Our very first Friday Flashback — back in August 2016 — featured the Pine Knoll Inn.
That was the long-ago boarding house — and before that, a home owned by the Kemper family (whose tannery and orchard are now the Westport Country Playhouse) — that was torn down in the early 1980s.
Today it’s the site of Playhouse Square.
This was the photo. It was quite a cool looking place:
But now — thanks to James Gray — we’ve got some photos of what the boarding house was like inside.
According to a brochure James sent, it was “lighted by electricity.” It featured “hot and cold water in each bedroom,” and “open sanitary plumbing.”

A boarding house bedroom …
But wait! There was more!
Pine Knoll was “delightfully cool in summer, and having a southerly exposure, is remarkably pleasant in winter. Steam heat, run by Nokol, assures and even temperature at all times.”

… and the dining room.
It was “an ideally located place for those wishing to commute to New York.”
Plus “there are churches of all denominations, public schools, and the Bedford Y.M.C.A., all within five minutes’ walking distance.”
Prices were available “on application.” The telephone number was “Westport 308.”