Mia Farrow’s summers in Martha’s Vineyard
Follow in the footsteps of actress Mia Farrow and experience the quintessential clapboard houses and nostalgic innocence of summers in Martha’s Vineyard. By DELILAH KHOMO
Mia Farrow fell in love with Martha’s Vineyard back in the early ’70s when it was not yet the fashionable summer-vacation paradise of the elite. What started as a low-key family getaway with her then-husband, the conductor André Previn, and their children, turned into a passionate house hunt. Farrow loved the isolation of one particular windswept, salt-worn clapboard house on Lake Tashmoo, so much so that she had to buy it, even though it wasn’t for sale. Farrow and her family settled into a routine of fishing in the morning, tennis in the afternoon and rounds of cocktail parties in the evening. While the actress relished the tranquillity of the Vineyard, she also loved the annual 4th of July parade in Edgartown: its marching bands, dancers and floats, barbecue ribs and cotton candy, and spectacular firework show. Her favorite just-caught lobster lunches at restaurants like the Offshore Ale Co and The Wharf can still be enjoyed. And anyone can follow in her footsteps on the coastal trails, scattered with dog roses and wild flowers across Gay Head Cliffs, to beach cookouts at the shacks between Oak Bluffs and Lambert’s Cove. For old-school New England grandeur, enjoy an iced tea on the porch of The Charlotte Inn, the historic 19-bedroom hotel in Edgartown. While on the neighboring island of Nantucket, the recently opened Greydon House hotel raises the glamour stakes with Roman and Williams interiors and a clubhouse vibe. For access to the most sensational summer rentals, Martha’s Vineyard Vacation Rentals can organize stays at harbor-front mansions surrounded by white-picket fences, rambling farmhouses, and even a lighthouse made for two.
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