Historic Centerville inn has ties to Hollywood, the Oval Office and more!

Artwork by Marcus Dalpe

     Built in 1881, the Fernbrook estate in Centerville has had its share of noteworthy owners and guests over the years. Famous visitors to the stunning property on Main Street have included Walt Disney, Gloria Swanson, Audrey Hepburn, JFK and Jackie Kennedy, and many others, and to this day Fernbrook—which is open during the summer as a bed and breakfast—remains a historic Cape Cod icon.

The inn’s current proprietor and innkeeper Mary Ann English has owned Fernbrook since 1997, and has renovated and refurbished the home in grand fashion, adding modern touches here and there while retaining the opulent look and feel of bygone eras.

“I had the entire house re-shingled,” English says. “Then I had it painted as close to the original colors as possible. The ballroom, in which I had the floor and ceiling redone, had already been added in 1951.” English also restored wood flooring, painted walls, added vintage furniture and upholstery to blend with the history of the home, meticulously decorated each of the six guest rooms and the studio cottage, added new windows—including some stained glass—and had a new tent installed to cover the outdoor dancing pavilion. A 50-foot lap pool, a more recent addition, sits discreetly next to the home and is surrounded by flowers, fountains and terraces.

“This home has seen a time when people didn’t use their yards just for cookouts,” English says. “People literally entertained their guests. Here, they could have cocktails on the veranda, play cards, enjoy the gardens, or they could go out to the tent for music and dancing. There was no need to go anywhere else. Everything they wanted was right here.”

Courtesy of The Fernbrook Inn

Howard Marston was Fernbrook’s first owner. His father, Russell Marston, was a successful ship captain from Centerville and later the owner of several Boston establishments,  including Marston’s Restaurant. An abolitionist like his father, Howard also worked alongside him in the restaurant business during the mid-1800s before retiring to Centerville. In 1881 he built Fernbrook on a large parcel of land a stone’s throw from his father’s house at 454 Main Street. Howard Marston had married neighbor Ella Kelley, and they lived together in the new home, which he called the Marston Estate.

Known as a wonderful example of a Queen Anne, shingle-style home, Fernbrook was designed by Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson and the Stanford, Mead and White architectural firms. The expansive property also boasts elegant country landscaping originally designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, a celebrated parks architect from New York who is known to some as the “Father of American Landscape.”

Olmstead is famous for his design of Boston’s Franklin Park and Arnold Arboretum, and it is said that anyone who had work done by the architect was considered of some importance at the time. Today, guests and visitors can still enjoy Olmstead’s ponds and specimen trees as well as the sunken rose gardens he planted, one of which is shaped like a heart. The Marstons had wanted a sweetheart garden they could see from their bedroom window.

“The Marstons were outdoor people,” English says. “They enjoyed going berry picking and wore loose, comfortable clothing and sun bonnets. It was the time when being outdoors was understood to be good for one’s health, you see. They owned Holly Point on Lake Wequaquet as well. They liked to be outside for their good health.”

The Marstons were ahead of their time in other areas as well. According to English, the couple had a private telephone-style system built into their home, allowing easy communication between the main house, the carriage house, and the other outbuildings that existed at the time.

Courtesy of The Fernbrook Inn

After both Howard and Ella Marston died, Dr. Herbert Kalmus (1881-1963) purchased the estate and gave it the name “Fernbrook.” Kalmus was the inventor of Technicolor, a coloring process for motion pictures that was used widely in Hollywood filmmaking from 1922 to 1952. Originally from Chelsea, and a graduate of MIT, Kalmus was both a scientist and an engineer, and he collaborated with Walt Disney on the Technicolor process and the possibility of its use in Disney’s films.

Kalmus was known to have a celebrity contingent coming and going at any given time at Fernbrook; in fact, when Disney’s Fantasia opened in theaters in 1941, Kalmus and his first wife, Natalie, hosted a number of celebrities at the estate including Clark Gable and Cecil B. DeMille.

Although they divorced in 1922 after 20 years of marriage, Kalmus and Natalie continued to live at Fernbrook together until 1944. In 1949 Kalmus married Eleanore King, a fashion writer for the Los Angeles Examiner. Kalmus’ step-daughter, Cammie King, played the part of Bonnie Blue Butler in the classic 1939 film Gone With the Wind.

Photography by Josh Shortsleeve

According to Nancy Viall Shoemaker, director of the Barnstable Historic Society, Kalmus donated four large parcels of land to the Town of Barnstable between 1947 and 1950. “These were in Hyannis at Dunbar’s Point and totaled 40 acres,” Shoemaker says. Today, the area is called Kalmus Beach.

