In 1934, an old blacksmith’s barn on Cape Cod was refashioned for a new purpose: to churn out delicious homemade ice cream for summer visitors to the quaint seaside town of Centerville, Massachusetts.
Four Seas Ice Cream was born, and founder W. Wells Watson chose its name for the four bodies of water surrounding Cape Cod immortalized in the poem “Cape Cod Calls” by Mabel Phinney. The actual four seas are Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, Nantucket Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Over 90 years later, that old building is still churning out the same top-quality homemade ice cream. Now the oldest ice cream shop in Massachusetts, Four Seas has won countless awards as well as recognition in publications around the world for its commitment to the finest and freshest flavors. Many such as Penuche Pecan, Chip Chocolate, and Cantaloupe have been made at Four Seas from the beginning to this day.
In 1956, a young man named Dick Warren moved to Cape Cod to begin managing the ice cream shop. He ended up purchasing Four Seas in 1960 and, over the next 40 years, mentored and inspired hundreds of young workers, as well as students at nearby Barnstable High School where he taught in the offseason. He was known far and wide simply as “Chief” for his leadership and expertise in the craft of making ice cream. In fact, he originated the course “Successful Ice Cream Retailing” at Penn State University in 1985 and wrote the book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Homemade Ice Cream in 2006.
As he approached retirement, Chief began passing the baton to his son and daughter-in-law, Douglas and Peggy Warren, in 1999. By 2002, they had taken full ownership of the shop and were carrying on all the classic traditions of Four Seas Ice Cream. Under their guidance, Four Seas began making ice cream year-round for the first time, selling pints and quarts out of the shop on weekends as well as in local markets and restaurants on Cape Cod. They also added some new menu items and flavors, including the popular Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate.
During these years, Lesley and Josh McElhattan were dreaming of one day running an ice cream shop, inspired by the historic little parlor on Cape Cod that Lesley had been visiting her whole life. As luck would have it, Doug and Peggy Warren were contemplating retirement, and in December 2024 the keys and recipes were passed on, but not before many conversations and training sessions on how to run the shop the Four Seas way.
Today, like the rickety-looking old blacksmith’s barn, the cherished traditions of Four Seas Ice Cream still stand surprisingly strong because of the ongoing love from generations of people on both sides of the counter.
© 2025 Four Seas Ice Cream Designed And Developed By Perfect Web Solutions
