The Strickler/Pattison cottage was built around the 1920s as a fisherman’s cottage. It consisted of three very small bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a living room. Its walls were stuffed with horsehair and newspaper as primitive insulation, and a wood-burning stove provided heat in the colder months. The cottage was originally set far back from the bluff, and a town road known as Cliff Road ran between it and the ocean. Eventually, erosion took enough of the bluff so that Cliff Road no longer exists, and the cottage is now about 50 feet from the bluff.

The cottage was owned by the Smiths in the 1960s, and then by the Mickles in the 1980s. The Mickels opened up the attic and added its dormers in 1989. They also removed the old insulation, and wrapped the house in modern insulation, but kept the exposed ceiling beams and 2x4s internally to keep the cottage look. Most of the original darker wood was whitewashed to brighten the interior, and the original three bedrooms were converted to a single bedroom, bathroom, and entranceway.

Dave Strickler and Kathy Pattison purchased the house in August 2008 and began its restoration from neglect in previous years, which was completed by the Fall of 2009. During the Summer of 2010, landscaping was started to further restore the property, and in the winter of 2010, a basement was added to the house. Throughout these renovations, great care was taken to ensure the feel of the historic cottage remained unaltered.

Unique features about the house include an open living room ceiling that creates a two-story room, a brick floor in the entranceway, and a view through the front door and out the back doors onto the ocean. The house also has a set of private stairs that lead to the inlet and ocean.

While they strive to keep the antique cottage look and feel, the house is equipped with modern “smart home” technology that allows it to be energy efficient, and to share weather and webcam information with this website and NOAA.