Within the walls of the Fordham House B&B in Greenport, one young woman is watching her lifelong dreams come true.
For Sarah Latham, who bought the bed and breakfast in October, the road back home to the North Fork was long. After growing up in Orient and graduating from Greenport High School, she earned her degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 2004, and joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, a one year volunteer commitment that had her setting off for Anchorage, Alaska, where she worked at Bean’s Cafe, a homeless day shelter and soup kitchen.
Working in the social services office, Latham said, “I fell in love with Alaska and its people, and decided to stay on after my one year commitment, taking a job with Nine Star Education and Employment Services, another social services agency in the city. There I worked with families on temporary assistance with various barriers to full time employment.”
After four years in Alaska, Latham moved back east at the end of 2008 to be closer to her family, settling in Manhattan and living with her sister.
Then, tragedy struck, when their mother was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic cancer in 2011, and she moved back home to the North Fork to help care for her. “It was important for all of us to be closer again, and I am forever grateful that I was able to spend so much time with her the last two years of her life. I lived in Jamesport,” she said.
Her mother’s death, Latham said, was a life-altering experience. “Losing my mother was one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through. It happens to so many people, but you don’t realize until it happens to you how hard it actually is. And the thing is, time doesn’t seem to heal this wound. But she was an amazing woman, and every decision I make, I think about her, and what she would advise. I wish she would answer sometimes, as the blinds in my bedroom aren’t picking themselves out. She taught us how to work hard, something I’ve really had to put into practice since October.”
Life’s ebbs and tides brought her full circle when she decided to buy the Fordham House B&B, located on Main Street, in October. Growing up in Orient, Latham said she always thought of Greenport as one of her hometowns. “I also love the history of the North Fork. I can remember as a kid, when we drove to the library in Greenport, looking out the window of the car at the beautiful houses on Main Street and thinking one day I’d live in one.”
Owning a B&B is a longtime dream, Latham said. As a student in Greenport High School, she said, “I remember an essay I wrote for Mr. Connolly’s eleventh grade English class about the B&B I would one day own. I love meeting people, and hostessing, and sharing Greenport and the North Fork with anyone I can. A B&B seems like a great way to make a living doing that.”
Her decision to take the leap of faith was shaped by her younger sister Mary, Latham said. “Mary was working full time in Manhattan, nannying in the evenings, and shooting photos on the weekends. After our mother died, Mary decided that she was going to go for it and dedicate herself to photography full time. She has been successful and showed me how doing something for yourself, to fulfill your own dreams, can actually work.”
The love the sisters share is tangible and mutual. “I have always looked up to my older sister,” Mary wrote on Facebook recently. “Growing up, she was one of my biggest role models and now that we are older and our age gap doesn’t matter anymore, she has become my best friend. She went from working in a homeless shelter in Alaska to moving back to Manhattan. Then she moved out of Manhattan to help out our parents’ business when our mother got sick, and continued to help my father after our mother moved up to heaven. This year, she did something for herself. Something bold and awesome. She bought a bed and breakfast to run herself. I can’t think of anyone more loving, kind, and sociable to begin such a journey.”
Describing her vision for the Fordham House, Latham said her hope is to “continue to provide guests with the beautiful, comfortable experience that staying here, and in Greenport, is.”
Latham runs the B&B with her boyfriend, Kevin Anglum, a property manager who also helps with everything around the Fordham House, from cleaning gutters and planning next year’s gardens to greeting guests and making breakfasts.
Her new venture is stepped in North Fork history, Latham said. “Knowing the history of this house, built in 1901 by a shipbuilder, H. Fletcher Fordham, made it very special to me. The home is built solidly with so many beautiful details, guests just fall in love. The Fordham House has the best of all worlds when visiting Greenport — ample living space, spacious and comfortable rooms, a beautiful wrap-around porch, a huge yard to relax in, and it’s just a short walk from the waterfront, shops and restaurants of Greenport.”
Most of all, Latham said, opening a business in Greenport meant coming home. The people, she said, are what mean the most. “Knowing the people in the aisles at the grocery store, having friendly faces surround you when you go out to dinner, and the network of friends that you have among other local businesses is amazing.”
Down the line, Latham said she hopes to offer a yoga retreat weekend and other packages in 2015. Breakfast is included in guests’ stays and is made on premises.
Reflecting on her favorite memory so far since purchasing the B&B, Latham said, “Again, it’s the people. Sharing a glass of wine, hearing their stories, joining them in celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, I have already too many wonderful memories to pick a favorite.”
The Fordham House is located at 817 Main St, Greenport, NY 11944. For additional information, call (631) 477-8998.
SoutholdLOCAL photos by Mary Latham Photography.
