Cannon Beach Cottage Tour: Hutchins House

September 14, 2013

The Cannon Beach Cottage Tour is a fundraiser for the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum.

Hutchins House

from the program:  Built in 1935 by Bernice and Douglas Greer from Portland.  The cottage represents the Laurel Street neighbourhood’s classic beach style.  It has two floors with dormer windows and interior wood paneling.  It is likely that the building contractor was J.H. Dakin, who built and maintained most of the homes in this neighbourhood.  Dakin was a British citizen who settled in Cannon Beach along with many of his fellow countrymen.

I was pleased to recognize the Hutchins house right away as one that I’d seen the first year Allan and I had discovered the Cottage Tour.   Every time we had walked by since then, I had pointed it out and said “I’ve been in THAT one!”

Hutchins House

north windows

adorable storage shed on east side of house by “Bobby the Builder”

Allan’s photo

One of my strongest memories of touring the house years before was the east side deck that is accessed from the upstairs bedroom windows.

looking up at the east side deck

window boxes on the east wall

back door on east side of house

The front porch is on the north side of the house and has comfy old chairs.

chairs on the front porch

cottage sign

That sign says 1924 so it might be telling us the cottage is older than the program says it is!

chairs on the west end of the porch

western view from the porch

peeking in the window at the northwest corner

Inside the cottage feels like home even though it is a vacation rental.

the kitchen

kitchen shelves

dining room

I seem to lack photos of the living room but you can see some on the house website.

From upstairs, the beach is this close!

view from upstairs west window

slightly telephoto view

The upstairs has three bedrooms.

bedroom with attic roof

Access to the deck is through the window past the bed.

window

Allan’s photo

another window to the deck

deck on east side of attic

another attic bedroom

detail photo by Allan

another bed

west window with beach view

I could sleep in the salty air in any of these comfy looking beds.

attic sleep spot with south window, Allan’s photo

Back downstairs:

a green window view

Haystack Rock

the back door

as we leave Hutchins House

By now it was 4:15 and we had three more cottages and an old hotel to see, and the tour ended at five.

the beach, just steps from the Hutchins house

We turned east toward our parking space and two more east side cottages.

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Cannon Beach Cottage Tour: Priddy Cottage

September 14, 2013

The Cannon Beach Cottage Tour is a fundraiser for the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum.

interlude between cottages

Walking to the next tour cottage, I saw an attractive trellis over two windows.

trellis

As we walked from the wonderful cottage inhabited by collectors toward the next one, we passed an artist’s cottage where the owner was beckoning people to come in.

an artist’s cottage

He may have been greeting particular friends, but I wish I had asked if he was showing his cottage.

The docent at the next little cottage told us no interior photos were allowed, so we refrained.

no interior photos allowed

Even though photos on the fence showed the inside!

Next door to the no-photos cottage, I liked the way windows were used for wind protection.

windows atop fence, at left, for a windbreak on this beachfront home

Just steps away was the foredune and then the beach.

beach path

looking south, the famous Haystack Rock

looking north

Rugosa roses in a beachfront garden

a garden right on the beach

a garden on the next east-west street

Allan’s photo of a sign along the way

Priddy Cottage

The next cottage on the tour was on last year’s tour as well.  Because this year’s was the Tenth Annual tour, some favourites from the past were being reprised.

from the program:  This cottage is the perfect amalgamation of the archetypical Cannon Beach Cottage and custom artistry.  The cottage is a fusion of artistic craftsmanship belonging to the homeowner’s various friends.  The custom details range from unique glasswork to fine metalworking.  These special additions make this home a pleasure to tour.  The Clatsop County Record dates this home to 1924.  It was originally constructed of found material, a common trait of the first Cannon Beach settlers — using driftwood, the almighty Spruce, shells, and more.  The metal has been designed and created by Darryl Nelson, a third generation Timberline blacksmith, who will be present in the home to answer questions about his work.

