Cottage for Sale, Must Be Moved

Book excerpt: The “highly entertaining” memoir of one woman’s “Holy Grail quest” to make a Cape Cod home—and the people, obstacles, and self-discoveries she encountered along the way (Wall Street Journal). When Kate Whouley saw the classified ad for an abandoned vacation cottage, she began to dream: Transport the cottage through four Cape Cod towns. Attach it to my three-room house. Create more space for my work and life. Smart, single, and self-employed, Kate was used to fending for herself. But she wasn’t prepared for half the surprises, complications, and self-discoveries of her house-moving adventure. Supported by friends and family and egged on by her bossy cat, Kate encountered a parade of town officials, a small convoy of State Police, and an eccentric band of house-movers, carpenters, and tradesmen. She found herself dancing on the edge of the gender divide—infatuated with trucks, cranes, tools, construction terms, and a dreamy mason who taught her the history of concrete. In one remarkable year, Whouley moved a cottage and created a home.