The Adventures Of A Summer Cottage

Early last summer my wife and I were invited to a cookout at a friends summer Cottage not far from where we live. It was the first time we were there and I must say it was enjoyable and different. The cookout was the normal good food and drinks, but the Cottage and its surroundings made a big impression on the both of us. It was like living back in the past around the 1940's or 50's. There are about 46 summer Cottages in this place, and all except my friends are one story. They are set about on pathways with roads going around in back of them. Wifey and I fell in love with the place. They are set on about 100 acres of ground with many tall Oak and Maple trees providing much shade. Plenty open spaces with all kinds of walking or biking paths, a natural spring and a stream. We told our friends how much we liked it there, and they showed us a few that were for sale. They were nice and cozy and we enjoyed seeing them. Going home that night, the wife and I kept saying to each other how it reminded us of a movie set from the 40's.

A couple of weeks later we were invited back again on the 4th of July for more fun. They had an open house tour for many of the Cottages and every one was different. The whole place was decorated out with flags and red white and blue everywhere. They had a small parade where everyone was invited to march. Even the dogs had flags, and even Uncle Sam was there in good form. Talk about being patriotic, this was a good ole fashion 4th of July celebration.

The Cottages were built around 1910 and have been lived in every summer since. They are true summer Cottages and for summer use only. They can be occupied from April thru October only. All kinds of people are there, retired to young families. Some live there all summer, while others come and stay for a few days or just for the day. Every person we talked to said that they loved it and especially all the friendly people. (this is starting to sound like a movie or something) It is not a very far drive from where we live and we had no clue about this place, until our first visit there. We took my sister in law and brother in law with us and they had the same feeling about the Cottages as we did. It is something about that place that makes you relax and enjoy being there.

We told them that we were very much considering buying a Cottage. There were only one or two for sale and needed some work. That wouldn't be a problem, as my wife loves to decorate and she knows how. You know what I mean , a wall taken out here, make the bathroom bigger, a little paint here and oh yeah new appliances for the kitchen. She is good at that, and we can do a lot of the work ourselves.

The summer was moving on and I was getting ready to go on my annual fishing trip to a remote area of Quebec Canada for 2 weeks. Off I went, the first and second weeks in August. I always have a good time fishing, but I kept thinking about the Cottages. After my fishing trip and I got settled in at home and my wife wanted us to go see the Cottages again. As we were driving to the Cottages, she said that she had something she wanted to tell me and didn't know how I would react. I said just come out and tell me. She then told me that while I was gone she and her sister had signed a letter of intent on buying one of the Cottages. She wanted to know how I felt about her doing that without me being there and second, that my sister in law and brother in law wanted in. I was quite surprised to say the least as I wasn't expecting that. I do have to say this, my brother in law is more like a brother than a brother in law, and my sister in law is like a sister. That being said, to make this long story a little shorter I liked the idea. It is not like my wife to just go out and sign letters of intent without me. Of course we all had to sign it. It was a good move. Now we had to be approved by the board of directors for the cottages. The land has been owned by some kind of community trust since about 1890. You own the Cottage and can do just about anything you want to it, with some restrictions on the outside. They don't want any odd looking paint jobs etc. You pay small yearly dues which take care of everything on the grounds including your water and maintenance etc. There is a year round caretaker who lives there and he is a good one. You just have to take care of your own Cottage. To Be Continued.

I will post some more on the Adventures Of A Summer Cottage in another blog coming soon to your computer.