A Shelter Island B&B that’s home for many: Innkeeper Chrissy Gross is keeping it real

Chrissy Gross, proprietor of the Two South Ferry Road B&B, answered the door of the pleasant house at the corner of Smith Street. She greeted a visitor and then introduced “our bellhop. He’s not very good with bags, but he’s a great greeter. Say hello to Buck,” a brown French bulldog, all eyes and happily wagging rear end.

Ms. Gross led the way into a living room that would be called a parlor in another era, and into the dining room where she sat at a large table with muffins and coffeecake on the tablecloth.

The whole B&B, from that front parlor to every object in the place, including two antique children’s sleds hanging on a wall and paintings by local artists, produces a vibe of the inn as belonging to a less glitzy age.

It recalls a more simple, laid-back Shelter Island, which Ms. Gross herself is an embodiment of, with her blunt but very funny sense of humor, seasoned with a sardonic take on the world, and her warm appreciation of visitors.

“I’ve made this place somewhere I’d like to stay. Comfortable, relaxed and homey,” she said.

She noted that some people call and ask about night life on the Island, and she tells them they should be looking at the Hamptons. “I tell them that here you can go to the beach, ride a bike or get out on a kayak, and there are some nice places to eat. It’s a place to be carefree.”

The front part of the house, with the parlor, dining room and two guest rooms downstairs and two upstairs, was added on in 1999; the original house was constructed in 1932, according to the Town Assessor’s office.

Ms. Gross, born and raised here, bought the property from her parents, Sonny and Norma Edwards.

Her light-bulb-over-the-head moment to start the business switched on because, “I always had friends and family coming by to stay, for holidays and in the summer, and people were saying, ‘You should open a B&B.’ I opened on the Fourth of July 1999,” and has been open for business ever since.

No matter the time of year, Christmas Day or in the depths of February, if you come by to stay, or book a reservation, you’re welcome, she said.

There are many repeat visitors to Two South Ferry Road, and people have come from as far afield as Europe. Ms. Gross recalled putting up a crew from Lufthansa who found their way to Shelter Island during a New York City layover.

In addition, Island families who are entertaining lots of guests on special occasions, such as graduations or reunions, will point extra family members and friends to her place, Ms. Gross said. “I take in the spillovers,” she said with a smile.

When storms threaten the Island — blizzards or nor’easters — PSEG crews come to stay before the weather turns bad to be ready on the Island to work throughout the emergency and afterward clearing trees and branches and restoring power.

It seems everyone in town knows Ms. Gross, partly due to her 31 years as Police Department-appointed school crossing guard, as she looked out for and shepherded several generations of school children.

At her retirement on New Year’s Eve 2014, the Town presented her with a proclamation at Town Hall thanking her for her decades of service, with then-supervisor, Jim Dougherty, calling her “one of the most stalwart citizens of Shelter Island.”

Typical of her modesty and wish to stay out of the spotlight, when Mr. Dougherty asked her to say a few words after the proclamation was read, Ms. Gross replied, “I just want to go out the back door quietly.”

She also worked as a waitress at the old Bob’s Fish Market for more than 20 years. “On Shelter Island you do a lot of jobs,” she said.

At Two South Ferry Road, there are only two rules, she said: “Wait for the hot water to flow — which it will. And if you’re sitting on the porch, wave to people passing by.”

She is the only employee, doing everything, including setting up the continental breakfasts, cleaning rooms, doing laundry and every other chore necessary to keep the B&B in business.

Making a living is essential, but there are other benefits to owning and operating Two South Ferry Road, Ms. Gross said. “I like the connection you make with people. I started this to have fun, and that’s stayed true.”