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.

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.

NORTH FALMOUTH — Don’t be deceived by the quaint-sounding name; at 2,616 square feet, this brand-new luxury condo is hardly a cottage. The duplex townhouse was built this year by Northland Residential Corporation, based in Concord … READ MORE: https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20190706/cape-house-hunt-new-construction-expert-staging-at-starfish-cottage

HARWICH — You’re immediately taken in by the striking, angular design of this home. Walking in the front door, a screened porch sits to the left — that’s the high, angled roof you see from the outside. Only it’s much more of a sitting room, with beams and a ceiling fan, than it is a mere porch. It looks out to the back deck and in-ground heated pool, which, surrounded by the green, manicured lawn is so pretty that you’ll never want to leave the house. There’s a bonus out here, but we’ll get to that … READ MORE + PHOTO GALLERY: https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20190621/cape-house-hunt-harwich-home-features-european-design-elements

SIASCONSET — By the turn of the century, Siasconset (Sconset) had long been established as a fishing village, a part of Nantucket island but unique unto itself. As we zoom in on Sconset, we find within it another such area, a part of Sconset but unique unto itself, a little neighborhood known as Codfish Park, once the site of ramshackle fishing shacks and shanties. This week’s House Hunt is a historic cottage from that time period that once functioned as a store for the local fishermen — Codfish Park also boasted a barber shop, a bathing suit shop and even a beauty parlor back then, according to the Nantucket Historical Association. There is, displayed on NHA’s Codfish Park page, a black-and-white photo of the cottage, circa 1920, in which you see a sign by the door that reads, “Mrs. Amos Arey, proprietor. Home cooking, hot dogs, soft drinks and candy.”

Realtor Brent Tartamella calls the cottage iconic. “You have climbing roses and hydrangeas in the summer, you can walk up the shell path up to the Sconset Market — it’s Norman Rockwell at its finest, a really magical Sconset spot,” he said. Wake up in the morning, walk up to the store for your coffee and the paper, then take a little stroll down to the beach, which you can see from the property. Everyone in the mostly summer neighborhood is friendly. You can sit outside on a lawn chair with a lemonade and wave to passers-by — it’s that kind of place.

Photo Gallery: Codfish Park

Quaint barely begins to describe the inside of the cottage, with hardwood floors and knotty pine molding, and the kitchen boasts stained wood cabinetry and a stone countertop. It’s just the right size for a solo artist or a cozy couple. The cottage has a solid rental history and can be lived in year-round for the ultimate Sconset experience.

A sign above the front door — the very same entrance upon which hung the sign for Mrs. Arey’s shop — is a sign that reads “Tours End.” According to Tartamella, that’s because the cottage is always the last stop on Gail’s Tours’ cultural Nantucket tour, led by Gail Nickerson Johnson, a seventh-generation islander.

Cape Cod Times, June 2019: https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20190614/cape-house-hunt-codfish-park-cottage-offers-glimpse-into-island-history