History of our Provincetown Inn
Both properities that make up the Prince Albert Guest House were originally built as homes for Sea Captains. The property located at 164 Commercial was built for Captain Abner Rich in 1867 on this site after the old Universalist Church was destroyed by fire. At the time, Captain Rich was President of Central Wharf Company, which was the largest wharf company in Provincetown during the later part of the 19th century. The adjacent property located at 166 Commercial was built in 1882 for another sea captain. Both residences have been operated as Bed and Breakfasts for the past several decades under various names such as The Captain and His Ship, Officers Quarters, The Captains Inn, Casa Blanca, Four Bay Inn and Atlantic Shores. In 2007 Robert Sanborn acquired 164 and 166 Commercial and in 2008 is making significant improvements to merge the properties into one Premier Inn to be known as: Prince Albert Guest House.
An early photo of 164 Commercial Street notes the Second Empire-style architecture of the house. Current owner Robert Sanborn is maintaining the integrity of the homes original design, as shown above, by reinforcing the infrastructure during the 2008 restoration of the building! It's Bob's desire "to keep the original Sea Captain's House as true to it's original heritage design as possible."
