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Cape Cod Times, Sunday July 28, 2019

BREWSTER — Though this home was built in 1990, it seems to spring straight from the Colonial era of the late 17th century, when Puritan colonists built wide, rectangular homes with large chimneys and exposed beams. Indeed, the façade’s clapboard siding and modest windows are reminiscent of a simpler time. And this makes sense, given the home’s serene setting in the heart of Brewster, set way back from the nearest neighbor and surrounded by woods and ponds. A lifestyle. The home features a two-car garage and manicured yards with a stately brick walkway leading to the front door, and there are definitely some unique twists going on in this house.

Let’s start with the floor plan. Sources say open floor plans started to gain popularity in the early ’90s. If that’s true, then this house — albeit a Colonial — was an innovator, with kitchen and living room connected by open space and wide, exposed support beams standing as decorative elements. The ceiling follows suit, done in natural shiplap and wide beams. A large brick fireplace brings people together in the living room, and the oversize chimney even has a built-in storage space for wood. And you’re going to need it, as the other side of the chimney, out on the back deck, is outfitted with — a pizza oven! Enjoy homemade brick oven pizza from the comfort of your own back deck, which is the perfect size for entertaining. The open kitchen also makes entertaining easy — it’s open and bright, with recessed lighting, and the designer of this kitchen made excellent use of space by adding an angled counter/bar.

Other unique features include wide floor boards of varying size; a unique den with built-in shelves and cabinets; and a huge laundry room and pantry. The stairs leading to the second level are open, and you can really get away from it all in the master suite, with its own little balcony looking out to the woods; and ceiling beams and skylights complete the look. Two other second-level bedrooms also give awesome views of the woods. Along with the tranquility of this home, you will also enjoy private association access to Long Pond.

Cape Cod Times, Sunday, July 21, 2019

COTUIT — You have to experience this home for yourself to fully appreciate the unique layout. Enter through the main front door, or through the secondary door off to the side — the more “everyday” entrance. It brings you to an open, sun-filled room with hardwood floors and French doors out to a back deck. This space makes a perfect overflow room or even a lovely sitting room. The kitchen beckons from here — spacious and all white, accented by Brazilian-mined granite countertops. The kitchen opens to the dining room area, which in turn, flows into a sunken living room. This space, from kitchen to living room, where a lovely bay window looks out to the back patio, flows perfectly and is an idea family space: grownups in the kitchen and dining room, kids in the living room. It’s open, but it’s also large enough to afford some privacy.

A brick chimney in the living room encloses a gas fireplace, finishing off and anchoring the living room. The space, from here, spills into the foyer, which is where you’d arrive from the main front door into that elegant space that’s reserved for the more formal occasions. A balustrade staircase leads upstairs, and a balcony overlooks the foyer. The foyer space then flows past the living room toward the master suite, but beforehand, opens into a bonus room with another gas fireplace — it’s a double fireplace on the backside of the one in the living room. This room is an office, a TV room or a sitting room. It’s a perfect little getaway room, yet still open to the rest of the house.

In the first-floor master suite, walk right through the walk-in closet and into the bathroom — talk about a getaway — you can escape from the world outside with a hot bubble bath and martini in the fabulous white corner jet tub. Ahhh. The other two bedrooms, upstairs, are joined in the center by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom.

Winding Old Post Road is known to be one of Cotuit’s most preferred streets. Not only is it pretty, with pockets and enclaves of unique properties (this property also boasts beach and boat access just across the street), but it’s a short walk to Lowell Park, one of the Cape’s most iconic baseball fields, for Kettleers games in the summer. Or take an early morning stroll down to Cotuit Fresh Market (“The Coop”) for your coffee, or to Ropes Beach, where endless beautiful boats rest on the waters of Cotuit Bay.

Barnstable Patriot, July 19, 2019 The Cape Cod Maritime Museum has launched three new exhibits, including a real-time restoration project that visitors are invited to follow.

“All three of these exhibits are important for different reasons,” says executive director Liz Rabideau. “The surfboat restoration is a real-time restoration project, whose goal is not only to complete our collection of historic Cape Cod wood boats but to also engage the community in the intricate process of restoration. The public is invited to come and see the progress, to ask questions and even to volunteer to help.”

“In addition, we have our new History of Navigation exhibit and an exhibit of the Pilgrims’ journey prior to setting across the Atlantic to the New World,” says Rabideau.

Surfboats – 24-foot wave-faring rowboats – crashed through stormy waters and saved the lives of shipwrecked souls along the outer Cape in the early 1900s. In their 53-year history, only two surfboat rescues ended in crew casualties.