Dr. Kalmus would also donate land in Centerville for the construction of Our Lady of Victory Church. He even donated the estate itself, transferrring ownership of Fernbrook to the Archdiocese of New York.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York used the property often as a summer retreat. A powerful political figure after whom the parochial high school in Brockton is named, Spellman served as Archbishop of the Diocese of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967.

According to English, Spellman had rules for the children of extended family who would visit him at the estate: for example, no breakfast was served until all beds were made, and each child was expected to do some small work around the house or gardens during their stay.

Artwork by Paige Meade

Spellman had connections with several members of the Kennedy family. He was a friend of Joseph Kennedy, Sr.; he presided over Ted Kennedy’s first wedding in 1958; and when Spellman died, Robert Kennedy attended his funeral. At Fernbrook, Spellman also hosted President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, on several occasions.

A native of Milton, English has done a lot of research since she purchased Fernbrook, and has heard a number of anecdotes, one of which involves a regular lively debate between Spellman and the President. “JFK’s car used to pull up to the side of the house when he stayed here,” English says, retelling one story she has heard. “From the second he would walk in the door, Cardinal Spellman would immediately start arguing with him about providing federal funding for parochial schools, to which Kennedy allegedly replied that he had barely gotten elected President as a Catholic.” The implication, it seemed, was that such a feat would be impossible. But as the story goes, at cocktail hour the two men would go out onto the porch, the drink cart was rolled out and all between them would be well again.

It is said Kennedy would sometimes pray in the chapel Spellman had built in Fernbrook. Though there was a Catholic church nearby, Kennedy is said to have preferred the chapel’s privacy and quiet. Today, the chapel room is a lavishly decorated guest room and is called The Cardinal’s Room.

Since then, Fernbrook changed hands a few times before English purchased the property in the late 1990s. In recent years, The Fernbrook Inn has continued to attract interesting visitors. Actor Bill Murray, for one, has been a return guest, staying at the inn when visiting for golf tournaments on the Vineyard.

Fernbrook’s charm is something to be experienced. Touring the interior, one discovers beautiful rooms and libraries—and halls leading to more rooms that lead to other halls, pantries and secret nooks. Standing where Gable and DeMille, Disney and JFK once stood—not to mention other guests including Gloria Swanson and Audrey Hepburn—one can almost feel the presence of old Hollywood, of powerful political figures, and even Camelot. Who knows? Perhaps their imprints never left..

The Fernbrook Inn is located at 481 Main Street in Centerville. For more information, including photos of the various guest rooms, rates, or to request a tour, visit tripadvisor.

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Writer Elin Hilderbrand discusses her work, her love for the Island, and how she made her dreams come true

Photo by Kelly Cronin Bicknell

There are few places in the country that conjure images of sun, sand and summertime more than the island of Nantucket. And it’s on this charming, timeless playground where novelist Elin Hilderbrand makes her home.

Hilderbrand, 46, is the author of a number of wildly popular romance novels that make for great beach reads. Each of her 15 novels, including Barefoot, Summerland and The Guest Cottage, is set on and around Nantucket, whether at Nantucket Memorial Airport or the swanky Nantucket Beach Club and Hotel. She has been called “the queen of the summer beach read” and earlier this year she released her latest book, The Rumor. In July, the title reached #3 on The New York Times Best Seller list and has remained in the top 15 ever since.
In a recent interview with Cape Cod LIFE magazine, Hilderbrand talked about her work, her love of Nantucket, and how she—having grown up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, a suburban community to the north of Philadelphia—came to be living and setting all of her novels on Nantucket Island. She also talked about her 2014 diagnosis with breast cancer, and how today, she’s cancer-free.

Raised in Pennsylvania, Hilderbrand traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket. “It was love at first sight,” she says of the island. “I’ve traveled a lot, and I just knew it. When I saw Nantucket from the boat—the church steeples, the houses, the beaches—I thought of the line from John Denver’s song “Rocky Mountain High”, ‘. . . coming home to a place [I’d] never been before’.”

“I just loved all of it,” she adds. “The downtown, the cobblestones, the fact that there are no chain stores and the shops are independently owned. Year-rounders want to keep it that way. And there’s 50 miles of undeveloped beach.”
As a child, Hilderbrand was fortunate enough to spend carefree summers at the beach on Cape Cod with her family. Her father, Robert, and her stepmother, Judy, rented a large cottage in Brewster when Elin was 10 for their blended family of five children. The cottage had a screened-in porch, an outdoor shower, and a patio in the backyard with a large picnic table and benches. Most days were spent outdoors. For six glorious years, the Hilderbrand clan enjoyed summers full of fun and sunshine.

