Tuesday, April 8, 2014

G is for Gingerbread Cottages

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The town of Oak Bluffs, home of yesterday's Flying Horses, is also home to more than 300 brightly colored gingerbread cottages.

The cottages were built in the 1800s by members of the Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association in an area known as Wesleyan Grove. Founded in 1835 by a man named Jeremiah Pease, Wesleyan Grove eventually became the most famous Methodist camp meeting site in the country. In 1860, as many as 12,000 people attended the week-long meeting and more than 500 tents were pitched on the site.

The camp members built the original cottages to replace the tents as the meetings became more social and the Grove continued to expand. The "Martha's Vineyard cottages" are architecturally unique and are considered an invention of 19th century island carpenters. Between 1859 and 1880 the association built 500 cottages.

A stereoscopic view of Crane's Cottage in the late 1800s (Source: Wikimedia Commons)


(One of the cottages today (Source: Wikimedia Commons))

The Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association is still active today and now presides over 34 acres of land. Members conduct a Campground Cottage tour every summer and run a museum which showcases the history of the Campground. The Campground is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.



My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

47 comments:

  1. So cute! I'm telling you, Julie, the more I read about this area, the more I want to visit one day. :)

    Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
    Minion, Capt. Alex's Ninja Minion Army
    The 2014 Blogging from A-Z Challenge

    ReplyDelete
  2. How fun it would be to just walk around town admiring the old architecture. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those Gingerbread cottages do look as if they have come straight from a fairytale.
    I hope you have stored all these A-Zs, Julie, because I think you should have it published: "The A-Z of Martha's Vineyard".
    Oak Bluffs alone is well worth a visit for the Flying Horses - so much of interest and history at Martha's Vineyard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I WANT ONE!

    :)

    I actually wanted to build myself one of those tiny houses before I bought my current house. I just think they are so cute.

    ReplyDelete
  5. They look so homey! What a wonderful place to tour through.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Alex, I think so, yes. They rent out the cottages in the summer.

    @Madeline, I hope you do! :)

    @LG, it's a great town, no doubt.

    @Fanny, oh, that's nice of you to say! I'm so glad you're enjoying the posts.

    @Trisha, I love them too. :D

    @Carrie-Anne, I agree.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very cute! But do any of them have a hungry wicked witch?

    ReplyDelete
  8. The houses are so pretty. Quaint is a better word.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love those houses :) I was in Oak Bluffs for Illumination Night two summers ago, and it was utterly magical. They're like lovely little fairy houses!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love these houses-They are so pretty-I couldn't take enough pictures of them. we have a mini area in Ontario in a town called Grimsby. These houses are near Lake Ontario. I love all the colours

    ReplyDelete
  11. The cottages are pretty. The only reservation I'd have would be living in a wooden building. Because we mainly live in concrete buildings, I'd be afraid of fires.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love those cottages - it would be so fun to stay in one! Thanks for sharing, Julie!

    ReplyDelete
  13. @Yolanda, LOL, I bet one of them does. :D

    @Nana, that's the perfect word for them.

    @Liz, that's my I word! :D

    @Birgit, oh, Grimsby is such a great name for a town. It sounds like something out of a story.

    @Joy, yeah, that's a good point. I wonder if they have ever had any problems with that, if so I haven't heard about it.

    @Tyrean, I think so too. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I absolutely love the look of gingerbread cottages. They are so quaint and sweet. I would love to live in one. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sounds lovely. Great blog post.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Julie, I definitely want to visit this place now.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow, they are amazing! I would love to live in one of those!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Those houses are wonderful - so precious and whimsical! I had a stereoscopic viewer when I was a child along with pics of Paris and other places. I'd totally forgotten until you mentioned it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love the look of these little cottages, but having lived in an old house like that once, I have absolutely no interest to ever do it again...or at least the allergy-sensitive part of me doesn't. The actual house was gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  20. @Chrys, I think I would too.

    @Laura, thanks!

    @Rachna, I hope you make it. :)

    @Kyra, I agree!

    @Sarah, it is a great place to visit for sure.

    @Lexa, oh, I bet that viewer was awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  21. @Crystal, yeah, I feel like I love the idea of living in one more than actually doing it LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Those cottages make me want to move in. I can already see the Christmas tree and the candles in the window.

    ReplyDelete
  23. That's my kind of house or cottage. I love the gingerbread decorations. They are fussy to keep up, but visually very worth the effort.

    Very nice, I like hearing about heritage locations that still survive!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Those look so quaint. I'd love to visit and stay at one.

    (Thanks for sharing my article. I really appreciate it!)

    ReplyDelete
  25. @Lee, oh, they would be perfect at Christmas time, I never thought of that.

    @DG, I love the decorations too and the colors are so pretty.

    @Sherry, my pleasure! I hope you win the contest. :)

    ReplyDelete

  26. They are adorable. The upkeep must be a lot of work. Constant painting.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I was seriously checking out real estate yesterday. All out of my price range, considering if I moved there I'd have to live on my writer's salary and well...

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Susan, good point.

    @Mary, I bet you would enjoy painting them! :)

    @Elizabeth, LOL, yeah, I'd never be able to buy anything on the island now.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'd like to spend a weekend there. Lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  30. How Beautiful, I'd love to vacation in one of those!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi Julie - I think you should be appointed as a tourist director for Martha's Vineyard .. these little houses are lovely .. and just so wonderful to see ..

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  32. @Veronica, that would be a great trip.

    @Cathy, I hope you will get there sometime.

    @Hilary, oh, that would be a fun job!

    ReplyDelete
  33. What a place!! Thought you were going down the cookie route, and was amazed by your choice.

    Like Alex, do they rent them out to vacationers?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Gorgeous cottages I love the North East! I simply went with Gourds for #a2zchallenge at http://4covert2overt.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oh Wow! Just look at those houses, they are wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  36. What beautiful places and all those lovely flowers.

    I stop in from A to Z challenge.

    Coffee is on

    ReplyDelete
  37. Cottages are fun to rent in the summer. I love the older ones with personality. Now I want to go on a vacation.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I had no idea these cottages existed. And I'm with LG; it would be a blast to walk around and take lots of pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  39. They're so cute! I bet they cost a small fortune to rent, though.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Those cottages are absolutely adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Who thought of the witch's house in Hansel and Gretel? The houses cottages look quite nice.

    ReplyDelete
  42. @Susan, they do, yes!

    @MCV, I love the Northeast too. