Cottages on the Coast: Fair Harbors and Secret Shores

With her successful books Cottages by the Sea and Coastal Retreats, Linda Leigh Paul has beautifully captured the dream home in an ideal setting. Now she broadens her scope by visiting the most picturesque and private seaside cottages on all three coasts of the United States, from the cliffs of Big Sur to the dunes of Nantucket to Florida's sandy beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. The most charming cottages in the country are here, including a 1924 stone cottage in Carmel, a weathered clapboard cottage on the Isle of Hope, Georgia, and Tennessee Williams's Key West cottage.

Seaside cottages are intrepid structures. They hold onto the earth as a brace against heavy seas, furious flood tides, and stormforce winds. The names themselves conjure departures and returns, danger and escape: Destruction Island, Peril Strait, and Wrath Cape describe one arc of shoreline. Another coastline offers Fair Harbor, Port Protection, and Safety Harbor. Still another speaks of lost encounters: Dogs Keys Pass, Tortugas Harbor, and Alligator Reef. But the interiors of these cottages evoke only warmth and beauty, providing comfort for those eternally drawn to the sea. Many display artifacts of life on the water: nautical objects and treasures found on the beach, as well as journals, letters, postcards, and books that reflect the long, rich history of seaside living.