Tabitha Inn (Our Lady’s Haven) (1906)
71 Center Street, Fairhaven MA
508-999-4561
This is a nursing home and is not open for tours.
Built to accommodate an increase in visitors to Fairhaven, this well-appointed Elizabethan style hotel was named after Henry H. Rogers’ maternal great-grandmother, Tabitha (Crowell) Huttlestone. At the time it opened in 1906, the 35-room hotel was considered one of the finest small accommodations outside of Boston or New York. It was leased by Rogers to Mrs. Katherine M. Price of Cambridge, who managed until her retirement in the fall of 1912. Mark Twain and other notable friends of the Rogers family stayed here. Twain favored a room in the front corner with a beautiful fireplace. In 1913, Claude J. Beuchotte, who had been Mark Twain’s butler, became the manager of the Tabitha Inn. He managed the hotel for 16 years, even after Henry H. Rogers Jr. sold it in 1927 to Miss Aline Barbier. In 1929, the hotel became the property of Zeiterion Realty Corp, owned by Barney Zeitz.
In 1942 the Department of the Navy took over the inn to use it to house Coast Guard cadets in training during the World War II. Training classes took place until August of 1943. In 1944 the building was sold to the Fall River Diocese of the Catholic Church, who renamed it Our Lady’s Haven and use it as a nursing home. An addition in the rear was added in the 1950s.
For information about Our Lady’s Haven, visit the website: https://www.dhfo.org/our-ladys-haven-fairhaven-ma-nursing-home/
