CLINGSTONE

 Henry Wood's House on a Rock

There are very few if any, who have been to Jamestown, RI and not looked out into the sea and wondered about the mysterious massive house situated clinging to a rock in the middle of the Narraganset Bay! "What is this massive Island home? Whose is it? How in the World did it get there?!  And What's it like inside of it!?"- Are just some of the questions that fill the minds of those dreamily looking out. Indeed it IS the stuff that dreams are made of... well, dreams and determination I'd say! And there are fewer still who have actually had the enormous pleasure of having experienced the Miracle that is... Clingstone.

Yes those Clingstone mornings...

As you awaken to the sound of those hauntingly rhythmic, serenely hypnotic buoy bells... The very ocean's music...
You feel strangely rocked like a babe, as if that very majestic house were moving, living, breathing!
Opening eyes reveal 365 degree views of forever Seas flooding in all around through humongous floor to ceiling window panes in every lovingly crafted room. 

And the ever active Jamestown bridge, cutting through those glorious views of cloud like billowing sails and sea, with its sharp geometric shapes and curves... Rising red steel from the watery depths, reminding you of the business-as-usual clock tick continuing on without you in the world outside the realms of Clingstone...
But no! Not yet... just thinking of it, could suck you back out through the pirate portal! So... half lucid you smile rubbing slumber from your eyes remembering strange and vivid dreams gifted from the sea Gods and Goddesses themselves... ah the dreams at Clingstone ever vibrant and rich! All intermingled with fleeting memories of the celebrations from the night before...

Yes, that Never Never Land MASSIVE clubhouse, exquisite and rustic, rough and fine, strangely you feel home, somehow. 
As if from a dream itself, was and IS the dream- come ALIVE from a visionary's eye, made REAL, sprung from the desire to detach from that grid- world of control and authority of business as usual, to something much more... limitless, bountiful, beautiful.
Anchored to an immovable dream, just as the House itself CLINGS to the Rock just big enough to hold it, no matter the storm! Invoking the spirit of the mystic, rich in history of the legacy of the Rebel! That visionary, our Pirate Captain, Henry Wood we hail to thee!!
That island magic pirate ship house with it's wild wind turbines whirling us at mock speed into the FUTURE through another dimension... one of holy rainwaters collected from the heavens for washing, composting toilets, ropes and netting staircases, shingle covered walls and ping pong tables... the house that LOVE made.

And Us...

Wolf Children are we... who better to fill the halls of this noble purpose?! With our Tails and feathers! Capes and kimonos! Glitter and gongs! Trombones and shamanic dancers! All the babes playing barefoot and the wisdom elders sharing stories... the lovers, artists and devotees, long lost soulmates coming together at the longest table ever... and the food! YES the endless feasts we share! 
As we ran around soaring free with on our own visions and the dreams that won't leave us alone!  Third eyes singing our songs late into the wee hours sending magic out, watching it ripple across the sea in all directions to all the loves close and so far away, who need it most! 
All from that magical endless porch with the waves crashing all around under the heavenly stars with the whipping, wild wind... Ahhhh.  And it was magic we made, Love we made. Tangible. Love-O-Lution unfolding! As Dr. Love HIMSELF would say it best!

And oh those Clingstone mornings, as you remember this all... hazily and soft, as the salty air could be tasted on your breath and felt in your hair...
You tumble out of bed to the first sounds of a babe cooing in the kitchen at Pam's feet, and the first soft guitar strums from the swing of the lofty, open air porch with seagulls and buoy bell accompaniment! And the sweet smell of homegrown bacon from Cherie's farm sizzling in the pan, filling your nose and awakening your senses. Clingstone. We hail to thee!! 

Now that you have a real glimpse of what Life is like on the Rock, Let's dive into some details of this miracle!

WHO? WHAT!? HOW? WHEN? and And Why?!

Clingstone's birth began with one JS Lovering Wharton! What a name! Lovering was a man who was frustrated. The government had SIEZED his first Jamestown home in the 1800's. He is quoted to have said that he wanted to create a home "where no one would bother me again." Many were skeptical, and it is amazing to think of all the materials that had to be brought over by a small boat to properly carry out such a massive vision! He succeeded and indeed occupied the home with his family every summer until 1941 wen his wife died. It remained empty until the 1960's at which point One Mr. Henry Wood!

Our pirate King! Came along, distantly related to Lovering and bought it for the price tag of $3,600! Granted, at this point it was dilapidated and needed a tremendous amount of work. Now while Lovering was indeed a visionary and a rebel, he was also a very wealthy man. Henry Wood on the other hand was not. However, he was blessed with the richness of lots and lots of FRIENDS! Contagious dreaming! Lofty goals! Merriment! Charm and persuasion for miles! And a heck of a lot of determination! I mean, who wouldn't want to trade work and materials for the chance to live out our Never Land Fantasies in a totally off grid, salty dog pirate house on it's own Island?! ARghhh!!  "This house will always have rough edges, it will never be like the breakers..." And that is what we love about it. And that is exactly what Mr. Wood has said to the NY Times. <-click

 Dubbed as a "Marvelous Archeological Survival" by Clingstone work-weekends volunteer John Benson, Clingstone is surely one that "prizes the organic real world of water, wind, stone, and sea!" In fact Clingstone's revival and survival could only be explained by the TREMENDOUS outpouring of countless volunteer hours from friends and family who believed in such an incredible, impossible, ridiculous, amazing vision!

Enter Visionaries and Eccentric Artists Pam and David Leclerc, our good friends who became the staunchest of supporters of such "ludicrous" impossible dreams! They answered the Wood family's call for help in the 60's and became the EXPERT care takers of this massive living and breathing beast! Indeed, as the NY times has said, "upkeep is sysyphean!" Being no ordinary house, the family is very picky about who they rent to in the summers, and even those tenants and friends who can BOTH afford the house AND are eccentric enough to put up with the various quirks and nuances of an off-grid home (such like the composting toilets, and rain water for washing) NEED the expertise of Pam and David to carry out everyday living. We are thankful that Pam and David have included us in their family of friends who come to Clingstone to feast, merry-make, and help out in all ways we can. 

Even now as our Pirate King has left us for that giant Clingstone Pirate Ship in the Sky, his legacy of believing in and birthing "impossible" dreams continues! It lives on through all he's inspired with his MASSIVE vision. Thank you Henry Wood, We hail to thee!!

(All photos below by David Leclerc.)