Photo by Kelly Cronin Bicknell

But these magical seasons came to an abrupt end in 1985. That year, when Elin was 16, her father was killed in a plane crash while returning home from a business trip. “He was an attorney and was doing a bond closing in Troy, Pennsylvania,” Hilderbrand recalls. “It was a two-person plane. It crashed due to the fog and darkness over Chester County Airport.” Both Robert Hilderbrand and the pilot were killed.

“My father was a magical parent,” Hilderbrand says. “None of us ever misbehaved because all we wanted was to please him. His sense of humor, his sense of fun, his all-encompassing love, and his deep emotional reservoir made him a role model for me and my siblings. He is our forever hero.” With her father’s death, Hilderbrand’s summers in the sun were over.
When she was 17, Hilderbrand worked for the summer at a factory in Pennsylvania that manufactured Halloween costumes. “That summer, I vowed that somehow, some way, I would create a life where I spent every summer at the beach,” she says. Hilderbrand also wanted to be able to support this lifestyle, and felt that writing for her profession would be an ideal fit. She went on to graduate from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and then attended the prestigious graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa. Following that, she worked for two years as a middle-school English teacher in New York, teaching at public schools in Queens and Westchester County.

Teaching would not be her calling forever, though. “Before I started teaching, I spent the summer on Nantucket,” Hilderbrand says, “and when I left I vowed I would come back as soon as possible.” In the summer of 1994, she made this dream come true. Hilderbrand moved to Nantucket, taking a job as a classified advertisement representative at a local newspaper. Soon she started writing, and her first novel, The Beach Club, was released in 2000 to positive reviews.

Hilderbrand says her stories are simply about people and their relationships, but they have become popular with romance readers who cannot get enough of them. “I don’t write romance on purpose,” she says. “I write about people. The ideas just come to me and usually fall into two categories: thematic, which are centered around a hotel, a bistro, a wedding, et cetera; or situational, such as something I saw on the news or on television; or centered around a relationship.”

The author says her influences include the late American author, Laurie Colwin. “She wrote a book called Family Happiness (1982) that I loved,” Hilderbrand says. “Her main character is a woman named Polly who is the most lovable woman in the world. She had a husband—and a lover. When I read that, I fell in love with all the characters. It influenced me by teaching me that when writing is done correctly, anything is possible. A character can do an awful thing, but you can still love the character. If you really love your characters, people will go with it.”

Photo by Kelly Cronin Bicknell

Hilderbrand has been with the publishing house, Little, Brown and Company since 2007. Prior to each four-book deal she signs with the publisher, she makes sure she has four solid ideas in mind. She writes her stories out in longhand before ever pulling out a computer. And with three active children—Maxwell, 15, Dawson, 13, and Shelby, 9—busy with school, sports and other extracurricular activities, one might wonder where she finds time to write at all. “I have to find the time,” she says. “Knowing that keeps me focused.”

In 2014, Hilderbrand faced a different kind of challenge when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. A double mastectomy followed, as did full breast reconstruction. In her recovery, she shared what she was going through with her family, her friends and her readers. “Telling everybody what was happening really helped,” she says. “Everyone was extremely supportive.” Her children even created the social media hashtag “#mamastrong,” when talking to their friends about her condition.

Ironically, in Hilderbrand’s book The Matchmaker (2014), which the author completed prior to her diagnosis, she attempted to put herself in the shoes of her character, Dabney Kimball Beech, who is diagnosed with breast cancer. In preparing for the book, the author spent many months asking herself some vital questions: What would it feel like to find out you had cancer? How would you react? Would you do things differently? Would you do things the same? Since her diagnosis last year, Hilderbrand has completed two books during her recovery. Today, she is cancer-free, feeling healthy and very busy.

In October, the author’s next book, Winter Stroll, is scheduled for release. It is a sequel to Hilderbrand’s bestselling novel, Winter Street (2014), a Christmas-themed story in which, following a tragic year, the Quinn family gathers on Nantucket for a holiday filled with surprises. In Winter Stroll, the Quinns once again return to the island and to their inn on Winter Street, ready to celebrate a great year, when drama unfolds.

This fall, Hilderbrand will tour the country to promote the new book, making appearances at bookstores and other venues in Boston, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Brooklyn. Following that, she has no plans of stopping—writing, working, or living the dreamy beach life she promised herself so many years ago. “As long as I stay focused,” she says, “writing is a great lifestyle.”

To read about the author’s upcoming events, book signings and other news, visit elinhilderbrand.net, or check out her official Facebook page, facebook.com/ElinHilderbrand.

