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For $739k, live at shuttered Sailor Stan’s restaurant in Gloucester
Since 1977, Sailor Stan's operated on Rocky Neck. Now, the restaurant and adjoining three-bedroom residence is for sale.
Brightly painted, Sailor Stan’s is the welcoming face at the entrance to the narrow peninsula of Rocky Neck in Gloucester. Rocky Neck Avenue converges here forming a “V” with Sailor Stan’s in the middle.
“I think it started as a local market for area residents, probably around the turn of the 20th century,” said Ginger Attaya, a broker for Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty. “In 1977, it became a restaurant. It has been an iconic part of Gloucester ever since.”
The company is listing Sailor Stan’s, a landmark breakfast and lunch restaurant with an attached three-bedroom home. The asking price for 1 Wonson St. is $739,000.
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Inside, the restaurant matches the exterior with bright green, orange, and yellow walls; flags and knick-knacks decorate the space. Indoor seating for 36 guests is augmented by a front porch that has room for three or four additional tables. A professional kitchen and a half bath serve the restaurant. The gable end of the restaurant adjoins a separate house; the origin of the buildings is unknown and, today, they function as one.
Attaya said that the restaurant has not been operating for two years, and that the roof, the electricity, and plumbing all need attention. “Some work will have to be done to secure the necessary permits to reopen the restaurant,” she said.
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But while the building served as a restaurant for almost 50 years, new owners could convert the entire structure into a residence.
The residence, which is open to the restaurant, occupies the rear section’s two floors with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a living area. In total, the property measures 1,747 square feet, per the broker.
“From the second floor, there are gorgeous views of Smith’s Cove,” Attaya said. Smith’s Cove, on the inland side of Rocky Neck, is one of Gloucester Harbor’s deep-water anchorages.
Rocky Neck is considered the oldest still-working art colony in the United States (Provincetown also has an “oldest art colony” designation). But history lends credence to Rocky Neck’s claim. Luminist artist and Gloucester native Fitz Henry Lane documented Rocky Neck, a peninsula in Gloucester’s working harbor, in the 1800s. Winslow Homer came to Rocky Neck in the 1840s, followed by Edward Hopper, Childe Hassam, Milton Avery, Maurice Prendergast, Cecilia Beaux, Frank Duveneck, and many others. Writers such as Louisa May Alcott and Rudyard Kipling came here, drawn by the quaint neighborhood, geographic beauty, according to Rocky Neck Art Colony.
Today, nearly 100 years after Lane depicted it, Rocky Neck is still a compact collection of shops, galleries, homes, and restaurants, anchored at the far end by the Gloucester Marine Railways, the oldest still-operating marine railway in the country.
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Attaya said that the quality of the light drew, and continues to draw, artists.
“Rocky Neck is surrounded by water, and there is nothing like light that’s reflecting off water,” she said. In fact, the Rocky Neck Art Colony is a still-active organization that continues to accept new members.
“There are few things nicer than living in an art colony surrounded by natural beauty,” Attaya said.
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