CAPE MAY — Despite the fact that two-thirds of the Earth is covered with water, available beachfront property is so hard to find.
For all the reasons one would expect, people tend to hold onto it once they’ve got it. That feeling of waking up exactly where one wants to be is so addictive that no one will give it up easily, savoring the hassle-free morning walks, and sunsets that seem to last for hours filling the windows like a gallery of the biggest canvas possible.
But finding that perfect spot along the coastline requires the patience of a saint. For at least one searcher, that wait is over, because one of the upper units at 217 Beach Ave. in Cape May is on the market for the first time in 20 years.
The third-floor condo unit at No. 308, in the building known as Summer Station, was built in 1986 with an innovative new idea they called a “condo-tel.” Maybe the name didn’t catch on, but the principal certainly took off: build a resort resembling a four-star hotel, but instead of single rooms, each unit is a self-sufficient condominium.
This unit is a particularly attractive example, with two large bedrooms and a pristinely white tiled full bath, located at the front inside corner close to the beach and overlooking the pool. Every detail of this unit has been carefully upgraded over the years, matching recent styles to the timeless open plan.
Back then, one heard less chatter about “investment properties,” but the idea had certain similarities, perhaps explaining why many of the original owners at Summer Station held onto their units for decades.
Everything one comes to Cape May to enjoy, from natural beauty to nightlife, is just steps away. There’s no lawn to mow, no weeds to pull and the property’s on-site management team takes care of the large, elevated swimming pool in the center courtyard (as well as the work associated with rentals, if the owners wish it).
The front door opens to the shaded deck overlooking the courtyard, with views of the ocean beyond that. It’s flexible enough to adapt to a family’s changing needs, while still offering the perfect getaway.
Tourists pay seasonal prices to rent the place for a week, or the residents can have the grandkids stay in the spacious second bedroom. Weekly rentals keep the place feeling fresh and interesting, and returning renters make friendships that last for years. So far, so very Cape May.
The name of this property has roots in the history of the island, even if the architecture and amenities are all about modern comfort: this was the location of the Grant Street “Summer” train station, in the days long before ghost tracks or any northern access point was built.
This station was at the hub of competing rail interests: one joining from a pier near Sunset Beach that stretched out to where the water was deep enough to allow steamships to dock, the other a horse-drawn trolley out to Sewell’s Point.
The steamships arrived before the 1860s, discharging guests from Philadelphia and Washington to spend the summer months in the healthier ocean breezes, far from the frequent outbreaks of fever that stalked both cities nearly every summer throughout the 19th century.
Without this initial welcome, the island might have remained a sleepy fishing village with a rakish Dutch past (already assuming a very romantic flavor in the popular imagination at the time, a thought that would have been hilariously awful to the actual Dutch colonists, if they’d known) and that would have meant no massive rooming houses with competing elegant facades, no cupolas, no Queen Anne revivals — no gingerbread. Cape May as it is known today began right here.
In place of that rather imposing four-square station house with its tall center tower right at the entrance of what is now known as the Historic District, Summer Station is now four stories of bright, breezy units in a roughly Z shape around a tall center tower — for elevators, not watching the rails.
The unit is high enough to offer commanding views of the neighborhood. The bright living room occupies the space at the front, with a large picture window looking out over the courtyard just next to the main entrance.
The kitchen and dining areas are behind this space, with a low wall offering some privacy to the kitchen, but still allowing light and views to reach the cook.
This kitchen has new granite countertops and updated cabinetry in a supremely comfortable horseshoe shape, making every cooking task that much easier, from post-beach ice cream to holiday dinner.
The kitchen sink is at a very sociable spot looking over the living area to the window beyond, so the cook or the cleaner won’t have to miss a moment of the fun, the movie or the game.
The two bedrooms are toward the back of the unit, past the laundry and hall closet. Each bedroom has a door that opens to a shared deck, but this deck is private to the unit — none of the neighbors are going to walk by the bedroom on their way to the pool, as this is on the other side of the building facing east.
As such, it’s a great place to grow a container garden, make a DIY coffee spot or just enjoy the sounds of the beach in the afternoon shade.
The primary bedroom is slightly larger than the other, but both are quite a bit larger than one would expect. In many newer buildings, that “second bedroom” is a glorified closet, but that’s not the case here. The smaller bedroom in this unit actually has more light, allowing the larger room slightly more privacy. Again, the flexibility of the design is why so many people choose to hang onto these condos.
There’s quite a lot to see in this well-planned 897-square-foot space, and even more to admire in the enviable location.
– By VICTORIA RECTOR/For the Cape May Star and Wave
