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Summer seems far away but may we all meet by the blue harbour in happy hours then.
— Caroline Sinkler to Isabella Stewart Gardner, early 20th century
The “blue harbor” Isabella’s friend Caroline Sinkler refers to in this quote is Eastern Point in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Not only did Isabella reminisce with her friends about her time in Gloucester, but she also kept many mementos of her happy days spent on the North Shore in her collection.
Isabella was first invited to Gloucester in 1907 by her friend and future congressman A. Piatt Andrew (1873–1936) who built a home on Eastern Point named Red Roof.
A. Piatt Andrew’s home, Red Roof, on Eastern Point, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1910
Photo: Thomas E. Marr & Son (active Boston, about 1875–1954)
In 1902, Andrew had recently been appointed to the economics faculty at Harvard, and he sought escape from his Cambridge apartment. Gloucester’s cooling sea air, ocean views, and proximity to Boston attracted Andrew and other Gilded Age tourists looking for a summer retreat.
A. Piatt Andrew and Isabella Stewart Gardner on the terrace at Red Roof, 6 October 1910
Photo: Thomas E. Marr & Son (active Boston, about 1875–1954)
He was soon at the center of a lively community of creative and charismatic personalities, and Isabella became an honorary member of this group. His Eastern Point neighbors included interior decorator Henry Davis Sleeper (1878–1934), painter Cecilia Beaux (1855–1942), intellectual Joanna Davidge (1872–1931), and patron of music and art Caroline Sinkler (1860–1949).
Postcard of Eastern Point, Gloucester, Massachusetts
Isabella spent many happy days with her friends on Eastern Point picnicking on the beach, birdwatching, and attending parties.
Ten years after Isabella first stayed at Red Roof, times had changed. During World War I, Andrew lived in Paris and established the American Field Service, which provided ambulances to support the French Army prior to the United States’ entry into the War. Sleeper worked at the Boston AFS office to recruit American ambulance drivers and raise funds—Isabella sponsored two ambulances.
Children and American Field Service staff with Isabella’s sponsored ambulance in France during World War I, 1916
The uncertainty of war combined with the 1918 influenza pandemic had Isabella and her friends longing for more carefree times in Gloucester.
I hope everything goes well with you & that you have escaped this odious influenza. Phila [Philadelphia] is stricken with it but now slowly emerging. I have missed Gloucester & you unspeakably & already plan & hope for happy days with you there next year.
— Caroline Sinkler to Isabella Stewart Gardner, 25 October 1918
Even though her friends could not gather together, Isabella rented Caroline’s home on Eastern Point, jokingly named Wrong Roof, for June and July 1918. She took respite in the oceanfront landscape and read books in the garden. A page in her guest book captures the names of a few people in Isabella’s circle who were able to visit, including artist Martin Mower (1870–1960).
Isabella Stewart Gardner (American, 1840–1924), Guest Book, Volume XIV, 18 October 1915–31 July 1918, f. 54
Mower and his family often stayed at The BeachCroft, one of Gloucester’s seaside hotels. That summer, he painted Isabella reading a book by the fountain in the garden at Wrong Roof.
Martin Mower (American, 1870-1960), The Fountain, 1918
Isabella kept Mower’s watercolor in the Macknight Room—where she spent most of her time towards the end of her life. One can imagine she liked to look at the painting and be transported to Gloucester’s blue harbor, even when she could not be there in person.