My husband and I are semi-retirees in our early 60's; he's a former electrical engineer and investments consultant, and I was a community college administrator. We now live on the Mendocino Coast in California, about 200 miles north of San Francisco. We love coming to this house and are happy to share it with you. It seems to bring out all the wonderful love we have, along with energizing us to take long walks and hikes, but balanced by creating delightful delicacies in the kitchen.

Heather Crawford purchased this house in 1985

I've loved this home for over 30 years, having personally restored every inch of it from an aging 1920's beach cabin to a comfortable and cozy ocean view home. When I lived here, I was one of the founders of the local community college. I lived in this house with my young son in the 1980's and '90s. Many of the neighborhood kids were babysat here while we parents socialized nearby at the community center. If you look closely, you can see where the kids left their mark on the play cubby walls upstairs (accessible only by a ladder) and here and there on the woodwork. To me, these are marks of Oceanside history and sweet reminders of times passed. Although we now live on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California, we love coming back to enjoy this special place. The house became a vacation rental in 2009. My husband and I visit 2 or 3 times a year to help keep things in sparkling condition. Though often we work nearly nonstop, it is a labor of love and we hope you will enjoy our efforts.

This is an especially well-stocked and well-appointed home, yet cozy, comfortable and inviting. Definitely not your typical vacation rental. You are close to the sounds and sights of the surf and it's just a one minute walk to the beach for most anyone. The beach at Oceanside is unlike many others. Its long expanse allows you to walk several miles in each direction. We manage a morning walk on the beach every day. In the afternoons, we walk to Netarts and get our favorite Tillamook ice cream, currently Mudslide. No matter how hard we are working, we always take breaks whenever the paragliders or eagles soar by. Every visit, we hike at Cape Lookout and Cape Meares State Parks, have a good dinner at Roseanna's, and drink in the view along with margaritas on the deck. Cooking fresh oysters (only $8 a dozen!) on the grill is another favorite. Nearly every night is concluded in an attempt to get an even better sunset photo than we did the night before.