Historic Cape Cod Inn Revamped Into Vacation Home For Kids Battling Cancer

A historic Cape Cod vacation home is undergoing a major transformation for a good cause.

Elm Arch Inn in Falmouth, Massachusetts, which has been vacant for at least 12 years, is being renovated into a vacation home for children battling cancer, according to Boston 25. Tim O'Connell purchased the property two years ago and plans to turn it into an 11-bedroom destination called "Tommy's Place," named in honor of his late friend, Tommy Leonard.

Children will be able to stay at Tommy's Place with their families during one-week vacations free of charge while visiting the Cape.

“The whole thing we want to do is provide fun and provide a respite for these families to get away and just be able to relax and be in their own company and be out of the hospitals out of their home environment out of the doctor’s offices,” O’Connell said via Boston 25.

Danny Sheehan, 7, of Marshfield, who was diagnosed with pineoblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, and leptomeningeal disease, a form of cancer in the cerebral spinal fluid, at the age of 4, is among the children who are excited for the opening of Tommy's Place. He's even working with the Marshfield Police Department to raise funds to decorate one of the bedrooms, which will be named "Danny's Room" in his honor.

“I’m so excited for Tommy’s Place to be built. In my room I would want lots of Doritos in it because I love Doritos,” Sheehan said via Boston 25.

Tommy's Place is scheduled to open in the summer of 2021 pending any changes. Donations can be made on the vacation home's website here.

Conde Nast Traveler, a travel magazine, recently listed Cape Cod among seven of the best family vacation spots in the United States, crediting it as fitting "every need" for families including distance, affordability, dining options, activities for all ages and safety.

Photo: Getty Images