A spacious, single-level house, at 11 Camden Rd., is an example of the diverse architecture in the beach community. Providence Journal photo / John Freidah

There are 849 houses in Bonnet Shores, and 300 are registered as rentals with the Town of Narragansett.

But although there is a good selection of summer rentals in town, many Bonnet Shore homeowners rent their houses in the winter, and enjoy this popular beachfront community themselves all summer long.

Academic-year rentals to University of Rhode Island students is so common in Bonnet Shores that the local fire district’s Web site includes tips for students (first line: “Welcome back to URI!!!”) and hints for year-round residents to help ensure neighborly goodwill.

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Students are urged to notify neighbors when they’re having a party, hold down the bass on the stereo, keep guests inside and be sure anyone drinking alcohol is at least 21. Advising guests of the parking rule in Bonnet Shores — basically, parking on streets is banned — and post-party cleanup are also suggested.

Year-round residents are urged to introduce themselves to their new student neighbors and get their phone numbers “to keep the lines of communication open.” If that fails, calls to the URI Commuter Housing Office or the Narragansett police are recommended.

But in the summer at least, the center of social life in this community is the Bonnet Shores Beach Club and its half-mile of sandy shore. The club was opened in 1929 by state Sen. Harry T. Bodwell, of Cranston, built on land that was once three farms off Boston Neck Road.

According to Lee Listro, who has lived in Bonnet Shores since 1947, the beach club had a rocky start: it opened just two months before the stock-market crash that preceded the Great Depression, and nine years later, the Hurricane of 1938 destroyed the clubhouse.

In 1987, the rebuilt beach club went condo, but in a limited way: of the 930 condos, only 6 are live-in units, according to general manager Joe Mignano.

Many small bathhouse units can be used only for storing items and changing clothes, and the cabana units have small kitchen areas and showers, with deck areas in front, facing the water, and are suitable for spending the day near the beach, he said.

In addition to its private beach, the beach club has a pool, gift shop, snack bar, restaurant, outdoor bar and grille, and tennis and basketball courts.

According to the club Web site’s May newsletter, an ongoing dispute between the club and a developer concerning further condo development at the club may soon be resolved. “A settlement is within reach,” the site said. “If finalized, it would … end the seemingly never-ending fight with the developer and more significantly put an end to the possibility once and for all that there could ever be any further development at the beach club.”

Heath Management Co., of Boston, has been pushing to develop about 130 additional units at the beach club for years, but so far has been prevented from doing so. The town approved 1,069 units in 1987, but in 1998, the condo association opposed further development, arguing that it would lead to crowding on the 1,700 feet of private beach.

There were 30 houses listed for sale last week in Bonnet Shores, with prices starting at $279,900 for a 775-square-foot log home built in 1940, with two bedrooms and one bath, at 12 Mohawk Trail. The costliest house was priced at $2 million, for a 1960 contemporary ranch at 116 Col. John Gardner Rd., a waterfront street. The listing information said the house has two bedrooms, two baths, and was “completely redone” in 1996.

A condominium is also for sale at 1024 Boston Neck Rd.; the three-bedroom unit was built in 2004, has 1,640 square feet of space, and is priced at $414,900.

POPULATION:

(Narragansett, 2000) 16,361

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE:

(Narragansett, 2007) $395,000

INTERESTING FACT:

When the Bonnet Shores Beach Club cabanas and bath houses were first sold in 1987, cabanas had prices of $31,900 to $52,900, bath houses were priced at $10,000, and each unit came with a parking space. A recent ad offered a 4-by 4-foot bath house at the club for $22,000.

cdunn@projo.com