A gentleman named William Essen, as a summer home for his wife and five children, built this house in 1880. Mr. Essen was a baker and came to Cape May from Germany by way of Philadelphia, and he established a bakery and ice cream parlor here in the 1870s. It is said that ice cream sales financed the houses he built.
Before the house was built, the property was the front lawn of the Columbia Hotel, which had 600 rooms and fronted on Ocean Street. In November 1879, a fire broke out nearby and raged out of control. When it was extinguished, 30 acres of downtown Cape May (including the Columbia Hotel) lay in ashes. The land was then subdivided and marketed to middle-class Philadelphians. Mr. Essen purchased the lot that is now 24 Ocean Street and built this house for his family.
The Essen family kept the property for 65 years. Shortly after World War II, Stuart and Lorena Claghorn bought the house and converted it into small apartments, which they rented to summer tourists. The Claghorns were friends with the Ballentines who owned a house on Columbia Avenue. In time, Mr. Claghorn and Mrs. Ballentine passed away. So the remaining spouses, Mr. Balentine and Mrs. Claghorn, married (naturally!).
In 1992, Rosalie Kelly purchased the home to convert it into a bed and breakfast inn. Her dream was realized on St. Patrick's Day in 1993, when Kelly's Celtic Inn hung out its sign and officially opened for business.
In 2005, the property was renovated and converted to a whole house vacation rental known as The Breakers and has become a well-known property in Cape May, having hosted thousands of guests for their beach vacations since.
OCEAN STREET, c.1906. William Essen, Philadelphia baker, built and owned three cottages on Ocean Street, the middle of which is now The Breakers.
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