The house is in a nice spot on a beautiful beach; there are 32 steps down to the beach from the backyard, but they are sturdy and safe. The house is rustic, but the shell/windows are solid - though we unfortunately didn't have the best weather (heavy winds/below normal temperatures) with the windows closed the house was quiet even though it was really loud outside. The house is right on the street, so we recommend keeping the bathroom and kitchen windows closed to reduce traffic noise. The floors have some give, and you know when someone's walking around, but it's a cottage, you get to used it and have fun with it. The ductless HVAC unit on the first floor works well, and we needed it for both cooling and heating - the large floor radiator shown in the listing pictures is gone, there is now a unit on the wall. The window A/C in the master bedroom also works well for cooling (only needed it one night). Having that window open lets in the sounds from the outside. On a couple of our nights the wind and water was raging pretty well, and you got a real feel for being on the coast. Cool, and occasionally a little scary (in a fun way). The kitchen was fine, everything was in good working order. The bed in the master bedroom is extremely firm, which can be good for some, not good for others.
A couple things to note.
In a COVID world, the bathroom was not as clean as we would have liked (dust/cobwebs in corners on the floor around the shower, and soap/shampoo from prior renters left in the shower). Not a huge deal, but we're all more attentive to this kind of thing nowadays.
Finally, since the weather kept us indoors more than we would have liked, we quickly learned that there really isn't a comfortable chair in the living area. The pictures of the living area don't show the current furniture setup. There were two wooden rocking chairs facing the water, the gray sofa shown in the pictures, and some high-backed wood chairs. The dining and sitting areas have been switched. Most importantly, the three blue-cushioned swivel rockers shown in the pictures were not in the house; if they had been, there would have been no issue.
Overall, it was a nice house for two people, in a good location on a terrific beach, and we had a great weekend away from current craziness. We wish the weather had cooperated so we could have spent more time enjoying the beach than being inside.