Priddy Cottage

Allan photographed the top of the metal gate.

and the front gate detail

front gate and metal arbour

the inside top of the arbour

birdbath inside the front gate

I walked around the outside first.

south side window box

east side windowboxes

bright garage (guest house) doors

entering the back yard

lupines

a sweet friendly dog

Hydrangea aspera

I still want one of these hydrangeas.

garden bench

back of house, with me coming out of guest house (left)

the outdoor fire

I love the guest house to the side of the back garden.

inside the guest house, Allan’s photo

guesthouse, Allan’s photo

guesthouse bouquet

I went in the back door of the house….

bouquet

If you want a good tour of house the house and its decor fit together, check out last year’s post.

another bouquet

Some details:

ceiling lights

Allan’s photo of shelving detail

window and sunlight

It is an extraordinary cottage.

back outside, west window boxes

Another Interlude

By now it was 3:50 PM and we still had four more cottages and a historic hotel to see and only one hour and ten minutes left of tour time!  (The tour organizer tells me that next year they will return to having more like nine cottages to see:  This was a tenth year anniversary extravaganza.)

Our walk to the next cottage took us to downhill to the very south end of downtown Cannon Beach.  This curvacious walkway caught my eye.

curved walkway and shady courtyard

I realized that this was the back side of one of my favourite clusters of buildings.

east side

The east side has an entry to an art gallery which I should go into sometime just to see the inside of the building.

north side of the interesting building

Just to the west of it sits my favourite outbuildings ever.

like a fairy tale cottage

Allan took this photo of a cedar detail.

Just uphill from the tiny fairy tale outbuilding is another house that always makes me stop and look.

I love the green and brown…

and the tower

Next, we visit a cottage that I fell in love with in 2007, the year I discovered the Cannon Beach Cottage Tour.

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Cannon Beach Cottage Tour: my 2013 favourite

September 14, 2013

The Cannon Beach Cottage Tour is a fundraiser for the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum.  (Be sure to click on that link; the home page has a neat effect with old postcards.)

A Collectors’ Cottage

I decided to call it that for reasons you will soon understand.

from the program:  This home is considered one of the oldest beach houses still standing in the Presidential District.  The county records indicate that it was built in 1913, but an archeological excavation discovered foundations posts dating to the 1890s.  Sylvester White built this home in approximately 1913.  White may have built over a previous foundation left by homesteaders, early campers, or the Tillamook Indians who lived here for centuries.

We now come to my favourite cottage of the tour, one that is hidden behind wind gnarled shore pines.

Allan’s photo, from the street

hidden behind the pines

The caution tape was just to direct people to use a side entrance to the yard rather than squeeze into the path through the trees.

Two old cannons flank the front entry.

to the right

and to the left

We heard the owner tell someone that the cannons, found on the beach, from which the town gets its name, were smaller than these.

We came around to the side of the front porch.

looking west. The path to the beach is half a block away.

at east end of front porch

old porch bench

front garden

from the porch

looking south from inside the front door

I knew right away that we were in a home of people who like to collect interesting and historic things and we were so pleased that the owners allowed photographs.

in the front room

two tables in the front room

a rustic fireplace

old fashioned fireplace surround

imagining a cozy winter day here…

a face in the fire

wainscoting

a comfy couch

an old cabinet

Antique appreciators were having wonderful conversations with the owners…about shops, auctions, and collecting old pieces.  The owners recommended a place called Cannon Beach Treasure Co.

How I would love to spend a grey winter day (or a lifetime) here on beach time.

Here is a cottage where I will have no trouble getting a feeling for what the owners like!

In the lower right of the photo above, you can see a copy of Terence O’Donnell’s  A Place by The Sea.  I must read the book (which I own) again.  It is excellent.  Terrence owned Crank’s Roost, the Seaview cottage whose garden we maintained for its subsequent owner until it was recently sold.

another good sit spot

more cool stuff

a work space

collections

beachy bathers

Thank goodness I was able to take photos here, because I would have been able to remember so few of these treasures.

beach art

an old door

The downstairs had one of those floor plans where one walks from room to room in a circle around the enclosed staircase to the upstairs.

the kitchen

an old stove sat next to a modern one.

in the kitchen

In the kitchen, I met the woman of the house.  She told me something grand:  She and her partner both like to collect things, AND they like the same things so there are no disagreements about what they acquire.  I admired the calico dishes in the kitchen and she said she particularly liked the shape of the shallow bowls.

Blue Calico

kitchen detail, photo by Allan

vintage kitchen door

in the mud room (by back door)

a bottle of little shells

mudroom (or pantry)

clothes rack on the mud room ceiling

Dutch door to the back yard

view into back yard

boardwalk from back door to outbuilding

Back in the kitchen,  I admired the windowpane photo display behind a door to the stairway.

