(Undated)
Delight Cottage Resort.
Was there ever a better name for a summer vacation spot by the sea? Delight was developed by Jesse Rogers, a builder, contractor, and — evidently — a master of the fretsaw, given the ornamental bargeboards of the wraparound porch, which declared “Delight” and “J. Rogers” in intricate cut-out letters. There’s no sign of Delight on an 1889 street atlas, but by 1910, his resort compound occupied a large beachfront property paralleling the Seventh Town Landing. It even had its own private beach, with changing cabins and a scenic gazebo. Delight’s yellow-and-orange alternating bands of shingles attracted the artists Paul Cadmus, who recorded the building in Delight Cottage; Provincetown, and Mary Hackett, who placed it in piquant counterpoint to the looming Cape Cod Cold Storage freezer in Tom Hackett Walking Along Commercial Street Past the Delight, Delight, Delight House. Her title referred to the way the name repeated itself in the bargeboards. Delight was demolished in 1942 but at least three bargeboards were salvaged. Two can now be seen on the beach side of 571 Commercial Street. A third was given in 2011 to the collection of the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum. Similar panels, also by Rogers, can be seen in place at 148 Commercial Street.
¶ Last updated on 18 September 2018.
Lest non-guests inadvertently swim ashore, a large sign proclaimed “Delight Private Beach.” The sail on the right may have been strategically employed by the postcard photographer to mask the Cape Cod Cold Storage freezer. Courtesy of the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum, Salvador R. Vasques III Collection.
Left: An undated postcard view of the Delight Cottage Resort, from the Josephine C. Del Deo Heritage Archive at the Provincetown Public Library. Right: Tom Hackett Walking Along Commercial Street Past the Delight, Delight, Delight House, by Mary Hackett. Town art collection, from the Provincetown History Preservation Project, Page 1525.
A salvaged “Delight” bargeboard at 571 Commercial Street, the Katharine and John Dos Passos House, photographed in 2011 by David W. Dunlap.