Summer vacation planning is here and Massachusetts residents are looking forward to escaping reality in just a few months. Cape Cod rentals are a staple of summertime here in Massachusetts and the market is hotter than ever. We discovered one of the coolest and most unique rentals on the Cape!
Listed on Airbnb by Chatham Village Vacation Properties, the Windmill Cottage invites folks to enjoy their vacation at this classic, historic property in Chatham's Old Village neighborhood. Downtown, the beach, and the Chatham Lighthouse are just a short walk from this incredibly charming cottage.
This classic property, which has been fully restored and updated, was designed and built by a famous naval architect and exhibits the rich, maritime style he was known for and remains one of Chatham's crown jewels in the Old Village. 

The cottage, which will run around $400 a night, depending on the time of year, has a first-floor bedroom with a queen bed and a second-floor loft with a double bed and can accommodate up to four people. The stairs to the loft are rather steep and follow the contour of the slanted walls. Once in the loft, guests will be amazed at the intricate mechanicals of the midshaft and gears that turn with the exterior wind sails. This truly remarkable property provides guests with a remarkable vacation experience that they will remember for a lifetime.

 


LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

LOOK: Here are the best lake towns to live in

Many of the included towns jump out at the casual observer as popular summer-rental spots--the Ozarks' Branson, Missouri, or Arizona's Lake Havasu--it might surprise you to dive deeper into some quality-of-life offerings beyond the beach and vacation homes. You'll likely pick up some knowledge from a wide range of Americana: one of the last remaining 1950s-style drive-ins in the Midwest; a Florida town that started as a Civil War veteran retirement area; an island boasting some of the country's top public schools and wealth-earners right in the middle of a lake between Seattle and Bellevue; and even a California town containing much more than Johnny Cash's prison blues.

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