Because I make it back down stairs very slowly, I only go upstairs in houses where I know I’ll see idiosyncratic and interesting rooms.  This house definitely qualified, especially after Allan came down the stairs saying there was a wardrobe right out of Narnia.

one of the upstairs bedrooms

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

The mirrored dresser is extraordinary.

little closet door

upstairs bedroom

The other bedroom had a very high and fluffy looking bed.

Allan’s photo

another bedroom with a tall bed

wardrobe

Allan’s photo

I told Allan that wardrobe could not go to Narnia because this is clearly a USA wardrobe so not as magical.

headboard detail, Allan’s photo

upstairs

stairs going down

On the right side as we look down, we were told that old art projects from hippie days were on display, showing how long the family has inhabited this wonderful old house.

I certainly did not want to leave this one.  iPhoto tells me we were there from 3:00 til 3:16; the tour was due to end at 5:00 and we still had seven more places to see (and we had already skipped one, the Sea Sprite Motel in Tolovana Park).

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Cannon Beach Cottage Tour: Hopper’s House

September 14, 2013

The Cannon Beach Cottage Tour is a fundraiser for The Cannon Beach History Center and Museum.

On the walk from the Surf Shack to our next cottage, we crossed the main road into the Presidential blocks on the west side, just northwest of downtown.   On the way, as always happens in Cannon Beach, we saw lovely places to photograph.

a little grey cottage

“Bonnie Nook”

You can read the history of Bonnie Nook here.  It is one of the oldest houses still standing in Cannon Beach.   I find it interesting that some of the older cottages are on the east side instead of in the blocks closest to the beach.  I wonder if beachfront property was much more expensive even then?

cottage with hydrangea

Any one of these tiny places would be fascinating to tour!

Hopper’s House Historic Cottage

from the program:  This home was built in 1916 by Sylvester White.  Mr. White also constructed several other homes on Van Buren (one located directly across the street).  This house was originally built for the Morton and Elsie Alger family, cousins of White’s wife.  Mr. White also built the house next door, but that was torn down many years ago.

Hopper’s House is a vacation rental and yet had the feeling of a home, which is assuredly why it has such good reviews.  I wonder if there are bunnies around?  They seem to abound in the Tolovana Park neighbourhood to the south of Cannon Beach.

Hopper’s House

You can see the ocean right at the end of the block.

Hopper’s House from across the street

an expansive front porch

house number tiles

The porch had a dreamy seat at the west end.

What a lovely place to sit at the west end of the porch.

The river rock fireplace is typical and iconic Cannon Beach cottage style.

the fireplace with wooden mantel

The kitchen retains an old fashioned feeling.

I remember that at the lecture that preceded the tour, Jill Grady said that one of the Cannon Beach builders was short and all his kitchens were built for someone short.  My Craftman bungalow kitchen in Seattle was that way and when I had a short friend visit, she said it was the most comfortable kitchen she had ever cooked in.

old fashioned bathroom sink

shower and towel cabinet

I so much like that the old features of the cottage have been retained.  I would not want to stay at an overly modernized beach cottage.

looking from the kitchen to a dining nook at the SW corner of the cottage.

Note the gleaming white board ceiling.

living room window with a glimpse of the fireplace exterior

Stepping out onto a back porch, one can get a good look at the impressive stone chimney on the west wall of the cottage.

the stone chimney

the back porch

Back inside, I saw a guest book on a side table.  Oh, how I love guest books at lodgings.  I would like to have sat down and read the whole thing.

guest book

the downstairs bedroom

The hosts understand the importance of a reading lamp.

I like to read reviews of local hotels, and I have noticed that one thing that is very much noticed by guests is the absence of bedside reading lamps.  Here, this detail has not been overlooked.

bedroom window

I did not go upstairs in this cottage, so the upstairs photos are all from Allan.

the stairs

a sign

upstairs bathroom windows

another old fashioned sink

bedroom

One would sleep so well in the salt air.

The next cottage was right across the street and would prove to be my favourite of the tour.

Next door to Hopper’s, another comfy big beachy porch.

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Cannon Beach Cottage Tour: Surf Shack!

September 14, 2013

The Cannon Beach Cottage Tour is a fundraiser for the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum.

The Surf Shack

from the program:  This is the original site of Cannon Beach pioneer Barry McKay’s log cabin.  The log home burned in 1911 and this sweet beach retreat replaced it in 1955.  Next door the Mckay’s owned and rented out “Honeysuckle Lodge’, a romantic honeymoon cottage.  Don’t miss this owner’s collection of turn-of-the-century sand pails.

