Dream Home: Nantucket cottage

With fall just days away, this nautical hideaway has me daydreaming about a seaside sanctuary this morning. And this one, built in the 1800s, looks perfect. Sherry Lefevre, a writing professor in Philadelphia, spent summers on Nantucket with her family, falling in love with the old-world charm and the antiques that filled the island’s cottages — cottages that made her feel like she was living in the 19th century.
A few years ago, Lefevre bought a house of her own on the island, transforming it into her dream heirloom house. Thanks in part to the wonders of eBay, Lefevre decorated the house with items that looked like they’d been passed down through generations: seashell art pieces, seascapes, converted whale-oil lamps, antique fabric drapes and bureaus.

She even bought this antique diorama on eBay for about $35!
Houses that are old, she says, tell a story…

“I wanted a house that contained layers of memory, making it as otherworldly as summer. Because the nauseatingly maudlin motto of ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ is true more or less: to become real, a house needs to show some wear, some shabbiness, some misshapenness, some evidence of love and life.”

Everything looks like pages right out of a storybook, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be neat to spend a weekend there? I love the idea of all that rich history under one roof. Plus, sitting on those front steps at dusk seems so magical. What do you think? What stories does your house tell? I’d love to hear…

P.S. Fun fact: In the 1800s, it was tradition to name the cottages. The first cottage Lefevre and her family stayed at was named Rosemary! 🙂

[Photos by Trent Bell for the New York Times, via Teen Angster]