Welcome to the Hygeia House
The Hygeia House is Block Island's largest vacation rental boasting 12 bedrooms and 11.5 bathrooms and is the ideal home for large families, retreats, reunions, and wedding parties. This historic home has been renovated in 2016 and now includes a modern kitchen with new appliances and stainless steel grill steps away on one of the two covered porches. Hygeia is equipped for outdoor and indoor dining for 26. Lounge on our porch in a rocking chair or take a nap in the hammock. Hygeia’s location nestled atop the hill between New Harbor and town allows you to relax and enjoy the views. It offers a short walk to town with Block Island's famous shopping, the beach, and the Great Salt Pond. At night enjoy comfortable seating by the propane fire pit for the whole group to enjoy. The Hygeia is a truly remarkable and unique property.
Click here to learn more about the history of the Hygeia House
and Click here to read about the time Chris Martin came to play...!
Images of the Hygeia House
Every bedroom in Hygeia House has a unique charm.
Gather round the kitchen table and enjoy the very best of New England's culinary delights.
When it's time to withdraw at the end of the night, settle in to the well appointed couches.
History
Abandoned and neglected for nearly 30 years, the Hygeia House was almost condemned by the town when it was purchased and fully renovated by Lisa and Champlin Starr in 1998. The house originally belonged to John C. Champlin, Champs’s great grandfather, and the island’s only physician. Dr. Champlin named the building after a Greek Goddess of health, Hygeia. For the last 15 years, its unique charm, history and island style have provided a safe and unpretentious haven for thousands of visitors, families, artists and writers. Since 2004, the Hygeia has been home to the Block Island Poetry Project, founded by Lisa, the innkeeper, who is also Rhode Island Poet Laureate Emeritus. The BIPP and the Hygeia have attracted and hosted renowned writers and musicians from around the world, including Mary Oliver, Frank McCourt, Billy Collins, Naomi Shihab Nye, Marie Howe, Li-Young Lee, Coleman Barks, Gordon Bok and David Darling. In November, 2014 Coldplay’s Chris Martin performed a private concert in the Hygeia living room, for Lisa, her kids, and a few friends. Most things that are truly sacred cannot be said with words, but Coleman Barks comes close:
“The Hygeia House is the throbbing heart for much that is deeply alive on this island. The Hygeia has had several identities during its hundred-plus years: hospital, morgue, a home, an inn, a dancehall, a magician’s hat, a changing room. It is a many-storied wonderment— the product of much toil and ingenuity, and of living and working hard, and truly.
