The cottage was in very rough shape when we bought the place. It has an interesting story. Part of the cottage sits over a below ground summer kitchen where they used to cook. It was a much smaller building originally. You can see it in a couple of the old photos. At some point a second piece was added to the small building. It appears to have been an outbuilding moved against the original building. In the 1950s it was a cottage for one of the daughters as she was becoming independent. After she grew up it fell into disrepair, and owners in the 1990s did some minor work to it, but never finished it. The owners before us used it only for storage for 14 years. It was not in a livable state.
However, it had very good, sturdy "bones" and a lot of potential. We had it inspected when we bought the place. So when my stepfather passed away, we offered it to my mother that she could live in it if renovated for her. We had it done with lots of attention to make it safe for a senior. We added a bedroom with a little porch on the back and a screen porch on the front. All redone inside for mom, but the beautiful, old rough-hewn beams were left untouched. It came out great and I'll post some photos of the cottage next. In the attached photo, you can see the little outbuilding over the summer kitchen as it originally was. It is to the right of the stone house. That was the beginning of the cottage.