The Surf Shack is on the east side of town near Cathy’s Cottage.

the entrance from the street

Allan got a photo of the name!

Allan noticed this bird house that got past me!

inside the arch, a garden shed

in the front yard

A vine tangles atop a cottage window on this home that was built the year I was born.

a low swale of ferns going up the west side of the cottage

As I looked back at the entry arch from the front porch, a tour goer came through and said “I always expect something to happen, to be transformed when I come through the arbor.”  I imagine she was thinking of stepping into another world like in a children’s fantasy novel.

looking back at the entry arbour

view from the front porch

Oh, how I loved this cottage and I am so grateful that the owner was allowing photos because I never would have been able to remember all the great things inside!

the main living area

In the above photo, you can just see, at the top, the backside of this sign:

 

what a ceiling!

The ceiling is similar to the one I remember well (from photographs on a previous tour) in the Moon Shell Cottage.

the open kitchen

I love the golden glow of the walls.

kitchen

On the counter next to the stove sits the sand pail collection.

sand pails

a cosy nook off the kitchen

driftwood fish

The bedrooms in the cottage were surprisingly large and one had the wonderful light feel of having been made from a sleeping porch.

classically beachy blue and white stripes

I think the size of the bedrooms is because the cottage was built in ’55; earlier cottages have smaller rooms.

bedroom window with green rustling view of bamboo

beach art on the walls

The Surf Shack felt fun, warm, and relaxing and I hated to leave without examining more details but we still had many cottages to see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cannon Beach Cottage Tour ’13: Cathy’s Cottage

September 14, 2013

The Cannon Beach Cottage Tour is a fundraiser for the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum.

After June Kroft’s garden, we began our tour with the cottages in Cannon Beach.  We knew we would be lucky to have time to tour all 12, so we skipped the first, the Sea Sprite Motel in Tolovana Park.  I stayed there in spring of 2011 and have some photos of it in this blog entry.

When we found a parking place in one of the east side residential streets, we ended up in the thick of the tour and followed people with programs to the nearest cottage!  The owner gave permission for taking photos.

from the program:  Cathy’s Cottage is a storybook example of vintage cottage architecture.  A veritable dollhouse, this cottage was typical of its era.  It was built in 1935, when space at the beach was about being close and sharing.  It is set back with a long approach from the street to emphasize its demure character.  The owners have lovingly labored to maintain the integrity of this cottage and its historic features, including its original pinewood floors.

Cathy’s Cottage, from the street

This cottage is in the blocks on the east side of the highway.   One can dream of maybe being able to afford to live in Cannon Beach in a simple cottage on this side of town (but probably not; fortunately, I am content with Ilwaco!).

windowbox with sand dollars

I love this.  I wonder if she has the secret of making the sand dollars stick and stay so nice and white or if this was done especially for tour day?

sign above the front window

We were assured that photos were allowed in this cottage.  The living room has a fireplace wall with shelves of favourite things.

my photo

Allan liked it, too!

Allan’s photo of shells and puffins above the fireplace

window light on the table

kitchen with pass through the the dining room

a sweet cottage bedroom

We were able to walk to several more cottages from here.  On the way, we passed a little red house.  I could well imagine living in this one and making a garden all around it.

a little red cottage

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Cannon Beach Cottage & Garden Tour: Kroft garden

June Kroft’s garden

From the program: “The Kroft home and gardens have been featured in national publications. Kroft’s gardens were featured in Village of Flowers, a photo journal of Cannon Beach gardens. Her gardens are well known by landscape architects, gardeners, and flower enthusiasts around the Pacific Northwest.”

To see this garden again, one I had not seen since a memorable tour led years ago by Ann Lovejoy and Lucy Hardiman… I don’t think a day went by all summer when I did not look forward to it. I had hoped fervently that her cottage would also be part of the tour…because I am inquisitive that way… It wasn’t. Some of the cottages on the Tenth Anniversary Cottage Tour were cottage only with no garden, and June’s was garden only. (I could tell from the outside that the cottage interior is just adorable and in a perfect world I would somehow have become friends with June, not just a fan from afar, and had tea with her there!) I treasure her picture book “A Village of Flowers” and was thrilled to get a series of photos in her garden today.

