Mystery Bay Cottages LLC

When we can't find an old house to restore (and there are fewer and fewer of these every day), we just do the next best thing—build a new one!

And that's our niche, one we love, designing and building new "old" houses, brand spanking new houses that still manage to incorporate the finest quality and style of the past without sacrificing any of the modern conveniences of the present. What a concept!

Most everybody seems to love old houses. Part of it, of course, is nostalgia. Old houses remind us of our childhood, of a simpler time and a slower pace of life, when our world was more secure and less complicated, when we were young and carefree and our summers seemed endless.

Old houses also have a kind of dignity and character that quietly commands our respect. Like a wise and gentle elder, an old house seems as steady and comforting as a grandmother.

And there's something else about old houses that always seems to draw us in. Unlike the cookie-cutter sameness of modern housing developments, old houses are bona fide individuals, each with its own unique personality. That's because old houses were designed and built in a time when labor was cheap and quality materials were plentiful. Back then, real style could be had at a bargain.

In fact, as we see it, there's only one real problem with old houses. They're old!

Dr. Seuss (on a bad day!) just might put it this way:

The wiring is old, the pipes are rusty,
Near the windows it's cold and the basement is musty.
The chimney is crumbling, the roof is leaky,
The foundation's grumbling and the floor is creaky!

We could go on, of course, but you get the picture.

Sadly, the charm of a grand old home can quickly fade when it seems as if every weekend is spent battling decades' worth of accumulated ills. Alas, constant home repair just isn't that much fun!

And there's another issue with old houses that is sometimes overlooked at first: location. Because old houses were built as their towns and cities were built, often they are found in less desirable locations, like run-down neighborhoods or areas that have since been zoned commercial. So unless you're willing to live where the old houses live or pay a premium to have one moved, old houses are often just not a practical option.

So what's the answer? Why, build a new "old" house, of course! And that's precisely what we do at Mystery Bay Cottages LLC.

Our specialty is designing and building small new houses in the best tradition of the classic old-house styles. What sets us apart from those who claim to build in a period style is that when we build a new "old" house, we do so as faithfully as possible to the genuine article.

To save time and money, most builders often skimp on the details. For example, an authentic Craftsman bungalow, one of our favorite old-house styles, typically has a very deep front porch, usually a full eight feet. Almost all new builders cheat to save on labor and materials, trimming back the porch to a meager four, maybe five feet. Doing so not only compromises the overall architecture of the house but it also adversely impacts the very functionality of the porch. More is lost than just the authenticity.

At Mystery Bay Cottages LLC, all of our new "old" house designs are based on genuine old-house plans. And when it comes to the details, we keep faith with the architectural elements of the vintage houses. Why? Because we believe that's part of what makes them such enduring gems in the first place. In our opinion, Grandma's house got it right!

So maybe that old adage isn't always true: "They just don't make 'em like they used to." By combining quality materials with care and craftsmanship, we strive to honor the old-house legacy by contributing to the present a few of our own classic old houses of the future!

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