Chatham Inn Takes On Co-owner; New Entity Pays $13.1 Million For Property

CHATHAM – The Chatham Inn at 359 Main St. now has a co-owner: the Kirkland, Wash.-based Noble House Hotels and Resorts.

Jeff Ippoliti, who purchased the property in 2015 along with his wife Kayla, will remain as co-owner of the 18-room inn, formerly known as the Cranberry Inn.

Ippoliti said partnering with Noble House, which has a portfolio of 24 hotels and resorts as well as other facilities, will provide support and infrastructure that the small inn could not do on its own.

“They bring a level of expertise and infrastructure that is difficult for us to obtain with a single stand-alone location,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It allows us to provide, for example, better benefits for our staff.”

No operational or staff changes are planned, and the 194-year-old inn will retain its affiliation with Relais and Chateaux, a collection of 580 luxury hotels and restaurants located around the world. The Chatham Inn is the only Relais venue on the Cape and one of only 11 Relais inns in the U.S. with a Forbes Travel Guide five-star rating, Ippoliti said. No changes are in store for the inn’s restaurant, Cuvée, he added.

According to Ippoliti, the deal with Noble House involved forming a new entity, Chatham Inn Partners LLC, to own the property. A deed on file at the Barnstable Registry of Deeds lists the sale of the property Feb. 28 from Inn Partners LLC, Ippoliti’s company, to the newly formed Chatham Inn Partners for $13,175,000, with a mortgage of $6,322,911. Chatham Inn Partners LLC’s offices are in Kirkland, Wash. and Noble House CEO James Colee is listed as manager.

With headquarters in Seattle, Noble House is a family-owned business that includes more than 75 restaurants, bars and lounges, the Napa Valley Wine Train, spas, marinas and private residences in the U.S. and Mexico, as well as 24 resorts and retreats in California, Florida, Jackson Hole, Wyo, Settle and San Francisco.

In a press release, Colee said, “The addition of the Chatham Inn Relais and Châteaux to the Noble House Hotels and Resorts portfolio reinforces our commitment to grow with on-brand, award-winning, luxury boutique properties. We are also excited to welcome the team members of the Chatham Inn Relais and Châteaux to the Noble House family.”

The Chatham Inn is said to be one of the oldest continually operating lodging facilities on Cape Cod. Originally built in 1830 by Gideon and Reliance Small, it became known as the Traveler’s Lodge in 1884, and according to the inn’s website, it was the seasonal headquarters for the Norfolk Hunting Club, members of which arrived in Chatham by train accompanied by hunting dogs and horses.

In 1898 the property was christened the Monomoyick Inn. In 1953, a subsequent owner, George Noyes, renamed the facility the Cranberry Inn. In 1963, Mary and Richard Hamilton bought the inn; Mary’s mother had worked there in 1886, and Mary had been a waitress at the inn in 1929. The couple owned the property until 1981. There were several other owners until the Ippolitis purchased it in 2015.

According to assessors’ records, the Ippolitis, under Inn Partners LLC, paid $4,100,000 for the property in 2015. The current assessed value is $5,496,200. The inn sits on just over one acre of land, with the building listed by the town as being 10,624 square feet.

“Everything will remain exactly the same, from a guest standpoint,” said Ippoliti. “It will be completely seamless. Nothing will change.”