Peninsula House: Shore Splendor
It’s hard to call it Sea Bright’s most iconic oceanfront building. There have been so many others. But few, if any, had a nickname.
“P House,” 1970s.
Locals called it the “P House” — a celebrated seashore gathering spot dating back to Sea Bright’s late 19th century resort glory days. A definitive part of Sea Bright’s classic coastal architecture, as well, its last vestiges went up in flames over 35 years ago. Season upon season it was Sea Bright’s summer showplace — filled with character and characters. Everyone knew about it.
First opened in June 1881 by Mifflin Paul, the unofficial founder of Sea Bright. Built for his daughter, Martha Dederer, he hoped the sprawling wooden hotel along the Shrewsbury River would attract the rich and famous to Sea Bright. It could accommodate 300 guests. The Asbury Park Press — the local paper of record — called the Peninsula House “a reminder of bygone elegance and grandeur.” In November 1884 the hotel was moved east across Ocean Avenue (pulled on rollers by horses over railroad tracks nearer the seashore); H.W. Newry of Asbury Park managed the effort.
Daughter Deal
After her father died in April 1890, Martha and her husband, Charles, took full control (he died in Nov. 1910). Loaded with seashore charm and fun, the P House would rule the beach for the next century. In a sense, its expansion was born from a cataclysmic triple-winter storm. During December 1913-January 1914 a series of relentless Nor’easters somehow spared the P House but reduced its northern hotel neighbor, the Octagon, to near matchsticks. Martha’s sister owned that hotel.
Paul had begun his Sea Bright hotel-resort plans in 1870 building the magnificent — and constantly expanding — Octagon Hotel on the oceanfront. The massive undertaking was for his other daughter, Sarah Sandt. It was family-owned until demolished in a Winter 1914 storm. More on the Octagon Hotel — HERE. In September 1915, Martha sold out to a New York syndicate headed by William W. Wyckoff for $8,500 (the property had once been rated worth 10 times that). By June 1916, a greatly expanded P House resort hotel was incorporated and operating.
More Sea Bright Images —HERE
A room clerk at the P House hotel in the early days, Wyckoff also managed the Sherman Square Hotel on Broadway in NYC. Martha Dederer died in January 1933. By the late 1920s, John E. Connelly, Jr. was the Peninsula House owner/manager but Wyckoff was still involved up to the late 1940s. In October 1959, Thomas McDarby and Edward Murphy acquired the property; they added the beach club component and a pool.
The P House had its share of political influence in town too. Walter L. Johnson, who served on the borough council and school board, managed the P House for over 45 years. He retired a year before his death in February 1974.
Several other buildings were added over the years around the original five-story structure. A North Annex with 36 rooms opened in 1916 and a South Annex with 57 rooms came in 1917. P House owners had acquired old Octagon Hotel property and a standing 75-room annex in March 1917. All are long gone.
Among the famous P House guests through the years were actor Bert Lahr, musicians Clarence Clemons and Frank Sinatra and his parents. Plus, generations of Sea Bright residents, families, and out-of-town members, who loved the P House and recall it as summertime paradise.
Peninsula House, 1907.
Changing Times
By the early 1960s, the P House could accommodate 350 guests, had two bars and a ballroom and had added a public beach club component with pool. In the late 1960s all hotel operations had ended. By early 1973, two of the three remaining wooden complexes had been demolished.
In February 1980, after years of decline, restoration expert Mary Weir acquired the property and returned much of the Victorian charm and splendor to the P House. After bringing new life to a precious borough antique, she sold the landmark property in 1983 to seek other business opportunities.
The last owners, James and Charles Yacenda, had received town approval to turn the facility into an all-year hotel when a fire took the century-old building. When the “last of the great structures to survive on the barrier beach” burned, borough fire department labeled it suspicious. Eight local fire companies and 200+ firefighters fought the blaze for over 8 hours in October 1986. The borough ultimately acquired the vacant property for beach parking.
SB Spread — Peninsula House on Ocean Avenue, 1946.
Tons of Sand — Peninsula House, 1960s. The hotel was “loved” by Frank Sinatra’s parents (Marty and Dolly), according to a 1972 Asbury Park Press profile on the P House. And Frank visited too.
My Way — Peninsula House, 1922. The north house (r) was built in 1881 and burned in 1986; the south house (l) was built in 1917 and torn down in 1967.
Peninsula House property up for auction, Red Bank Daily Register, April 1915.
Peninsula House on Ocean Avenue, 1903.
Burned Out — Peninsula House remains after fire, October 1986.
Peninsula House, 1952. The south wing was built in 1918 for $60,000 and included 250 rooms; Kerner & Goldstein of NYC were the contractors.
Peninsula House porch painting by Jane Geayer, 1980.
A Dream — “New Peninsula House Hotel” sketch proposal, Red Bank Daily Register, December 1988. Designed by Long Branch architect Robert Gorski.
The Layout — The P House (c) anchors Sea Bright’s beach club row in a classic Summer 1950s postcard.
Peninsula House, 1920s. The property covered about 4.5 acres.
Take Down –Peninsula House south wing wrecked, Long Branch Daily Record, November 1967. The 50-year-old wooden structure fell due to the need of more parking. Joseph Mazza & Sons did the demo work on the 60-room hotel.
Peninsula House postcard, 1937. In 1889, a room cost $3.50 a night.
Over Cooked — Peninsula House smoldering remains, October 1986. After the fire it “lay like a fallen giant,” according to the Red Bank Daily Register.
