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| copyright Gabriele Wills |
This century boathouse cottage inspired my
design for Zoë’s cottage in Under the Moon. The kitchen, living and dining rooms at the
back are actually on land. You can just
glimpse the wing of the living room on the right. There were servants’ quarters
above, accessed by outside stairs from the veranda.
But Zoë’s cottage also had a spacious
dining-sitting room above the water, and a private screened sleeping porch off
her bedroom, used on sweltering nights - and for an intimate moment “serenaded
by the gentle lapping of the waves and the distant call of loons.”
This cottage is actually on the island upon
which I based Wyndwood, and, as in the novel, was part of a burgeoning family
compound. Although it no longer belongs to a member of the founding family, the cottage's current owners kindly gave me a tour in 2011.
