Fairview Inn and Restaurant History
Constructed in 1874 by Martin Swift of Bridgewater, the Fairview was one of six Brant Rock Inns that experienced the pinnacle of their success in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the advent of the automobile, the growing number and lower cost of seasonal cottage rentals and the financial hardships families faced during the Great Depression led to a decline in business that these large inns required to remain financially viable.
The Fairview was the last of the six Brant Rock Inns to remain. The other inns were: The Brant Rock House, built in 1874 and torn down in 1938 The Ocean House, built in 1875 and lost to fire in 1973 The Pioneer Cottage, built in 1861, renamed the Atlantic House in 1879, and burned in the Ocean Bluff/Brant Rock Great Fire of 1941 The Churchill, built in 1866 and burned in 1909 The Pearl Haven, built in 1903 and razed in the 1940's.
The Fairview Inn was originally established as a boarding house for the elite. It became the exclusive and elegant Como Club in the 20's and 30's, offering dining and strolling violinists, as well as gambling at the rear of the building. The Club was named after the ship Como, which ran illegal rum along the coast during Prohibition.
The Sullivan Family purchased the Inn sometime in the 30's and renamed it The Fairview Inn. The Stabile Family became the next owners of the Inn, followed by the Marma Family, who in turn, sold it to Walter Greaney and Michael Elms in 1985.
The original Fairview Inn building was destroyed by fire on the evening of March 17, 1998. Jack and Bob Clancy then purchased the property in February of 2000 and have rebuilt the Fairview Inn through the efforts of Clancy Construction Co. of Marshfield, MA.
During the excavation of the Fairview’s new foundation, Clancy Construction crews discovered the site of an apparently closed-off tunnel entrance. This discovery echoes back to the rumor of a tunnel that ran beneath the original structure of the Inn to the ocean and was used to deliver contraband liquor to the Como Club. There are plans to locate the actual tunnel in the future.
Note: a portion of this text was taken from an article written by Sarah Coffey, Marshfield Mariner, March 25, 1998.