Peninsula House visible in the upper right nearby the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge, late-1940s.
Storm Leftovers — The P House in the background of the ground-up Octagon Hotel, 1914.
In the Chain — P House and old Octagon Hotel annex ready for another summer, December 1917.
On Guard — Sea Bright firefighters and their 1920 American La France firetruck — with the P House as backdrop, early 1960s (John Harasek Photo).
Peninsula House, early 1900s. Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons, a borough resident and P House regular, called the 1986 fire “like losing a part of you.”
Owning Up — Martha Dederer obit, Red Bank Daily Register, February 1933. In addition to running the P House summer resort for decades, she raised four amazing children — college professor, doctor, US Army major and WW I solider KIA.
Peninsula House, 1903. One hotel floor was called “Rum Row” — for all the bachelors who stayed there for the summer.
Shore Sweetness — Marion Ryan in front of the P House, 1930s.
Cool Coast — Sea Bright aerial image shows the prime oceanfront location of the P House, 1955.
Peninsula House, 1960s. Martha Stevens was a P House regular, summering here until her death in 1899. She endowed Hoboken’s Stevens Institute of Technology in 1870 and is credited with giving Sea Bright its name — “by a simple transposition of the Indian name which meant Bright Sea,” according to the August 1963 Long Branch Daily Record. She ran in the same circles as the town’s first developers: Mifflin Paul, W.W. Shippen, and Samuel Dod. One of the rejected town names was “St.-Paul-on-the-Shrewsbury.”
Peninsula House pool area, 1960s.
“Listening to the Building” — Developer Mary Weir (r) and Red Bank architect Robert DeSantis review plans for the new P House, Red Bank Daily Register, May 1980. She and partner Richard Poyda reportedly paid $650,000 for the P House land in February 1980 and proceeded to restore 30,000-square-feet of high-end dining and entertainment space to the borough’s historic oceanfront.
Weir Wing — New P House restaurant built by developer Mary Weir, Red Bank Daily Register, May 1981. A part of a ambitious, and once completed, fabulous renovation project Mary opened three distinct dining spots. It all burned in Autumn 1986.
Peninsula House lunch menu, July 1907. The main kitchen was closed in 1964.
Peninsula House, 1940s. The hotel’s public beach club component was added for Summer 1960 by owners Ed Murphy and Tom McDarby.
Big Spread — Peninsula House, 1960s.
Peninsula House, 1958. The south wing was torn down in November 1967.
P House aerial image, 1940s.
Peninsula House south wing is demolished, Red Bank Register, November 1967.
Get a Drink — Peninsula House postcard, 1940. The hotel applied for its first seasonal liquor license in June 1937, according to the Long Branch Daily Record.
Chris and Olaf Axelsen near the P House, 1930s. Note the CNJ railroad tracks behind the men.
Long View — Peninsula House, 1950s.
A very busy Peninsula House beach, 1937.
Peninsula House, 1914.
Peninsula House, 1910.
Peninsula House postcard, 1940s. North and South buildings.
Peninsula House on Ocean Avenue, 1903.
Spared — The Peninsula House lasted but the Octagon Hotel fell to a series of storms, January 1914.
Peninsula House ad, 1920s.
P House, 1928.
Peninsula House, 1960s.
Peninsula House, 1906.
Peninsula House (l) and Sea Bright Bathing Pavilion (r), 1950s.
Sea Bright aerial image, 1955. P House is at center along the coast.
Peninsula House, 1960s.
Peninsula House on Ocean Avenue, 1939.
Peninsula House, 1936.
Peninsula House, 1930s.
Peninsula House (l) and Seabright Bathing Pavilion (r) on Ocean Avenue, 1950s.
Peninsula House along Ocean Avenue, 1968.
Peninsula House, 1950s. When it was a “gorgeous and irreplaceable building.”
P House to the far left amidst devastating damages to the Octagon Hotel, January 1914.
“P House” painting by David Fitzmaurice, 1976 (Patti Moran Photo).
Peninsula House, 1960s.
P House, 1911.
P House, 1929.
P House, 1903.
Architect’s rendering for the new P House, Red Bank Register, May 1980. The design plan was by Robert DeSantis of Red Bank.
The P House North Wing is demolished, January 1973. The section was over 70 years old. The owners said space was needed for additional beach parking.
Peninsula House, 1903.
Peninsula House, 1980. All sealed up.
Sketch of Peninsula House area. Long Branch Daily Record, 1909.
P House smoldering remains, October 1986.
P House beach is postcard perfect, 1940s.
Peninsula House, 1970s.
Peninsula House, 1960s.
P House, 1905.
P House, 1920s.
P House, 1938. Edward J. Schiller was a chef.
P House and lots of SB history — up in smoke, 1986.
P House, 1940s.
P House, 1946.
P House with pound boats nearby, 1930s.
P House postcard, Summer 1940.
P House, early 1900s.
P House fire remains, 1986.
P House, early 1908.
P House matches, 1970s.
P House, 1938.
P House ad, 1962.
P House ad, 1961.
P House, 1960s.
P House, 1957.
The Peninsula House (r) and Sesbright Beach Club (l), late 1800s.
P House in background; railroad tracks in foreground, 1925.
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One of the most beautiful and complete photo collection of a truly historic site. I feel so fortunate to have seen the PH in my early years. What a treasure. I’m saddened by how little regard these historic sights are held and cherished. Thankyou for this wonderful post.