Watergate Began on Cape Cod: The Hidden History of 40 Ocean View Drive
Over a half-century ago, inside a small rustic cottage nestled among the Cape Cod sand dunes of Coast Guard Beach, the Watergate scandal was quietly — and fatefully — set in motion. What began with a simple Labor Day weekend phone call from this unobtrusive beach house would trigger a chain of events that ultimately led to the first and only resignation of a sitting American president.
Most people know Watergate ended in Washington, D.C. Very few know it began in Eastham.
What Was Watergate? A Quick Refresher
The scandal known as “Watergate” erupted after a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters inside the Watergate office complex on June 17, 1972. Five operatives tied to President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign were caught wiretapping phones and stealing political intelligence.
At first, it seemed like a bizarre political burglary. But it quickly became clear the break-in was part of a sweeping campaign of covert operations — sabotage, spying, and dirty tricks — orchestrated by individuals close to the Nixon White House.
As reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed, a secret source known only as Deep Throat fed them information proving Nixon knew far more than he claimed. The cover-up unraveled, the infamous Oval Office tapes were exposed, and by August 1974, Nixon stepped down.
But before the break-in, before the tapes, before the downfall — the machinery of Watergate had already been built.
And its first operation was green-lit right here on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod’s Hidden Role: The Eastham Cottage That Started It All
The cottage at 40 Ocean View Drive wasn’t just any beach house. Perched on a bluff above the Great Outer Beach, the National Park Service had quietly designated it for White House VIPs. Locals called it the “Bartlett Place,” named after its former owner, H. Craigin Bartlett. Government officials referred to it — far less charmingly — as E-187.
From the outside, it looked like a perfect slice of Cape Cod simplicity:
A single-story cottage.
Knotty-pine walls.
A big picture window overlooking the dunes and Atlantic.
Weathered cedar shingles and peeling white trim.
Nothing about it suggested secrets, power, or scandal.
Yet some of the most influential political figures of the Nixon era stayed there:
- John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s powerful domestic policy chief
- Jeb Stuart Magruder, deputy director of the re-election campaign
- Donald Rumsfeld, future Secretary of Defense
- Senators, aides, strategists, and White House staffers
But it was Ehrlichman’s stay at the cottage that matters most.
Enter the “Plumbers” — Nixon’s Secret Unit
In 1971, enraged by leaks to the press and obsessed with controlling information, Nixon authorized a covert group known as the Plumbers. Their job was to “plug leaks” — but they quickly expanded into illegal surveillance and political espionage.
Ehrlichman supervised them.
Daniel Ellsberg’s release of the Pentagon Papers, which exposed years of government deception in the Vietnam War, had sent Nixon into a fury. Determined to destroy Ellsberg’s credibility, the Plumbers sought access to Ellsberg’s psychiatric records.
Their target: the Beverly Hills office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, Dr. Lewis Fielding.
They just needed one final sign-off.
The Phone Call From Eastham That Changed History
On September 3, 1971, Labor Day weekend, the Plumbers’ leaders — Egil “Bud” Krogh and David Young — telephoned John Ehrlichman for final approval to break into Fielding’s office.
Ehrlichman wasn’t in Washington.
He was vacationing right here on Cape Cod, at the Bartlett House.
According to later court testimony, the conversation was brief:
“O.K. Let me know if you find out anything.”
That simple approval launched the Plumbers’ first criminal caper — the Fielding break-in. And that break-in set the precedent, the tone, and the mindset that ultimately made Watergate possible.
When the scandal exploded, Ehrlichman denied ever authorizing the break-in — from Cape Cod or anywhere else. Under oath, that lie caught up with him. He served time in federal prison for perjury, conspiracy, and obstruction.
When Cape Cod Found Out
The Cape Codder broke the story wide open locally on July 4, 1974, with one of the most dramatic headlines in its history:
“Ehrlichman Launched Plumber Caper from VIP House on Eastham Dunes.”
The lead line was pure Cape Cod wit:
“When everyone on Cape Cod was trying to get a plumber, the head Plumber was right here in Eastham in the Old Bartlett place.”
Five weeks later, Nixon resigned.
The Cottage Today: Still Standing… For Now
The Bartlett House still stands on its lonely bluff at 40 Ocean View Drive, though barely. Built in 1960 and acquired by the Park Service in 1964, it was used first by government officials, then for decades as seasonal housing for National Park Service employees. More recently, it was made available for short-term rentals.
But time and tides have not been kind.
The house now sits less than 13 feet from the edge of the eroding dune.
It has been deemed uninhabitable — a storm or two away from collapse.
Its future is uncertain.
Visitors walking the main trail to Coast Guard Beach can still see it — a weathered reminder of a secretive moment in American history that unfolded against the backdrop of the Atlantic.
It’s not just a cottage.
It’s the birthplace of Watergate’s first crime.
A Final Thought: Visit Before It’s Gone
If you find yourself in Eastham, take a moment to stand on the path overlooking the Bartlett House. It’s an unassuming structure, but within its walls one of the most consequential phone calls in American political history was made — one that set off a chain reaction leading to congressional hearings, criminal convictions, and a presidential resignation.
It is rare for any place on Cape Cod to intersect so directly with national history.
This one did — profoundly.
See it while you still can. Because someday soon, the ocean will take it, and with it, a remarkable piece of Cape Cod’s hidden past.