June’s front garden: view from the street

a bit of caution tape on a branch sticking out

looking west from outside her garden….you can see the ocean

Fuchsias on the side of shed across the lawn

I think that last time I was here, the little building above was covered with a pink climbing rose.

front porch

Just to the west, another family cottage: Sea Shadows

Sea Shadows

a from the side peek into June’s front garden

west side of the cottage with Allan and the volunteer greeter

You can see how intriguing the cottage itself is!

west windows

gate to June’s back garden

June’s garden was every bit as magical as I remembered.

tour guests entering the garden

upon entering the garden (looking south)

tomatoes

June, in blue, talks with a guest; June’s daughter also helped host the tour.

I never did converse with June during this time in her garden. Allan listened to her telling guests how the garden was originally swamped with blackberries and how over the years she has created this tiny paradise. I tend to be shy on tours and not engage much with people, but when I tour a garden like this I feel that the garden IS the person and it communicates to me a great deal about the gardener.

dahlias

I never thought to prune an old Santolina like a gnarly little tree!

a rosemary also pruned in an artfully beachy way

little path into the garden by the rosemary

and by the santolina

On the south side of the house is the most enchanting deck I have ever seen, with an area enclosed by wings of the cottage. On the south side of the deck sits a garden shed..

looking onto the back deck

with tour guests for scale, showing the garden shed to the right

It is genius to include the garden shed as part of the deck, giving shelter from south wind and a wonderful sense of enclosure.

pots on the stairs to the deck

a gorgeous container

on the garden shed wall

closer

The faded print seems to read “little window to open to do what I can”.

wall container by the old window

Could this garden be where I got the idea to hang old windows on a wall?

side view of the garden shed

looking east at the west wall of the garden shed

The old window with the caption on it is to the right, and I now realize I did not find out (despite all my inquisitiveness) what was behind that wall!

door into the garden shed

peeking inside

next to the door

view of deck from garden shed door

Doors to left and to right lead into wings of the fascinating cottage.

the sheltered nook between cottage wings

I just cannot get enough of looking at this beautiful nook out of the west wind.

I failed to get a photo of what it would be like to sit in those chairs and look back at the garden shed… Can I go back?

shingle patterns

cottage door

containers everywhere

looking west from the deck

against a south wall of the cottage

On the east side of the deck, just past some rustic boxes of flowers…

… a couple of steps lead down to a narrow area with lawn and clothesline.

looking back from the east side of the deck

I think there was a gate that could close to provide even more shelter.

Yes, there it is…

side yard with clothesline

bird bath and hydrangea

old beach pine in back garden (SW corner, I think)

old mossy bricks

The brick edges are raised in areas quite near the cottages and become softer in the shady areas toward the back of the tiny garden.

a blue bench

and June in blue

I appreciate that Allan got photos of June herself; I was awestruck to be there again and kept circling around and around the garden itself.

Allan’s photo of a rose…

and of blue flower sculptures

south side of garden shed

Ah. now I understand how the shed works; it is also accessible from the back!

sweet peas on the garden shed

I heard June say she plants her sweet peas later at the beach than she would in Portland because we do not get too much summer heat for them here.

June with garden guests.

spilling over

Sea Shadows cottage shows to the west in this photo.

a trellis against the west garden shed wall

It was a special experience to walk round and round in this garden and if we had not had twelve other places to see on the tour, we would have stayed even longer.

June Kroft, cottager, gardener, quilter

As we left, I took a telephoto view to the west, because that is how I see things…looking to the garden views that lay between June’s garden and the beach.

Indeed, a village of flowers…

Around the corner, before we left the Tolovana neighbourhood for the rest of the tour, we saw four cute little cottages called Carefree, Comfy, Cozy and…? Allan tells me there was a fourth one but I missed it till the moment there was a car behind us and we had t drive on.

Care-free and Comfy

and Cozy!

I am left with the usual pondering of how I can make the area around a manufactured home look as nook-like and charming as June’s garden, the archetypical and ideal cottage garden.

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2010 — Cannon Beach Cottage Tour: Windshell

11 September, 2010

My heart ached when I realized in October of 2009 that my mom’s move into assisted living had completely driven the beloved annual tour of Cannon Beach cottages from my mind…so I determined to assuredly not miss it in 2010.  Ironically, we got to the Tolovana neighbourhood on tour day to find the last tickets had been sold.  It had never sold out before and I’d never fretted about the availability of tickets.  I almost wept…and went into the restroom to compose myself, then went back out and asked the ticket seller if she could possibly make us an exception, that we had driven all the way from Ilwaco, and she so kindly gave us a sort of extra pass.  She also told me it was because I was nice about it, that a woman who had yelled at her minutes earlier had been sent away with nothing.  Thank goodness we got to go.  I would have walked the neighbourhood till I saw a tour group and tried to hang on their coattails.

