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In a town with a long, long history of shedding its skin frequently and businesses changing not just ownership, but name and purpose with relative speed, those that last for decades gain a great importance to the town and its community as well as to visitors. That continuity is hard to maintain in a place like Provincetown with the unique challenges of its remote location, cost of real estate, the housing crisis, shrinking labor pool, and of course the season economy. But the Gifford House is nothing short of a miracle, as its one of the oldest continuous businesses in town, joining the ranks of place like the Atlantic House and the Crown & Anchor for longevity.
A Walk on the Wild Side - The Provincetown Independent
A Walk on the Wild Side.
Posted: Wed, 21 Jul 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]
King Rooms - Main Building
It also provides a concierge, a swimming pool and free Wi-Fi. Been traveling for a while or got your favorite piece of clothing soiled? We will wash, dry, iron and fold all the clothes that can fit into the machine at a time. Happy to connect you with the best our queer town has to offer - and they are exceptional! Restaurants, stores, and entertainment all within walking distance from the Inn.
Events
The fact that the new owner is a Provincetown businessperson is significant, because a national trend in corporate ownership of hotels and restaurants has reached the Outer Cape’s shores. Three multistate hotel groups — Linchris Hotel Corp., Lexvest Group, and Sawyer Realty — have bought properties in Provincetown in the last two years. To that end, it’s difficult to imagine that the Gifford’s bars would have survived under corporate ownership, particularly the salty Club Purgatory.
The Local Journalism Project
Azar still hasn’t decided how to use the restaurant space. Azar said he had tried to buy a couple of other properties in town, but each time the deals had fallen apart at the last minute. He was about to start looking outside Provincetown, he said, but wanted to talk to Foss first. He was on his way to Sedona, Ariz. just a few days after the nonprofit Summer of Sass closed on its purchase of the Stowaway. Summer of Sass, which brings LGBTQ people ages 18 to 21 to Provincetown from difficult small-town environments, bought the Stowaway from Azar last year for $3.7 million. Your subscription supports real community journalism.
Wilde Play House
The sale of such a big property from one small LGBTQ business owner to another was welcomed buck to the trends of private equity groups and corporations gobbling up commercial real estate in town. But Foss and Wilson had no interest to selling to a corporate entity and Azar rolls his eyes and shakes his head when thinking of how the local phenomenon can dull local culture, LGBTQ expression as well erode community. As for its cultural legacy, a grand building perched atop Mill Hill, the Gifford House couldn’t help not only witness history, but make it. A variety of owners maintained it as a top hotel and restaurant for decades to come as a major player in the development of Provincetown’s tourism economy as shifted from whaling to fishing to the art colony to a party town. Come the 1960s the Gifford House embraced the cutting edge when it was home to Beverly Bentley’s Act IV experimental theater company. Come the 1970s the transformation to a queer space would be rapid with the opening of Back Street in the former performance space of Act IV, now better known as Club Purgatory.
As the latest proprietor of the Gifford’s century-and-a-half history, Azar now views himself as part of a small wave of corporate expats who have recently moved to Provincetown to find a better quality of life and build their own businesses. He says they’re also trying to protect a place they love from becoming overrun by soulless developers who see dollar signs in P’town tourism, but don’t recognize the place’s important legacy of artistic queer community. Over the years, it has entertained American presidents (Grant, Roosevelt and Howard, to be specific), hosted theater companies (a young Al Pacino performed here), and been a vibrant hub of gay life. With so many high-spirited memories attached to the place, it’s no wonder that, if the many whispered ghost stories are to be believed, a handful of revelers have never left the Gifford House at all. Situated in Provincetown, 400 metres from Ryder Street Beach, Gifford House features accommodation with a garden, private parking, a shared lounge and a terrace. Among the facilities at this property are room service and an ATM, along with free WiFi throughout the property.
The complex includes a large dining hall complete with a stage, a private bar, exterior patio all serviced by a large professional commercial kitchen to cater to your needs. Spill into our Love Lounge with its baby grand or rent out our lower level disco. Our Inn has 18 en-suite rooms year round and up to 33 in the summer months several of which are multi-room suites with the ultimate hilltop harbor views. Guests can also request tarot readings from an on-site intuitive, and Azar hopes the Gifford’s programming could eventually grow to include winter workshops on any number of topics to keep P’town’s economy stimulated in the off-season. A native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Azar came to town for years as a visitor, moving here in 2019 to help open the Provincetown Brewing Company and then shortly thereafter buying a guest house and operating it as the Stowaway Inn on Bradford Street in the East End.
