We all absolutely loved this home. It was the coziest place we have ever stayed. And the location and view were unbelievable, being right on the coast. We read the reviews ahead of time and knew it was an older home, which added to the charm for us. Would definitely stay here again.
A long family weekend with the kids, grandkids and dogs. This is a big, old, house with plenty of room for everyone. The sun porch was a great gathering and craft area for everyone. Right on the ocean with direct access. The kids had plenty of places to explore. If you are looking for a new shiny house, look somewhere else This place has a lot of age, wear and tear. The internet does not work and has been reported before. Several people that had to work remote were not happy about it
Just finished 3 night stay with 5 old golfing friends. This stunning fully equipped and spacious house is surpassed only by its setting. Step out the back enclosed porch, cross the lawn and take a seat on the granite wall. Rockportâs Twin Lights to the right, coast of Maine to the left and the Azores straight ahead beyond the ceasing surf
Previous reviews, positive and negative, were both pretty accurate to our experience. Overall, we had a great stay. I do not think we would return, though.
The good: fantastic location, gorgeous yard, lots of space, beds were comfortable, the house had clearly been recently superficially cleaned (carpets vacuumed, stove cleaned). The bed linen and towels were all pristine.
The bad: as others state, the house is old and worn; wallpaper is peeling, there are water stains on ceilings, etc. We expected this and found it mostly charming. But we were uncomfortable with non-superficial lack of cleanliness in the setting of having kids there-- there were huge cobwebs/dust bunnies in every (nonworking, open) fireplace, years-old bags of white powder (pesticides?) on bookcases, visible mold on more than half of the couch cushions.
Overall I would just read the reviews and know yourself-- if you are non-fussy adults, this place will probably be amazing for you. The location can't be beat and it's highly functional. But if you like clean spaces and/or have kids who like to play/explore all of the corners, you should skip it. I don't think we would book this again unless we were prepared to start the vacation by doing some cleaning/prep ourselves, bring clean throw blankets to put over the couches, etc.
The house is marginal and poorly maintained. A doorknob fell off a bathroom door and the chair our grandson was sitting in collapsed. Many of the doors do not fit and the advertised gas fireplace was not available. We placed a call for assistance on a couple of problems but the promised callback was never received. Wallpaper is peeling off the walls in several places. The water dispenser on the fridge is misaligned and squirts water at the user and all over the floor. Photos are misleading. The house is poorly maintained.
What a RELAXING time we had with the best views I could ever have imagined. The sun rose every morning and woke us up with a magnificent array of colors! âWe moved our bed over to the windowsâ so we could lay and hear the splashing of the water on the rocks all night! Home is huge. Filled with a sense of the owners still there!! Memories of their life are in every corner! I personally love the old feel and layout. It was a dream for us! We planted a mum for a splash of color and added some pumpkins for future guests!! Is it new? No!!! Thank God for that! The old CHARM oozes in every window and I am grateful to have been a guest!!! Sherie from Michigan!!
I think several of the reviews that describe this as staying at grandma's house -- if your grandma lived on the ocean -- give you a good feel for the place. We happen to love the vintage feel, but it is not for all. It is magnificent for its location on the ocean with waves crashing, lovely neighborhood, great to walk dogs. The house is roomy and charming, but you must enjoy older homes vs something that is new. My family loved the charm, the space, lots of bathrooms, and the ability to bring our 3 dogs. I will trade that ocean frontage and charm any day vs someplace that's newer/cleaner. That said, I would suggest to the owner(s) that short-term, the furniture in the living room be replaced with a comfortable couch and chairs, as some of what is there is unusable and all of it is less than comfortable. We lived on the sun porch for the most part anyway though, but would have liked a more comfy spot for occasional TV watching.
The house definitely needs TLC, and really much more than that before it runs into trouble (my boyfriend is a carpenter/contractor). That all takes a substantial investment though. I am just happy that the owner(s) offered the home to us to stay in and hope that we may be able to stay there again. We had a fantastic time there and would love to return someday.
Beautiful view and sounds of the ocean on a quiet street. I Read the reviews prior to paying. I was very concerned about committing because there were many bad reviews, but everyone said the view and location of the house was excellent. Whenever there was a negative review, the response was exactly the same. I decided to call Vacasa ahead of time to get assurances that the complaints people had were addressed. I was assured that the house was in good order and that no problems were present. This was not the case! When we first arrived, the house seemed cleaned however there were old tissues under the furniture pillows. The old broken blinds were dusty. We mostly hung out on the porch looking out at the water. After hanging out for a day 2 of our guests started having asthma attacks. Upon looking at the cushions we discovered black mold. We called Vacasa and they said they would take care of replacing the pillows and âmake it right for us,â but they didnât do anything. Instead, I spent hours on the phone with them wasting my precious vacation time. There is old linoleum slanted and torn floors, wallpaper falling apart, and old and dirty furniture, Lastly, while there is wifi it is only limited to one room. If you want to have video or streaming the wifi isnât strong enough. Some of our guests were planning to work remotely, however, because the wifi didnât work they had to leave early. Very disappointing! I wish I could leave photos to show how dumpy this place is.
We loved the house, watching the water and climbing on the rocks. Lots to do in Rockport/Gloucester area. House was nice and quiet, peaceful, and picturesque! Thank you!
