Wianno Club History

The area of land that is now called Wianno is part of the third major purchase from the Native Americans by the Plymouth settlers as that colony expanded southward. The sale was negotiated by Captain Miles Standish and Chief Paupmumuck in May 1648. The price paid was two brass kettles, one bushel of corn and half of the fence needed to enclose thirty acres of land reserved for the Native Americans.

This territory was originally called "Cotocheset", which was the name of the Native American to whom the land belonged at the time of the aforementioned third purchase. It soon became known as "Oysterville" due to the abundance of succulent oysters found in the "South Sea" as Nantucket Sound was originally known.
In 1664, a fourth purchase was made. Adjacent land was purchased from and named for, the Indian Sachem Iyanough. The name "Wianno", like Hyannis, is a derivative of the name Iyanough, Ianno or Yanno.

By the 1870's, Wianno had become a popular vacation spot. A successful summer hotel called The Cotocheset House, was built in 1873 and stood on the site of the Wianno Club. The foundation of the hotel was made of stone taken from Daniel Webster's Boston mansion which had been destroyed by fire in 1872. The Cotocheset House itself burned to the ground as well in 1887, but was immediately rebuilt. The "new" Cotocheset House, which is the present Wianno Clubhouse, opened in July of 1888.

In 1916, under the administration of Commodore W. B. H. Dowse, the Wianno Yacht Club purchased the Cotocheset House and formed The Wianno Club. Although the Clubhouse and neighboring cottages have been expanded and modernized over the years, all have retained their original charm and character. The Clubhouse is representative of "Shingle Style" architecture and figures significantly in Cape Cod's architectural history. It has, therefore, been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.