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Cape Cod singer has been busy since her successful run on American Idol

Photo by: Kelly Cronin Bicknell

When Siobhan Magnus sang her way into millions of Americans’ homes and hearts during Season 9 of American Idol in 2010, the nation and the world sat up and paid attention. A 2008 graduate of Barnstable High School, Magnus wowed viewers—and the show’s judges—with her big voice, unique look, and decidedly humble personality. Singing powerful renditions of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black,” Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” and various other tunes, the Cape Cod resident made it all the way to the final six contestants on the show before being eliminated, a vote that may have played a role in causing Idol’s ratings to plummet that season.

Like many contestants who are not ultimately crowned “the American Idol,” Magnus has continued on in the music industry, and is making a name for herself by performing solo shows and singing with groups like Hanson and Boston. The Yarmouthport resident released her first album in 2012 and is currently working on her second. She has also added another item to her growing resume: small business owner.

In a recent interview with Cape Cod LIFE, Magnus discussed some of the unique experiences she’s had since her time on American Idol came to an end five years ago. She also talked about how she came to love music in the first place, what she’s learned, and what she’s planning next.

At 25, Magnus is a little wiser and more seasoned since her stint on Idol. After she was eliminated from the show, Magnus made a number of media appearances including stops on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and The Wendy Williams Show. “All of the interviews were fun,” she recalls, “but I was so tired when I was doing them. I would do interviews in the mornings and afternoons—some in Los Angeles and then some in New York.”

Following the show’s conclusion that year—Lee DeWyze was named American Idol—Magnus and several other Idol finalists performed as a group in concerts across the country that summer. The schedule was busy to say the least. “Touring was ridiculous,” Magnus says. “Before that tour, I had only performed locally with a band in high school, musical theater, and drama club. My biggest live audience was 1,400 people. While touring with Idol, we were performing for 8,000 to 14,000 people a night, and doing four to five shows a week for months.” The tour began with two weeks of rehearsals in California, followed by a road trip of 44 show dates in July and August. The tour made stops in venues in more than 20 states. “We even did a show in Canada,” she says

Photo by: Jaguar PS

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Photo by: Kamal Asar

The work was exhausting, says Magnus, but also enjoyable. “We [the 2010 finalists, and some parents and guardians] were crowded into these buses and bussed across the country. It was hard, but I liked it. It’s not for everybody, but really fun. Getting to see almost the entire country was amazing, and it definitely made me appreciate home much more.”

When the tour was completed, Magnus returned home, continuing to sing at several local venues, including the Cape Cod Melody Tent and the Yarmouth Cultural Center. Opportunities continued to arise for her that year, and Magnus had the chance to perform with her favorite childhood band, the three-brother trio, Hanson. “One of the coolest things that ever happened to me was meeting Hanson and getting to perform with them,” she says. “I’m a huge fan. I was so emotional! It was a surprise show. They picked a song for me, called ‘Weird’,” she says with a laugh. “Before I met them, I had seen them in concert in Boston and I always said that if I got to meet them one day, it was going to be special. And it was. They were really kind.”

Magnus recorded her debut album, Moonbaby, with Nashville-based Pacific International Music in 2012. The title comes from a poem the singer wrote during the Idol tour. “I had been writing some poetry and reading some poems from my favorite author, Francesca Lia Block,” she recalls. “It was my first time back on the East Coast in a long time. There was a great smell, a great feeling . . . and my poem was about that feeling. [Moonbaby] was the word I thought of to explain how I felt.” The album features 10 original songs penned by Magnus and others, and one cover.

For a brief period in 2013, Magnus headlined a band, Doubtful Guest, which featured several members of bands popular in the 1990s including Tony Fredianelli of Third Eye Blind and Peter Klett of Candlebox. The band performed two shows before breaking up due to logistical issues. Magnus says she hopes the group will reunite in the future.

Last year—2014—was particularly busy for Magnus. For starters, Jung Ho Pak, conductor of The Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, called on her to perform with the orchestra as a guest vocalist at the Cape Cod Canal’s centennial celebration at Buzzards Bay Park in July. During the event, Magnus performed Patti Page’s song, “Old Cape Cod” as well as an emotional rendition of the Irish classic, “Danny Boy,” which she sang in tribute to her father, Alan N. Magnus, who died in 2013. Magnus says her father’s passing has impacted her more than anything she has ever been through.

Magnus sang with the symphony again at its Holiday Celebration at the Barnstable High Performing Arts Center in December. “I loved singing with the symphony,” she says. “I felt like a Disney princess! I got to dress really nice. My grandparents loved it.”

