It Was A Clear Case of Cottage Abuse!

Once upon a time, this classic Cape Cod cottage made a visual statement of style and grace, as it stood at the intersection of Route 6A and Underpass road. Well-known for its lush plants, flowers and garden arrangements, this one time flower shop, provided both townspeople and tourists alike, an inspirational place to purchase garden pleasures, as well as a warm welcome into the town of Brewster.



In the year 2005, I moved onto the Cape. Even though I settled into a family owned cottage in South Chatham, (the “Sound Side” of the Cape), because of strong childhood ties, I often visited the town of Brewster (the “Bay Side” of the Cape). My heart would sink every time I saw what happened to this little place! And, as I made new acquaintances and friends, I discovered many people would be saying the same thing I would be thinking and saying to myself…“Why doesn’t someone do something with that place?”



One day Wayne and I drove down Underpass Road, discussing a storage place he was considering renting. It was brown (ick!) and had garage bays. Well, he thought it had great potential for storage, a much needed work area, and the ability for use as a sales/flea market venue. “Oh! And you can sell your furniture here!…Just paint it up and sell it!” Well, that was very nice, but his enthusiastic vision made me highly annoyed! As my eyebrows became knitted together, I could feel I was making another major investment in wrinkles! As we neared the end of the road and intersection, I said, “Why can’t we ever rent something like that? (And I pointed across the street to the little woe begotten, abandoned cottage.) Surprisingly, Wayne said, “We can!” How could this be? It wasn’t even for rent!



Let's fast forward past all the hours of waiting to hear if the owners would rent it to us, the town meetings to see if they would allow the property to be an antique business, the presentations we had to make to the Historical Society, the Conservation Committee, the Police and Fire Departments, (even the Shell Fishing Department)! Everyone had some type of input and something controversial to say about it. "The intersection it's at is too busy...It's too close to the wetlands...It's been abandoned for years; why can't the owners donate it to the town?"
However, we won and then, REJOICE! The little abandoned treasure, which once fell victim to a clear case of cottage abuse, was about to be rescued.



We began by rolling up our sleeves and the rest, with more to come, is history! Personally, I’m really looking forward to how it evolves this year! Please enjoy these photos from the past…Then, watch it blossom!

Here are some "before" pictures of our journey.

March 2009

Sometimes it's really good to look back and see how far we've come!