área de Cape May Point, perto da Hawkwatch / farol / praias / conservação da terra

My husband and I were living in Texas, I'd retired from teaching and was having fun with a design business I'd started. My family has great memories of growing up summers in the old family cottage on a lake in MA, and we all still take turns using the cottage. Yet, we'd always wanted a place of our own and were looking for a fixer-upper older home near the ocean. This is the house which came with an apartment above the detached offset garage. At first sight, most would have considered both a tear down, but inside, the house was full of light and the apartment was an extra. While my husband stayed home working, I spent from Nov.to mid June, 2005, chipping, scraping, sanding, painting, sewing, hauling, and planting. Add the all important work of admired carpenters, plumbers and electricians and we now have our most loved 'little' house.
In 2009 the apartment was gutted to get rid of rot and fix structural problems. Another winter spent in the house(thank goodness not living in spackling dust) and the apartment came to life when being reborn in what was already it's bones. Before it was dreary and in sad shape, now it's one of the most uplifting, welcoming places I think can be and I am surprised myself. As the carpenters tore it apart, I could stand inside after they left each day and feel what it would be like if I did this or that. It begged for character! The location helps( open the windows and hear the sea), plus looking out through fig trees adds green-ness and privacy, but it now feels so welcoming, quite hard to describe. It came from humble beginnings and had a life well lived, but now it is what it knew it could be. Whatever it is that makes for a good feel, this little apartment loves to be lived in and is quite welcoming.