Charles M. Royce Fund

“Ivisited a close friend in Watch Hill and fell in love with the area,” says Charles “Chuck” Royce. A Brown University graduate, Royce has had a home in town since the late-’80s. Though his main home is in Greenwich, CT, Royce is considered a local in Westerly.

For decades, Royce has been involved in historic preservation and economic development. In 2019, he was inducted into the RI Heritage Hall of Fame in recognition of his restoration of the Ocean House resort, the Weekapaug Inn, and other major landmarks in his adopted town of Westerly, RI. “I felt like something was about to be lost for the community,” says Royce of his decision to buy Ocean House, and although the hotel, built in 1868, proved unsalvageable, it was rebuilt with as much fidelity to the original as possible.

Preservation has always been a motivator for Royce and his wife Deborah, an actress and novelist. Early on, they worked through the Westerly Land Trust to acquire prominent downtown buildings with an eye on revitalization. The Royces have supported every project that has contributed to the revival of downtown Westerly in the past decade, including saving the historic Knickerbocker Cafe music hall by turning it into a nonprofit music education center and helping bring back the shuttered 1926 United Theatre and the former Montgomery Ward building next door.

Chuck and Deborah also bought Avondale Farm, property adjacent to the Westerly Land Trust Preserve, saving it from development and instead restoring the existing house and barn.

The Westerly Education Center, a collaboration of five colleges and universities offering general education to graduate level classes, is another of Royce’s projects

“Basically, I enjoy doing things that I can touch and feel,” says Royce. “My interest is in bringing people together, creating a space for a community to come together. Everything we’ve done is mixed in with a community purpose, helping small communities thrive.”

The Charles M. Royce Fund, created at the Rhode Island Foundation because of Royce’s confidence in the Foundation’s leadership and mission, will ensure that the Royces’ commitment to Westerly and to the state continues for decades to come.