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Book Review of The Big House : A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home

The Big House : A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home
reviewed on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


At first, I found this book somewhat slow. But less than midway through I was facinated with the characters, the house, and the amazingly long family history. By the end of the book, I found myself missing the old family houses of my childhood.

George Colts family owned an 11 bedroom summer house they built in 1902 on Necks Wing on Cape Cod. The author shares his summer memories, stories of grandparents, all the way to great-great-great grandparents. It is an emotional rollercoaster trying to keep large summer home estates in the family once the family grows to a certain size and it is passed down so many generations. Not to mention that life styles have changed so much, where families do not have the luxury of spending an entire summer or even more than a week or weekend on family escapes. So to mantain a mansion year round (espeically one that is a century old) can be quite and expense and burden on today's families. The book not only covers memories & history but also struggles and heartbreaks. Really touching.