I am back in Cambridge after a weekend that was made for poets and artists. Sun-filled days, ocean waves, and the rocky coasts of Rockport, Ma were my scenery, blueberry pie was my dessert, and “The Cottage” was my resting place.
“The Cottage” is actually a condo across the street and down one block from the ocean. It is located in the Pigeon Cove area of Rockport, surrounded by old New England homes with big porches, hanging plants, and bay windows.
We found “The Cottage” three years ago, and taking a huge risk decided to purchase on a short sale. Thinking back on this I think we were both a bit crazy but I’m so glad we were. We had made a cross-country move only 6 months prior from Phoenix, Arizona. This move, made in the middle of winter where sun and palm trees waved us goodbye and the worst winter in five years bid us hello, was a tough one. For weeks we said “Right Move – Wrong Time” to each other as we battled through a job search and mid-life crisis for me; a teenage daughter whose “Life was ruined!”; and a search for the right school for our 6th grader.
We exchanged cathedral ceilings, designer paint, and a master suite for a Cambridge condo that had us occasionally pining for space and light. Into our lives at this time came the opportunity to buy this condo-cottage in Rockport – a place that for over twenty years of marriage had been a destination of peace and light. Rockport is an old artist colony and sits apart on the North Shore of Boston with its eclectic people, unique homes, and charm. We had always dreamed of having a place like this. A place that we would not only use as our get away, but a place we could offer to others for those times when life feels too hard, and peace feels too aloof. So we did it…we risked practicality and finance and bought “The Cottage.”
And this weekend, yet again, we remember why we did this. For after a few months of stress and uncertainty in both of our jobs, a house full of people all going various ways and inevitably colliding, after 85 inches of snow and a daughter going through a revolution in Cairo, we set up “The Cottage.” Basking on ocean rocks in beautiful sunshine, eating blueberry pie, playing games, and talking for hours with some of our best friends we fell in love yet again with “The Cottage”.
Back in Cambridge, as we prepare for a busy week ahead, reality bites, but we look at each other, sigh, and say “At least we have
The Cottage!”
Related articles
- Domestic Lives: When Rockport Was My Own (nytimes.com)
- Martha Stewart’s Blueberry Pie Recipe (abcnews.go.com)
- Too Fortunate (communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com)
Marilyn R. Gardner 
Glad to see the move has worked out. 9 years ago we did a similar move only slightly reversed. We had been in Silicon Valley for 20 years when we moved to Sedona. Our boys were going into 6th and 9th grades. Turned out to be a great move for us too. BTW I grew up in Pigeon Cove and still miss it.
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Wow – Silicon to Sedona! That’s a huge change. We lived in Phoenix for 5 years and love Sedona. I am amazed that you grew up in Pigeon Cove! How cool! Do you ever get back this way?
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20 years in Silicon Valley and we never felt “at home”, 4 months in Sedona and we knew we were “home”. Growing up in the Cove was a great experience. Miss the harbor, the grade school, Steel Derrick, even the Tool Company. We do get back there every couple of years. The first time we took the boys back to Rockport they thought I was famous. They were amazed that I could run into people I knew just walking down the street. They just didn’t get the concept of small town living. Sedona gave them some of that experience.
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Hi Marilyn, I´ll make sure to remember next time I´m in the U.S.! Please also contact us if you´re ever in the Netherlands.
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Marilyn, if we were not planning a trip to Mongolia later this summer, I’d be on the next plane before you’d have time to change your mind!
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Oh Mongolia definitely wins! But truly would love to have you – serious about the invite. It’s your kind of place for sure!
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sounds like bliss and the things in movies!
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It sort of is Sophie – and I realize that it is partly because it is never associated with work or the stress that comes in everyday life. Plan a trip to America and it’s yours to stay! Free!
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Love it! Everybody needs a “Cottage” or a “C-Breeze.” A getaway like this is rejuvenating, indeed.
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When I think of the number of nervous breakdowns C-Breeze helped to prevent I sit in awe of the grace of that place! Yes – “The Cottage” is our C-breeze. Come visit please!
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Loved the post. Sounds like a lovely place to “hang out” for any reason.
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