Home sweet rock

To pay for the upkeep, the family would like to attract more “green’’ renters who appreciate the low carbon footprint. “Ideally, they need to know about tides, winds, and how to swim,’’ Wood says.

Reclamation projects

The furnishings are nearly all retreads, from the wicker chairs to the faded kilim and Oriental carpets Wood picked up at thrift shops or yard sales. Pausing in his second-floor bedroom, Wood waves a hand at the brightly striped bedding: “I got the whole thing for $3 at Morgan Memorial,’’ he beams. “Someone gave me the bed.’’ The purple comforter in the next bedroom: Building 19.

The claw-foot bathtub came from a mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport that was being torn down. The banisters along the curvy staircase came from one of his work projects: “I designed the Star Market over the Pike in Newton, and these were going to be handrails, but they didn’t work out, so I brought them here.’’ Wood leads the way up a long ladder to the roof, to show off his windmill and solar panels. There’s a sign that says, “No entry after three drinks or 86 years of age.’’ It used to say “80.’’

Some years back, Henry Wood went to town hall in Jamestown, where he pays his property taxes ($7,430.72 this year). He wanted a lobster license, given only to voting residents (Wood votes in Boston). “I told them I was tired of watching other people trap lobsters in my backyard,’’ he recalls. He got the license.

Occasionally, the Wood family have had to chase away would-be picnickers or lay to rest a hapless gull that has flown into the windmill. They love to watch the Fourth of July fireworks in Newport from the roof as well as the Tall Ships that have sailed by, the gargantuan Queen Mary, and the world sailing championships.

And then there are the tour boats, which sometimes tell tourists to keep an eye out for the elderly gentleman in the house - who may or may not drop his trousers for them.