The Addy Sea, located at 99 Ocean View Parkway in Bethany Beach, is on the 4th Annual Historic Coastal Towns Cottage Tour or bypass on Saturday, October 9th, 10 am-4pm.
The seaside Addy Sea is steeped in more than a century of history. With its late Victorian architecture, classic cedar shingles, and gingerbread toppings, the Addy Sea has become one of Bethany Beach’s most famous landmarks.
John and Jennie Addy built the Addy Sea for their family as a Pittsburgh summer residence in 1901. John Addy was a plumber, and the Addy Sea was the first in the area to have indoor plumbing and gas lamps. Many of the original furnishings such as the tin ceilings and chimneys have been restored to their original splendor. Your children turned it into a pension at the beginning of the Great Depression.
The Addy Sea has weathered many devastating storms. After the 1927 storm, the Addys had to move the building one block west to one of the family’s other four lots. During the infamous storm of ’62, the floor of the building was washed into the sea, but, amazingly, it didn’t collapse. That storm also revealed the home’s original foundation before 1927 on the coast.
In 1974, the third generation of the Addys asked their neighbor Leroy T. Gravatte III – whose family had also been to Bethany Beach for three generations – to sell the property. Gravatte bought the Addy Sea himself and started the renovation, taking great care to stay true to the traditions but adding modern conveniences for comfort. In 2016, Jeff and Sherene Gravatte took over the inns from this great old lady by the sea.
A limited number of tickets are available for the Historic Coastal Towns Cottage Tour and can be purchased at Made By Hand (Route 1, South Bethany), Gallery One (Route 26, Ocean View), Bethany Beach Books (downtown Bethany Beach), Bethany. Beach Town Hall (only on the day of the tour) and online at www.thequietresorts.com. Tickets are $ 25 each and the proceeds will support the developing Coastal Towns Museum at 40 West Avenue in Ocean View.
Masks and social distancing are required from all instructors and tour participants in the cottages.
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