F.A.Q.--Where do you stay when the cottage is rented?

     Usually in Raleigh where I have a small condo/studio.  Sometimes I travel, and once I spent the summer driving to California and back, camping and sightseeing along the way, and visiting my son and his family in Los Angeles.

Cottage History

    The house was built in 1938 as a small vacation cottage.  The front and back bedrooms were unenclosed porches, and the kitchen was in the back including the present bathroom and back entry.  For heat there was a chimney with open fireplace in the center of the house near where the dining table is now.  There was no air-conditioning and there was an outhouse (no toilet) at the back of the property.

    Zoned commercial, the house has been used variously over the years as vacation cottage, day care center, and even a head shop at one point, each new owner making some changes.  We bought the house in October, 1996 and have remodeled it extensively.  New windows were needed immediately since most were rotten.  Floors have been replaced in all but the master and front bedrooms. The roof is new as well as the kitchen, the bath, all bedroom closets, and all interior walls and trim, and all the plumbing was completely replaced.  When we bought the house in '96 the yard was a field of briar and cactus like the vacant lot next door, with a rusted out chain-link fence and rusty swing set.

    I have been fortunate to have good helpers along the way.  Tracy who lives just a couple of blocks up the Beach Road takes great care of the yard.  Several carpenters have worked with me and I have been fortunate to find skilled locals who can build anything I can design.  I must say I have learned new 'cuss words' from the carpenters over these years.  In an old house, weathered and blown by the oceanside climate, hurricanes, and nor'easters, nothing is true or square and every board has had to be custom fit. 

The Garden

     The yard has been a special challenge and has become a dream come true.  The soil is sand, but I felt from the beginning that if it can be done with hydroponics -- water and nutrients--it can be done with sand, water, and fertilizer.  A load of sand was brought in that first year to level some low spots, then a well and irrigation system put in.  Various natural grasses and weeds emerged immediately, then over the years, with fertilizer, some seeding, and weed killer, we've ended up with a nice lawn.  That first year we also put in the perimeter plantings, the rugosa roses and some native shrubs along the south line, the live oaks in the southwest corner, and the oleanders and pitisporum along the north fence.

     The other perennials have been added experimentally, learning as we proceeded which thrived where, and which were unhappy.  At first the live oaks were a disappointment, as I imagined a small grove of oaks, with their beautiful twisted trunks, to grace the back corner.  After a few years we finally realized that nor'easters with harsh salt winds keep them bound and stunted, and we accept them as deciduous shrubs which work well with the bed of bulbs flowering annually in the spring.

     The house itself provides a screen for plants immediately to the south-southwest of it, forming what I call a wind shadow.  Thus the trellis rose on the southeast corner of  the house is protected except for branches which dare to extend beyond the edge of the house toward the porch.  These branches are sure to be withered by the nor'easter's death ray.  Each year we protect the plants along the fence in the front yard by covering them with plastic for the few weeks of the May nor'easters.

     Our effort has been to develop 'continuous bloom' so that some things are at their peak of color at every season throughout the year.  We are still working on this effort and I am photographing our results at each season, my results for the garden in spring and early summer are shown below.

The Spring Garden
     We have planted one corner of the yard with a full variety of spring bulbs, the beautiful blossoms of which wake the garden up to the new year. Visible through the back window when you sit at the desk, first come crocusses, then groups of several different jonquils bloom in succession along with a few hyacinths, next the tulips, and finally the dutch iris, every few days a new treat from February through April.

The June Garden
     A fig which was near the house on the south side of the back entry deck became huge and had to be removed.  The one on the other side next to the north fence has been left. The delicious small, sweet, 'Brown Turkey' figs ripen the last of August for all to enjoy.

    Plants which bloom in late summer and fall have been added in the bed along the screen between thr patio and the lawn.

The Cottage Book

     The Cottage Book on the front entry table contains various information about where things are in the house, the Hot Tub Rules, etc.

Guests Comments

     Comments from previous guest are highly valued; these are our reward.  View the uncensored scanned images, of which we are very proud, from the book of Guests' Comments.