My mom had recently died.…And we were under the stress of waiting through a real estate deal ‘s slow progression on a double wide manufactured home on which we’d made an offer that very week.  It had a huge double lot but I was having difficulty procressing the idea of no longer living in a cute cottage, after a lifetime of vintage houses.  My identity was strongly wrapped up in our historic fishing shack and before that my Seattle Craftsman bungalow.

The cottages got to me emotionally more than usual (and I admit I generally tear up a bit at a really darling one).

I wrote nothing about the tour at the time and so cannot recreate much information about each individual cottage, so I hope the photos speak for themselves.  (The tour guide says no pictures, but all the hosts said photo taking was fine, and the tour-goers were all taking pictures left and right!) I can but divide the cottages by number and hope I don’t get mixed up regarding the transition between each.

One

The first stop had two cottages, one a tiny guest house in the back yard.  The feel of the main house was pleasant, but rather modern and did not especially thrill me.

main house bedrooms

The yard entranced me with its old fashioned circle of chairs…

a classic sit spot

And the shutters on the tiny cottage behind the main house filled me with joy.  (And made me wonder if such shutters could transform a double-wide into less of a rectangular box.  This was before I knew one must never, ever, “puncture the seal” of one’s double wide by drilling through the exterior…)

so beachy

beachy indeed

beachy sit spot reflected

rustic bathroom window, and bead board walls…true cottage even though the bath fixtures were too modernized

and ah, the view of the beachy sit spot…

Interlude

On the walk between the first and second cottage stop, we saw…

other cottages

a lovely garden

a birdhouse pole

a river rock wall

We then saw a perfect cottage complex for sale.  Of course, being in Cannon Beach, it would cost a fortune.  But what a compound: a cottage for me, a cottage for Allan, one for Stacey, one for Mary….What bliss that would be.

dreamy cottage compound

My eyes caught sight of a tower and I went down a side street and got as close a view as I could of its amazingness.  Oh, the deep deep woe I felt when on the 2011 tour, I learned that this very tower had been on the 2009 tour, the one I missed.

We missed it….argh

Even the lot behind the tower of mystery, while shady and unphotographable, had an air of enchantment, and we could have walked through it…in 2009.

mysterious tower cottage landscape

Even more painfully, I learned that we had missed in 2009 the chance to see the inside of June Kroft’s cottage; she’s a famous Cannon Beach gardener whose garden I once visited and adored.

two: Windshell Cottage

tiny Windshell Cottage

Just the porch of the Windshell Cottage looked so promising.

by the porch window

front door

Windshell Cottage became my favourite the moment I entered and saw the built in bookshelves.

inset bookshelves

A bunkroom provided plenty of room for guests.

bunkroom

The main bedroom had just about enough room for the bed, leading me to reflect on how much I love small, cozy spaces.  I wanted to take a nap there.

bedroom

The bathroom still had vintage features like the comfy clawfoot tub.

tub

In the kitchen, a built in wall seat and painted glass front cupboards…

kitchen

and a gorgeous room divider made from a long window….

room divider, kitchen side

living room side

living room and front door

Over the kitchen a skylight made the ceiling high and all sorts of fascinating objects were hung up there.

looking up…

fascinating skylight

up high

wabi-sabi skylight parasol

Everywhere, details….

letters

Lucky friends who got to use this cottage for the weekend!

Just outside the kitchen door we stepped out onto a deck.

the deck

the view

We chatted with the owners on the deck and when I mentioned how the sleeping rooms seemed so conducive to naps, they told us about an old sign still on the side of the cottage…

old sign

In faded letters, it reads Nap Trap.

Fascinating in every detail, Windshell remains one of my cottages of dreams.  Allan pointed out that on this particular tour, all the cottages were occupied only part time by the owners and the rest of the time rented out, so there was not the clutter of year round living that we experienced in our own tiny cottage.  Still, the cuteness and quaintness of this cottage made me wonder if I were utterly mad to think I could cottage-ify our possibly future double wide home.

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