The Georgiana Villa. We don’t have a date or a clue. Click once to enlarge. The sign says “Boarding'”
A Grover sent us this and wonders what’s it all about Alfie. It seems that it is a boarding house, and such businesses were common in the early years of the Grove.
Every person in the photo is a woman. Is that a significant observation? You know, Mrs. Love ran the place. It was not unusual back then for women to manage or even own such establishments. Do you think that Mrs. Love had some sort of gender policy?
We welcome facts and speculation about the Georgiana Villa. What can you say about the architecture? The HPC would know, but they never contribute to Blogfinger even though we have had over 4 million hits since 2009.
Maybe the equally elusive Historical Society of Ocean Grove would comment, but don’t count on it. Perhaps our friend historian David Fox will help us out.
Notice the finials, erect on top of the structure. What do you suppose that means? We have a few on top of our house. The HPC liked it, but why?
I can tell you that a long list of hotels were part of Gibbons History of the Grove, (1939) but the Georgiana was not there. Probable because it was not considered to be a hotel.
Maybe the OGNED North End developers would have placed a true historic building ie a boarding house for women only instead of a hotel.
From the soundtrack of the movie Quartet: Valerie Masterson and some of her girl friends: “So Please You, Sir, We Much Regret.” :
What the deuce are these girls talking about? Understanding women is a sport going back to ancient times.
Thanks Dave. Do you think that the Grovers of that founding generation were conscious of the Swiss influences when the early “cottages” were designed? Hotels and boarding houses were early structures, and yet there was no mention of Swiss influences in the OG history books which I have read.
I guess it is a coincidence, but Interlaken was created with Switzerland in mind, especially in the naming of streets: Bridelmere, Grassmere, Bendelmere, Buttermere, etc. Yet their architecture of early “cottages” was not Swiss–it was Victorian.
The style of the Georgiana Villa might be called “Swiss Gothic Chalet” or just “Swiss Chalet.” This was a popular style in the mid-1880s. Some of the “postcard” houses on Ocean Pathway and Centennial Cottage are of this style.
I did a count using Google Street View and there are about 82 cottages of this style still remaining. The style is considered an outgrowth of the Stick Style that featured prominent timbers. The Auditorium has features of this style. The style was loosely based on Swiss farmhouses where animals would occupy the lowest level, humans on the second that was warmed by animals, and insulated by a hayloft in the attic.
The extended roof kept the hay dry yet accessible. The OG version does not so much resemble Switzerland but retains the balconies on upper levels and the protruding roof.
By the 1890s, the Queen Anne Style with its polygonal towers, asymmetry, and more restrained ornament became popular.
A very large number of OG lodgings were operated if not owned by women, often widowed or single. Perhaps it was decided to have this for women only. Women-only hotels were deemed more moral than those of mixed company at one time. The Barbazon, Atherton, Martha Washington, and the YWCAs in NYC were former examples.