To begin, this ocean-front home has lovely views and Vacasa provided a great user experience throughout the various stages of booking and accessing the home. Here ends the positive portion of this review. This lovely, old home shows well from the outside, but has been seriously neglected on the inside. As you might imagine, an ocean front property in Rockport, MA commands exorbitant nightly rental rates; paying this much, one might expect top-level furniture and fixtures. ALL the furniture and fixtures are old - think 70s - and have deteriorated to the point of decrepitude. The furniture is literally fraying and falling apart, and some furniture in the ocean-facing sunroom is broken to the point of being dangerous. Fixtures, including sinks, toilets and showers are ancient and in desperate need of upgrade. Bathroom floors are a cheap linoleum. The floor in the bathroom I used was also on a slant; when I got out of the shower, my foot slid out from under me and I fell hard. Kitchen appliances are old and stained. The washer and dryer are newer and worked well. We own two houses that we rent out, and I would be embarrassed to rent out our houses if they were in a similar condition. Similarly, Vacasa should hold owners to a higher standard. This house needs in the order of $100 000 in furniture and fixture upgrades to be a decent rental. Avoid unless you have no other options!
This house is large but still cozy and inviting. There is definitely a family feel, as though youâre staying at your grandparentsâ house. The house has a lot of personality and is just beautiful. The view from the first bedroom cannot be matched.
Now, Iâve read some reviews that the home isnât clean or that it needs updating. The house is old. When you enter for the first time itâs a little musty. Opening a few windows takes care of that right away. The furniture is old, but comfortable. The curtains have yellowed from Sun. The house has sat on the water for at least 100 years so some wood is warped, floors slant, doors stick. The wallpaper is peeling in spots here and there. Could it use an update? Probably. But it would lose its charm if that happened, and that would be a travesty. It is the quintessential New England home in a town out of a Hallmark movie.
The home exudes sweetness. You can hear the echoes of many happy family times spent there, meals eaten, and memories made. It is like visiting an old friend.
This seaside beauty was super comfortable for our group. It is old and well loved, and we felt right at home. The views were stunning, and the location superb they were 7 of us with the birthday girl and we had plenty of clean sheets and towels and beds. A quick 15 minute drive to Gloucester was convenient. We especially loved the huge living room where we could all gather. Also, the large flat lawn that lead to the sea was charming and a great place to sit in the sun and chat. We all loved it there and agreed. It was like coming home to grandmas vacation place where everyone gathered year after year.
We agree with the other reviews. The location canât be beat and the space has SO much potential! Easily fixed are the cleanliness of the windows, which is mentioned in many reviews. Updating the wallpaper, refreshing the woodwork paint and updating the furniture with comfortable sitting options would improve the experience tremendously.
I'm only knocking cleanliness because the windows were so dirty. Especially around the sunroom (view is all you could hope for if clean). We cleaned them best we could considering height & thorny bushes. We loved the place & found the striper fishing exciting even if spotty. Capt Joe's & Son in Gloucester is definitely the lobster pound source. Good people & $8/lb or $9lb if 2# & over. Saved $110 on 1 meal vs Cape Ann Lobstermen 2 doors farther down (But they had great other selections). Good Weber gas grill but needs a new brush :). Other knock were the lockbox instructions. Wrong side of house & place. But overall mgt was very communicative & responsive. House was old as advertised including kitchen stuff (but 2 fridges nice), the location superb with water access far better than any notes. Not rip rap but wonderful slab rock all the way. Careful fishing because the wet black areas are worse than oil. Simply a wonderful chance for my grandkids & family to experience New England atmosphere. Rockport donut shop awesome but skip Moore's Fish Shack restaurant especially the worst calamari ever & I've had it everywhere. Tourist trap. Three Lantern Marine for fishing gear& bait Gloucester. Guy was great.
While we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, as we were spending time with family and friends for several celebrations.....we were completed disappointed in the cleanliness and presentation of the home.
The location was perfect and the character of the home was quite enjoyable; however, these two things alone would not have us repeat a stay.
Aside from the fact that updated pictures do need to be put on the website, the house was not adequately cleaned for our stay (as an example random medication was found in one medicine cabinet). There was broken furniture (we moved that chair away from use as we were concerned someone would get hurt). Also, there was an invasion of ants on the sun porch and in various parts throughout the house. We did put out more ant traps but there clearly is a more invasive problem which needs to be addressed.
Lastly, while this home is full of history it certainly could use some refreshing, de-cluttering and a very deep cleaning.
I hope this detail is helpful in making a decision to stay here.
Stayed at this property with a group of 10 girls for my 50th birthday - absolutely loved the house!
If you are looking for luxury, this is not the place for you
But if you are looking for a good, spacious home with character right on the water - this is it!
3 1/2 bathrooms and plenty of beds
Kitchen was stocked with everything we needed - extra fridge helped out alot
Could have used some more towels in bathrooms
Back porch and sitting on the rocks out back is where we spent most of our time
A few of us were a little spooked a few times, old house
The home could use some updates, maybe a smart TV, some new furniture, a deep sweep and clean for the cobwebs.. but we absolutely loved it - would definitely stay again!