The surfboats were stationed at 13 lifesaving stations along the outer Cape in the early to mid-20th century. One such boat, a 24-ft. Race Point surfboat built in 1944, was gifted to the museum years ago. The iconic boat sat on the museum’s front lawn, a symbol of the Cape’s maritime history, and museum personnel have decide it’s time to restore her.

The Surfboat Restoration exhibit is a real-time restoration project. Throughout the summer, visitors may view the surfboat during the various stages of her restoration and witness first-hand the process of wooden boat restoration over an estimated two-year period.

The second exhibition connects the dots between stick charts, sextants and Nantucket astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889)—all of which play a part in the History of Navigation from 1200 BC. The show chronicles navigation from the ancient Polynesians up until present-day GPS, taking visitors on a journey through time.

As a teen, Mitchell was trusted by sailors to do their navigational computations for their long whaling journeys. She also discovered a comet in 1847.

Explore topics such as longitude and latitude and principles of celestial navigation. Learn the workings of 20th-century electronic equipment, such as a Radio Direction Finder (RDF), Loran and GPS. The real-time Automatic Identification System (AIS) even tracks vessels from the museum right in Hyannis Harbor.

Explore topics such as longitude and latitude and principles of celestial navigation. Learn the workings of 20th-century electronic equipment, such as a Radio Direction Finder (RDF), Loran and GPS. The real-time Automatic Identification System (AIS) even tracks vessels from the museum right in Hyannis Harbor.

Finally, get to know The Pilgrims: Before They Were Here, which is Phase One of the museum’s 400-year anniversary of the Mayflower exhibit.

Before They Were Here chronicles the life of the Pilgrims from 1606 to before their departure for the New World in 1620. Learn in-depth about the circumstances which made them leave England for Holland, and why they finally decided they must set sail for the New World.

The Pilgrims: Before They Were Here will be on display through April 2020.

Museum hours are seven days a week, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission, $10; students, seniors and veterans, $8; active military, free. Visit www.capecodmaritimemuseum.org for more information.

Cape Cod Times, Sunday, July 14, 2019

WAQUOIT — Not only is this home situated in a quiet residential neighborhood at the end of a cul de sac, but it abuts acres of conservation land, namely the Quashnet Woods State Reservation and the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge. That’s hundreds of acres of land which can never be built on, and an abundance of trails to wander and contemplate nature. Speaking of such, let’s narrow right in on the backyard of this home, as it is quite exquisite.

From the heated salt water pool to the gazebo to the gardens, this is your sanctuary. The gardens feature hardy hydrangeas and lush lilies among other must-have Cape Cod plantings, and are immaculately maintained. Spend the day out here in the sun with a good book and a cosmo, and from here, step up on the back deck and right in to the “wow” room …

Sliding oversize French doors lead you into this spacious, airy family room. Cathedral ceilings, skylights and a sparkling gas fireplace create the wow factor here. It opens into the gourmet country kitchen, boasting an elongated island with quartz countertops, and a breakfast nook with built-ins (the home does also feature a formal dining room).

Did we mention this is first floor living at its finest? The master suite, around the corner from the kitchen, features a slider out to the back yard and a perfectly styled bathroom with white subway tile and bead board, which opens to a huge walk-in closet.

Photo Gallery: See inside this home

The living room, with its cathedral ceiling, skylights and oversized windows is a pleasant, homey area to hang out. The mantle on the gas fireplace is outfitted with intricate stonework and flanked on either side by built-in shelves and cabinets with soft roll-out drawers — also present in the laundry room, for ease of access. The other two bedrooms, off the living room, feature high ceilings and oversized windows; the back bedroom opens right out to the pool. The shared bathroom, like its master suite counterpart, is adorned in white subway tile and beadboard. A finished basement, perfect for entertaining, completes the package.

This home was built by the Bayside Building Inc., as was the rest of this desirable neighborhood, known as Waquoit Meadows.

The 5th annual Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival is upon us, and whether you’re an aficionado, an apprentice, or simply an admirer, here’s how the 10-day celebration of the Cape’s most beloved flower works. We also harvested some advice from experts (spoiler alert: proper pruning)

READ MORE … https://www.barnstablepatriot.com/news/20190705/hydrangea-festival-kicks-off-tonight-at-cape-cod-beer

In-room wellness offerings are a booming opportunity for hoteliers. The rapidly emerging wellness sector grew 6.5 per cent annually from 2015 to 2017 globally — more than double the growth rate for tourism in general — according to the Florida-based Global Wellness Institute’s (GWI) Global Wellness Tourism Economy Executive Summary, published in November 2018. According to the report, in 2017 travellers spent $639 billion globally on wellness travel — defined by GWI as travel associated with the pursuit of maintaining or enhancing one’s personal wellbeing. READ MORE: http://www.hoteliermagazine.com/hotels-are-differentiating-through-in-room-wellness-offerings/