Dad has a place at the beach and our extended family has houses all together becuase my great grandfather bought the property.

My great aunt and uncle just tore down the original house that was built and built something newer and big enough for their needs (1 son has 8 kids). It was very weird to see the old place gone, but I understand.

Dad had the opportunity to buy one of the larger houses down the beach, but he opted against it at the time. Of course now he wouldn't be able to afford the property taxes, somethign similiar sold for $1 million.

It's really kind of sad to see what's going on, this area was "forgotten" and there was a big push to get the area on the map, so to speak, and now everyone's discovered it and developers want to build on and near land that is really too fragile for it.

Then Dennis came through and did major flood damage, I'm hoping some people will read about the projections for the hurricane seasons in the next 10 years and decide not to build. But that's probably too much of a Pollyanna view.

It occurs to me that some people probably have ski cabins in the local area, but as most of the skiing is a pretty quick drive from Seattle proper, probably fewer than would if it were further.

Is a weekend house just what it sounds like? Are they marketed as such?

The NYT had an article this weekend about how cheap homes are up in the Catskills, and it sounded attractive as an investment opportunity.

When I was a kid in Milwaukee, my parents were looking for a weekend place on a lake. They had a location and a couple of nice old houses in mind, but then we moved to Viirginia. Our house there was on a lake, next to a local pool and across from a tennis court. No need for a country house in Reston!

All my aunts and uncles bought summer places and promptly ditched their primary residences. Well, except for A&E. Their place in Maine, they go to summers. Of course, the primary reason is that it is a 10 minute walk over the hill to their son's place. He built the cottage for them so they can come spoil the grandkids and the rest of the time, it sits as an open invitation to anyone who would like to visit. (And the work on it is probably to die for. He started as a stage builder for the Guthrie, moved on to general contracting, then custom, hand carved cabinetry and now builds custom wooden sailboats which are just...guh. The handwork detail would make you cry.)

Is a weekend house just what it sounds like? Are they marketed as such?

Yeah, or a summer place. Most cottages I've known have not been insulated, so you really can't go in the winter.

You need it to escape from the unbearable bitching about the heat.

The NYT had an article this weekend about how cheap homes are up in the Catskills, and it sounded attractive as an investment opportunity.

You can find really great deals on houses and land. And my sisters made a nice chunk of change selling some land they had to the guy who owns Orange County Choppers.

OK, I vote ita gets a place in Jamaica and bon gets a place in the Catskills, and I am ALL SET.

Yeah, or a summer place. Most cottages I've known have not been insulated, so you really can't go in the winter.

I lived in a summer cottage one winter when I was in grad school. No insulation, and electric heat. I was appalled by my electric bills, even keeping the place at 55 when I was out.

My great grandparents (and my grand parents when they were young parents) would take everyone out to the beach and they'd spend as much time there becuase it was so much cooler.

The way he built the houses you didn't need A/C because they were built to take advantage of the cross breezes. Also, they'd load everyone up at night, when it was cooler, and drive down then. It takes about an hour to get there now, but it took them several hours.

When we were little, before we got to elementary school, Mom would take us down and we'd spend the summer there, or almost all of it. Dad would come down on the weekends, or when we could. Then when we were older we spent as much time down there as possible. It was time to spend with our cousins.

I think Dad has hopes of retiring down there at some point.