Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Memories of my old cottage on Minot Beach, Scituate MA

Once upon a time, I lived by the ocean, in a beautiful village called Minot in the town of Scituate Massachusetts. I was single, had a great job, a brand new red SAAB and I rented a cute house all by myself, nestled among mansions of the rich and famous. It is so long ago and so far away from my mountain valley NH life, 20 years of marriage and 3 kids later. But after researching and writing the post about beach cottage bedrooms, I started remembering and dreaming about my life back then. So indulge me a little, and come along down memory lane while I revisit my old neighborhood (via the internet). Here is a picture of the view from my house.

Or at least it used to be the view, before they put up a huge condo building. Now, the only way you can see the ocean from my old cottage is to stand on the deck of a condo facing the beach.

The rest of the neighborhood looks about the same. And it is BEAUTIFUL! I used to love walking through the streets, staring at the houses and trying to get a glimpse of the decor. One of the houses was done entirely in white with small punches of black and red. They had all windows facing the ocean, so it was easy to see inside. Unfortunately I never got a picture. I think it would have been a little weird to point a camera into someone's house, but then again, they never did put up any drapes of blinds and the decor was quite striking! Anyway, in those days there wasn't a way to look into houses via the internet, but now there is Realtor.com! Many houses in the old neighborhood are for sale, and it was fun to go to the site and search.What is really fun about the realty sites is that you get to look inside people's homes and see how they decorate. 
My little cottage
                              
I have great memories of my days at Minot Beach, but one of the best involves the neighbors. One day I was in my back yard trying to mow my lawn with an old fashion push mower. It was a hot summer day. I didn't know any of the neighbors, but one by one they all came out of their big beautiful cottages to help me. One was pushing a (real) lawn mower, another held a weed whacker and another brought a rake. I couldn't believe it. They didn't even know me , but they were all there to help! After that day, I felt like part of the community. Things I miss... taking a 3 mile walk on the beach at sunset after work every day...reading the Boston Globe & drinking my morning coffee on Sunday morns while sitting on  "my" bench on the sea wall overlooking the ocean... falling asleep to the sound of waves gently crashing on the shore   SIGH.
                                            Here is a sample of what I found on Realtor.com:


The houses pictured above are all selling in the 1.5 million dollar range. When I moved out of Minot, they were selling for around $350,000 and I remember how everyone was shocked at how expensive they were. Oh how I wish I had bought one!
This house is listed for 2.8 million. Look below for a peek inside!
       Thanks for taking a virtual walk with me through my old neighborhood. Hope you enjoyed the view!

11 comments:

  1. Wow, Syndi you really captured the feeling of being on the beach and living in a wonderful small community that helps one another. I could feel the emotion in your words and I enjoyed traveling down memory lane with you! What beautiful homes!

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  2. Syndi,
    We both grew up in the same area...as you know, my grandparents lived in Scituate. I have always loved this town.
    Thanks for sharing your memories.
    Maribeth.

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  3. Maribeth, Thanks for visiting my blog! You and I are Braintree girls, maybe I will do a post on our hometown someday.

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  4. What fun memories and what beautiful homes! Hope you are having a great week!...hugs...Debbie

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    1. Hi Debbie, Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!

      Syndi

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  5. Syndi.....Is that the part of Scituate that was swamped during the big storms of the 90's? Those new homes are really grand and must have been built to some pretty strict standards to withstand any such beatings in the future. The days of nice cozy cottages facing the beach have pretty much come to an end.....Beth

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  6. Hi! As a former summer resident (40 years!) of Surfside Road in Minot, I loved those pictures. I used to waitress at the Minot Light Inn, which was demolished to make way for the new condos. The beach erosion there is unbelievable! If you recall Elephant Rock (the grayish-blue rock halfway down Surfside, it is nearly covered with algae now, on account of it being underwater most of the time! My friend's grandparents, the Sawyers, owned that beautiful Victorian that's in your last photos. They owned Checker Cabs in Boston and were really nice. I had a lot of fun sleeping over there as the house was really unique -- it included a maid's quarters! About 2-3 years ago, they sold it, and the new owners added an addition that attached the garage to the main house. AND, they sold the land in the front of the house (on the street side) and another house was built there! Kind of weird, but hey, they had a huge yard...Anyway, thanks for posting the photos and take care!
    Julie

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  7. By any wild chance, does anyone on this thread have any memorabilia from the Minot Light Inn? A postcard, a menu, an ad, any photos of the sign. Thank you!

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  8. I have a menu and a key to room 207

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  9. Wow! May I buy your menu & key?

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