Established 1894
Our Story
More than a century of seaside elegance at the foot of Ocean Street.
1894 · Our Story
A Legacy of Seaside Elegance
In the fall of 1894, local builders William H. and C.S. Church — the Church Brothers — broke ground on a grand seaside hotel at the foot of Ocean Street. Completed in 1895 as the Colonial Hotel, it rose with a French mansard roof, gas lights, and steam heat for year-round operation, and was said to be the tallest building on the coast.
More than a century later, that same building stands at 7 Ocean Street as The Inn of Cape May — recognized on the National Register of Historic Places and, following a thoughtful renovation completed in 2022, carrying its heritage forward as a classic beach vacation elevated by modern amenities.
Through the Years
A Timeline of the Inn
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1894
Ground is Broken
The Church Brothers — William H. and C.S. Church — break ground on a grand seaside hotel at the foot of Ocean Street.
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1895
The Colonial Hotel Opens
Completed with a French mansard roof, gas lights and steam heat for year-round operation — said to be the tallest building on the coast.
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1905
The South Wing
The hotel effectively doubles in size, growing into the L-shaped silhouette recognizable today and home to Cape May’s very first elevator.
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1970
A Recognized Landmark
On December 29, the Inn is recognized within Cape May’s Historic District — listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
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2022
A Thoughtful Renovation
All fifty-one individually shaped rooms are reimagined for modern comfort, honoring the original architecture while readying the Inn for its next century.
1894 – 1909
From Colonial Hotel to Cape May Landmark
The hotel opened as a modest, rectangular cottage-style boarding house — a central hall flanked by rooms, with the main entrance in the very spot guests still use today. Its earliest signature was a long porch running the full southern face of the building, parallel to the sea.
Cape May embraced it quickly. By 1905 the hotel had effectively doubled in size with the addition of the south wing, and within fifteen years of breaking ground it had grown into the L-shaped silhouette recognizable today — five stories at its highest point, wrapping a broad front lawn that opens to sweeping views of the Atlantic.
To serve guests in what was then the tallest hotel on the coast, the owners installed Cape May’s very first elevator — a piece of living history that remains in operation more than a century later.
Architecture
Second Empire by the Sea
Often called Victorian, the Inn is more precisely a Second Empire masterpiece. Twin hexagonal towers crowned with diamond-shingled spires frame the Ocean Street entrance, while a concave mansard roof, scalloped shingles, decorative dormers, and a windowless cupola give the rooflines a character that stops passersby mid-stroll.
Tall two-over-two sash windows flood the interiors with light. Bands of clapboard and scalloped shingle, soft pastel siding, crisp white trim, and intricate gingerbread woodwork showcase the craftsmanship of the era — all gathered beneath the Inn’s beloved wrap-around porch, fondly known as The Porch.
A Living Landmark
Preserved for the Next Generation
Where most grand timber-framed resort hotels of the age were lost to fire or storm, the Inn endured. The New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office counts it among the last remaining resort hotels of its kind, and on December 29, 1970 it was recognized within Cape May’s Historic District — a landmark on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
A careful renovation completed in 2022 honored that legacy while readying the Inn for its next century — plush new furnishings set against original architectural detail, and all fifty-one individually shaped rooms reimagined for modern comfort. Today the south lawn welcomes guests to a seasonal pool where gentlemen once gathered, and The Porch still hums with morning coffee, sunset cocktails, and live music on summer evenings.