The year 2014 also brought what Siobhan describes as the invitation of a lifetime: she was asked to perform with Boston, on the famous group’s “Heaven on Earth Tour.” What began as an interim guest singer’s role for six shows expanded into an incredible 50-date touring schedule. “Performing with Boston was so fun,” Magnus says. “It was so different from touring with Idol. I didn’t have to do any press, didn’t have to do interviews, and ate whatever I wanted! My uncle—bassist Tracy Ferrie—is in the band, so he watched out for me.” She added that Tom Scholz, Boston’s songwriter, organist, guitarist and the band’s last remaining original member, mentored her and offered a lot of good advice.

Magnus traveled with the group to shows across the United States and even to Japan, where they played before large, enthusiastic crowds in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. “It was so great to be in Japan,” she says. “The fans there were cool. The hard-core fans came to all the shows.” Magnus says she was particularly impressed when the audiences sang “ . . . in the streets of Hyannis . . .”, lyrics from the group’s 1976 tune “Rock and Roll Band.”

Being raised on Cape Cod—just a few miles from those very streets—provided Magnus with an appreciation of many diverse musical genres, including rock, pop, blues, and soul, all of which are represented in her music today. “I grew up in Marstons Mills, one of six kids,” Magnus says. “My grandparents always made sure we were submersed in the arts. With them, I always listened to classical music. They enjoy that I work with swing bands.” Though she never took private voice lessons, Magnus says she had a wonderful chorus teacher for three years at Barnstable High in Sean Landers.

The singer also credits her father, who worked as a musician, with her training. “I’ve been singing since I was little,” Magnus says. “My dad taught me how to breathe and how to keep my posture. My parents were very supportive. I began drama club when I was 8, had my first solo when I was 9, and continued with it through high school.” In all, she performed in more than 50 drama club productions with Barnstable High including “Wonderland—The Musical,” “Twelfth Night,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Though she took part in the club’s summer theater, most of the shows she performed in were during the school year. “In winter on Cape Cod,” she says, “all we really had was drama club.” She adds that her leading role as Mabel in “Pirates of Penzance” still remains the biggest challenge she has faced as a singer. 

Photo by: Kelly Cronin Bicknell

“I love theater and I love acting” Magnus says. “I have no idea if I’m any good at it, but I love it.” In recent years, she has been approached about a few acting roles, but she has yet to find anything that has interested her. Note to directors out there: if you’re shooting a horror film, Magnus is interested.

Magnus says her mother, Colleen, has always been an encouraging force for her and her siblings. “My mom is a free, creative spirit,” she says. “She is a bookworm. She has encouraged reading throughout our lives.”

In addition to music, Magnus has branched out in another direction in recent years, and today she is the owner of a small retail business that sells jewelry, vintage clothing, records, and more at the Antiques Center of Cape Cod in Dennis. The space is fittingly named Moonbaby Boutique. “It’s just a little thrift booth with a selection of hand-picked clothing, for now,” she says. The Antiques Center handles product sales for vendors, like Magnus, and splits the profits. “My plan is to make accessories and jewelry, as well as customized clothing,” Magnus says. “I would love to own my own store on the Cape one day.”

While she ventures intro entrepreneurship, Magnus’ music career continues to reflect a diverse musical style. She is working on new projects and honing her skill at songwriting. “I usually write lyrics alone or when I’m in a writing session,” she says. “I’m writing with my older brother, Joseph, as well, which we have never tried. So, I’m hoping that the next year sees another original album from me!”

“I have a handful of new songs that I’m hoping to record better versions of, and release them within the next year, including one I co-wrote called ‘Widow’s Walk’ that I performed with the Cape Symphony last fall for Barnstable’s 375th anniversary, and we are currently working on a recorded version for release. It’s a Cape Cod ghost story song,” she says. “I am also doing some recording-session work where I’m a hired gun, singing backup vocals and duets for other performer’s records.”

She also continues to perform in shows across the Cape. On Sunday, August 23, Magnus will sing numbers from the Great American Songbook in a special Ella & Frank show at the Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster. Additional shows include dates at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod on Saturdays, August 29 and October 31.

What does Magnus think of her success—and her prospects? “I’m proud and excited,” she says, “and I’m glad, so far, to make a career out of what I do. It’s very important for me to strive to do what makes me happy.”

To learn more about Magnus, follow her on Twitter at @SiobhanMagnusAI. In addition, her website, smagnus.com, features upcoming performance dates, news, and a free mobile app.

Ann Luongo is a freelance writer from Plymouth whose work has appeared in several print and online publications.

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