A New Look Inside Pomham Rocks Lighthouse

Pomham Rocks Lighthouse and maritime museum launched its 2024 tour season on June 15. Public tours are scheduled on select days until the end of September. Visit the website for dates. One of the frequent questions raised by visitors to the island lighthouse has been the color of the rooms. When the interior restoration was completed in 2018, all the rooms, except the large Pomham Room, were painted a neutral off-white. That was because the original color of the rooms was not known. The Pomham Room, where the Fresnel lens is displayed on the first floor of the lighthouse, was painted pale blue.

In preparation for the start of the 2024 tour season, Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse Vice Chair and Museum Committee Chair Alex Dias took on the task of identifying the colors of the rooms as they were in 1871 when the lighthouse opened. In discreet areas, Dias meticulously chipped down through a century-and-a-half of paint, to identify the original color of each of the seven rooms of the building. In rooms that do not currently have their original plaster, Dias had saved sections of the original wall for historical preservation during the 2017 interior restoration. Those colors were compared to historic color collections, to provide an accurate match. During the spring, volunteer Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse painted each room in its original hue. As luck would have it, the blue shade of The Pomham Room was, indeed, its original color. The other first floor room included the kitchen, which was painted Benjamin Moore Hawthorne Yellow HC-4, a bright yellow, and the entrance hall/stairway, which are now Benjamin Moore Chippendale Rosetone HC-58, a soft rose. On the second floor, the four rooms which were originally bedrooms, were restored as follows: The Coast Guard Room, Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal HC-166, a deep shade of gray; The Bullocks Point Room, Sherwin-Williams Rookwood Amber SW 2817, a caramel hue of brown; The Sabin Point Room, Benjamin Moore Kennebunkport Green HC-123, a mossy green; and the bathroom, Benjamin Moore Chippendale Rosetone HC-58.

“This is just one more way that we are ensuring the historical accuracy of the restoration of the Lighthouse,” notes Dennis Tardiff, chair of Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. Visitors can view the new look on seasonal tours that leave from Edgewood Yacht Club each week. Visit www.pomhamrockslighthouse.com  to register for a scheduled tour.

Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse is a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. This important New England maritime light station and museum is an integral part of Rhode Island’s heritage and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.