin Hammeran said the enclosure was discussed during a small-group meeting, and he did not remember it being seasonal. Bashaw said that initially they wanted to enclose the porch but due to first-quarter temperatures, it was too complicated.
“We leave the porch open at The Virginia [Hotel] and we only enclose it for a few months a year,” Bashaw said. “You guys were a little nervous about those enclosures anyway, so we took your feedback, looked at the numbers and decided that we could make it work with something that had already been approved in town and other applications.”
Vice Chairman Jim Testa said the renovations are a tremendous change and are well done. He noted that the louvers are reasonable, serve their purpose and do not detract from the building’s façade.
Hammeran asked for cut sheets for the individual products being used, showing the material construction and size and for a schedule for window replacement.
HPC member Judy Decker said the plan was much improved for a key contributing, wood, historic hotel.
“I didn’t know you were the applicant; I think that’s wonderful news,” she said. “I really appreciate the historic photo with the louvers; I think it’s really interesting.”
Decker asked about the extra enclosed bay on the first floor and how critical it was for the plan. Bashaw said the guest rooms on that floor are very small, which enables year-round living space.
She also inquired about the building’s paint color and whether the intent was to change it again.
“We painted it white again a couple of years ago with the green trim,” Bashaw said. “I’m a little nostalgic about that. From the ’60s, they had it like a light rose. I remember it used to be green and white when it was the Huntington House and that’s why we painted those colors, and we would plan to keep it that way.”
Bashaw said it was his intent to put a small coffee shop in the hotel, where guests could grab a sandwich or a yogurt parfait in the morning.
“What we will ask the Zoning Board is to reduce the seat count from 140 seats that are currently on the license to about 40,” he said. “When the Alcott ran as the Alcott, they did a lot of weddings there and we have other places for that.”
HPC member Jake Stevenson asked about giving the elevator different treatment to not seem as modern and instead blend in with the building. Bashaw said they tried to keep it minimal and concealed.
“I wish you all the best with the project and I’m happy to see this coming back into transient people, which is the biggest form of income that supports so many other things in town,” HPC member Tom Carroll said. “The more overnight people we get, it’s so good for the economy.”
City Council liaison Lorraine Baldwin said it was a great project and she loved the idea of the courtyard in the back.
Decker said she would like to see photographs of the existing cupola and where the elevator shaft would be on the roof.
“Thank you very much for bringing those historical photos,” Boecker said. “I scoured the internet and found one from a 1920s postcard when room and board was $9 to $15. Think we could do that again?”
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
