At home on Cape Cod with a hospitality power couple

One summer’s day in 2008, they fell in love again, this time with a place. ‘We came around the bend on the ferry to Provincetown from Boston and saw this spit of land, and that was it,’ David recalls. Provincetown has long been known as a place of refuge and has always prided itself on its acceptance of marginalised groups. ‘We liked that the community was generous with one another and that there was a history of this, woven into the DNA of the place,’ says Kevin. Vintage charm and loose gardens are encouraged, keeping the feel of the whole town low key and welcoming, where it seems no one and nothing has to be perfect. And now, it is the place they call home.

In 2010, the couple bought The Martin House in the centre of Provincetown – a restaurant set within a house that was built in 1750. Their plan was to return it to being a private home. It had fallen into disrepair, so the first jobs were to fix up the exterior, removing all the disused restaurant equipment and replanting the all-important summer window boxes. There could not have been a better calling card to the town, as people stopped by all summer long to say hello and welcome them.

At the old bar in the restaurant that is now their home.

Dean Hearne

Provincetown (or P-town to locals and regular visitors) is like that. Proud of its sense of community, people love to walk along the main streets, drifting in and out of its shops, cafés and galleries. A frequent route for Kevin is from the house, straight down Commercial Street, to the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, where he is a trustee. One of the oldest continually operating art associations in the country, it underscores that Provincetown is an arts place where the contemporary creative scene flourishes.

Kevin in the ground-floor gallery of Provincetown Art Association and Museum, with its CEO Chris McCarthy in front of Mary Cecil Allen’s Pine Tree, 1959, by Nanno de Groot.

Dean Hearne

On warm summer days, the pair often pop over the road to the local wine and gourmet shop owned by their friends Charlie and Billy (with shop dog Pickles) to gather supplies for the beach drinks parties they often throw at the end of their lane, where the road drops off onto a sandy beach. They also enjoy entertaining at home. Kevin and David decided to retain the main bar of the old restaurant and it is perfect for when they host friends. ‘We might start with drinks on the beach or our boat, but we like to plan our dinner parties at the house like army manoeuvres,’ Kevin reveals. ‘David is the bartender and host master, while I am creating in the kitchen.’

They like to entertain and often host atmospheric meals under the pergola in the garden on summer’s evenings.

Dean Hearne

Not long after they acquired The Martin House, the couple opened Salt House Inn, their first joint venture in Provincetown. Kevin admits thinking, ‘How hard could it be?’ Even with their extensive experience, the answer, it turned out, was ‘quite hard’. A lack of teams to do things like finance or marketing did not help, but they found it rewarding being their own bosses. In 2014, two more hotels joined the group and Salt Hotels was established. With David on the operations side and Kevin on design, the group now owns or operates four hotels, all reflecting the simple ethos that hotels should feel like homes.

Kevin and David inspect plans at a property in development.

Dean Hearne

How that culture of community is achieved is a well thought-through plan, too, and it is called Salt School. Launched by Kevin and David in 2016, it delivers on what is most important to the couple: a chance to give back, to share what a career in hospitality might be like. Every time they open a new hotel, they run a free weekend-long programme during which potential jobseekers can learn about the hospitality industry. ‘Anyone can come to Salt School for free, regardless of age, background, experience or gender and, in a few days, learn a little bit about every aspect of the industry,’ explains Kevin. ‘We know that sometimes people may have made a few mistakes in their lives – perhaps some avenues have been closed to them.’ He wants them to come to Salt School and start with a clean slate, to see if this is the industry for them. David describes a valued employee who came to one of the first Salt Schools, ‘She had been working for many years in fast food, but she wanted more. She said that, at a very young age, she had had a minor scrape with the law and it had kept opportunities from her. We saw something in her and gave her a job. She is now a key player in our organisation.’ The next Salt School is scheduled to take place in Minneapolis in January 2024.

David talks to jobseekers from the local community about working in the hospitality industry.

Dean Hearne

Travel is a part of their lives, too. A late Sunday flight on the sort of small plane that can take off and land on a narrow airstrip bordered by sandy beaches might be preceded by a bike ride along the Cape Cod National Seashore for David, or a stop at an estate sale for Kevin. A new property, their largest to date, beckons, due to open in Minneapolis in early 2024. And a hotel in Mexico is slated for 2025. There is also a new project in a heritage building in Connecticut beginning to formulate.

‘In England, there is history in every building – you are constantly surrounded by it – while everything in America is much more recent. So when an “antique” property comes along, we jump,’ Kevin says. ‘Working for ourselves is, at the end of the day, so liberating. We know that people just want to feel immersed. And we’ll do what we do, anywhere we go. Home or hotel. Find the common threads, build a community, and even jump behind the desk on opening day to check people in. Whatever is needed. David and I just want to give the warmest welcome. Always.’

Salt Hotels: salthotels.com