Provincetown’s Front Porch: A New Era Begins at the Gifford House
Porch Bar, the Love Lounge which boasts 7 nights of free entertainment during season, the Wilde a theatrical speakeasy, and Club Purgatory (oldest leather bar in America) are all active onsite as part of this destination. While blooming flowers, breaching whales, and singing birds are all familiar signs of spring in Provincetown, but so too are the sounds of buzz saws and hammers, saw dust in the air, and the smell of fresh paint. Such is the case at the top of Carver Street as the iconic Gifford House undergoes a renovation of structure and a revival of its spirit.
See what guests loved the most:
1) The MAIN BUILDING located above our Love Lounge, which is accessed up the main porch stairs on Carver Street onto our porch and by entering left under the sign “Reception”. We have all kinds of rooms and all kinds of event spaces on premise to host anything you can dream up. Cloudbeds uses PCI-compliant security standards. All information transmitted is encrypted with a 128-bit SSL certificate. Payment information is stored within a vault, and only for a short period of time.
Guests can use a bar.At the inn, each room is equipped with a closet. Rooms come with a private bathroom with a shower, free toiletries and a hairdryer. At Gifford House every room is equipped with air conditioning and a flat-screen TV.You can play pool at the accommodation.Popular points of interest near Gifford House include Dog Beach, Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Library. The nearest airport is Provincetown Municipal, 3.1 miles from the inn, and the property offers a paid airport shuttle service. By choosing to stay at a locally-owned inn like Gifford House, you are directly supporting individuals who have poured their hearts and souls into creating spaces that reflect the rich tapestry and history of our community. The Gifford House is imbued with a unique charm, personality, and intimate atmosphere that is just not found in other hotels.
Guests are required to show a photo identification and credit card upon check-in. Please note that all Special Requests are subject to availability and additional charges may apply. Lock in a great price for Gifford House - rated 8.3 by recent guests. Guests are required to show a photo ID and credit card upon check-in. We had an unexpected issue with our room key, but they were able to help us and resolve the issue expeditiously. Porch bar was super fun and open in the off-season which was a huge bonus.
Gifford means “the brave giver” in old English and our style of hospitality and entertainment embodies this sentiment to its fullest. The space is graciously generous with her moods and charms as she effortlessly peels back the masks we wear. Marvel in the natural beauty and creativity of those around you, and dance it all away - the less rules the better in these parts. The rates are going to have to be higher than they were, he said. “The numbers are kind of scary, and every space in here has to be open and doing well” for the business to succeed.
Mike Sullivan Wears Many Masks - The Provincetown Independent
Mike Sullivan Wears Many Masks.
Posted: Wed, 13 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Our historic inn is not serviced by an elevator and none of our King Rooms are ADA compliant. Boston Spirit is an upscale print magazine, full of feature articles focusing on LGBT leaders from the worlds of business, politics, and entertainment. We also keep you up to date on all the latest hot spots for travel, shopping and dining, and throw in a few extra surprises in every issue! We will mail it to your home for FREE every 2 months. As early as 1858, when it served as the last stop on Cape Cod’s stagecoach line, the rambling property atop the hill on Carver Street in Provincetown functioned as an inn. As the Gifford sat in a sad state, facing an uncertain future, a knight in shining armor — or, more accurately, a townie in a tank top and short shorts — stepped in, eager to restore the Gifford’s élan vital.
Guests can make use of a bar.At the inn, every room is equipped with a wardrobe. The private bathroom is fitted with a shower, free toiletries and a hairdryer. At Gifford House, rooms are equipped with air conditioning and a flat-screen TV.You can play billiards at the accommodation.Popular points of interest near Gifford House include Dog Beach, Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Library. The nearest airport is Provincetown Municipal, 5 km from the inn, and the property offers a paid airport shuttle service. Located in Provincetown, a 4-minute walk from Ryder Street Beach, Gifford House has accommodations with a garden, private parking, a shared lounge and a terrace.
For those of us that live here, the Gifford House is very much our home — a vibrant one! —and we are excited to welcome in all of her guests. It might be her extraordinary layout, multiple stages to play on, the free-to-use drag closet in the lobby, or just the fact you can count on meeting a new friend during your stay here - but she is extraordinary in her own salty way. We pride ourselves on being an active, local and gay-owned cultural hub that hosts multiple events most days and nights all year. “We’re going to move the check-in desk, because the guys at the Crown & Anchor are actually giving me their baby grand piano,” Azar said. “Scream Along With Billy,” the show featuring rocker and storyteller Billy Hough, will be back in the lobby, too.
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