Vacation Purchase
You’ve heard me talk a lot about my plans for holding on to my kids when they are in their 20s and dating girls and wanting nothing to do with me. Well, I figured out that one of the best ways is to retire to Rockport, Massachusetts. It’s a darling seaside town in Cape Ann where David grew up and his parents still live and we just got back from a 10-day vacation there. On our last night there Conrad and I walked downtown, listened to the fog horn, drank Moxie and watched fireworks light up the sky before the fog rolled in. He asked if we could live in Rockport. I explained that it’s more fun to live in both worlds, a little Montclair where Dad can work in the city and a little Rockport in the summer, but he turned to me with a very serious look on his face and said, “Mom, living here is my dream.” So now I’m creating a Rockport ambience in my home décor, it’s always been part of my aesthetic but now its congealing into a permanent “high summer” look— a term I’ve always loved ever since I read it on the cover of an August issue of Martha Stewart Living about 15 years ago.
Rockport is filled with all the taffy shops, t-shirts stores and seascape painting galleries you would expect, but in the last couple of years there have been a few hip little stores that have opened with a sophisticated vibe selling home decor and gifts at perfectly reasonable New England prices. One of my favorites is Sycamore Hollow, a mix of new and vintage home finds. Sara, the owner is a painter and I snagged these tables she refurbished. She had a lovely display of cobalt blue chairs and oar in her window but unfortunately there was also a “For Rent” sign too. It seems that the recession and a new baby is causing her to close shop. I can’t blame her but another very cute store called N. Cassel closed earlier this year and what’s a vacation spot if you can’t really find a treasure or two?
I was going to pair them as a coffee table but liked them better as side tables. I also decided to swap out my beige upholstered chairs and add these yellow wood chairs, they were my grandmother’s and I loved them as a kid, skirt and all. I’m still thinking of reupholstering them but I have to find the right fabric. Now the living room feels like we are on vacation whenever we sit here.
Seaside living in landlocked suburbia
Detail of table tops.