The house is set on Rt. 6A in Brewster, Mass. - a road that happens to be the longest designated National Historic District in the U.S. Brewster, itself, is known as the Sea Captains' town, because of all the sea captains who once called it home. It's a 15-minute walk/3-minute drive/bike ride from a charming little neighborhood beach on Cape Cod Bay, with great walking and bike riding opportunities all around. Oh, and if you like fried seafood and ice cream, this area totally has you covered. :)
While most people think of the Cape as a summer destination, it's beautiful all year-round. The spring can be wet and gray, but that's when all the migrating songbirds pass through. We don't get the fall leaf colors of Northern New England, but the weather through October can be surprisingly mild, and the light is sublime if you're a painter or photographer. And the winter can be a perfect time for a hike along the National Seashore or in Nickerson State Park, which is just down the road from my house.
Because of renovation work, COVID and current travel plans already in place, I'll be looking for exchanges late 2021 and into 2022.
Lo spazio
The house recently received some big upgrades, including a brand new cook's kitchen, redone upstairs bath and overall spiffing up. There is a queen bed upstairs, two twins downstairs and options for figuring out inflatable beds for the other two bedrooms now used as office and TV room, respectively. There are two baths - one on each floor - one with shower and other with tub/shower. There's central heat and air conditioning, along with a small Jotul wood stove for cooler weather. It's not a large house - about 1,200 sq. ft., total, but it packs in a lot of character.
Outdoors, there's a really pretty backyard, complete with hammock, that's perfect for a wonky croquet course. Beyond that, there's about an acre of wetland and upland woods where wild blackberries and Concord grapes can be found, in season (warning: the path gets a bit overgrown in summer). Also, as every Cape Cod cottage should, mine features a nice little enclosed outdoor shower - perfect for washing off salt and sand after a day at the beach.
I've noted pets are welcome - I'd just like to have a conversation about that when we start talking. I do have a 10-1/2-year-old golden I'd like to be able to travel with to local New England locations, if that works. Also, as a result, this is likely not the place for anyone with dog allergies - I do my best to keep up with vacuuming, but... 😁
Accesso ospite
Two floors, with a set of steps to get up to the house from the parking area, so accessibility might be an issue for some.
Gli appunti
There are a few options for getting here. The most direct, for those flying, is flying into either Boston (~2 hours in decent traffic) or Providence, RI (a little closer) and renting a car. During the summer, we'd likely want to arrange things so you weren't arriving Friday afternoon - Saturday if you were driving from Boston. That's a big changeover period for weekly tourist rentals.
The house is right on Main Street (Rt. 6A), so in the summer season it's a bit busy. The backyard is really private, though, thanks to the brush that grows in on either side in the spring/summer. Very easy walking distance to one of Cape Cod's best restaurants (The Brewster Fish House) along with a great clam shack. You also can just stroll the Main Street sidewalk to take in the lovely, historic homes, many of which were built by the town's famous sea captains.
There's a lot to walk to from the house, but a car will be needed to get to food shopping (about 4 miles away) and any beaches/restaurants outside the immediate area.