Designed and built in 1948 by architects Nathaniel Saltonstall and Oliver P. Morton on the beautiful rolling hills overlooking Wellfleet harbor, the Mayo Hill Colony Club first opened as a private club and art gallery for artists and their patrons. Each Bauhaus-style cottage was designed for elegant functionality and furnished with pieces designed by the leading modernists of the day.
Loris and Eleanor Stefani acquired the cottages in 1963 and opened to the public as a hotel. From the start, they began adding their own creative touches – and much of his artwork – to this unique place, now renamed The Colony. Together – and succeeded in 2019 by son Jeffrey and his wife Mihae – they created one of the truly special summer retreats in the Northeast. The Colony soon became a haven for those appreciating mid-century modern architecture and the serenity of these cottages set among the pines.
Past guests have included actors Paul Newman and Faye Dunaway, writers Lionel and Diana Trilling, Bernard Malamud, William Shirer, artists, professors, poets, psychiatrists, such as Margaret Mahler, a pioneer in mother-baby attachment research, and generations of guests who continue to find The Colony of Wellfleet as inviting and magical as ever. Welcome!
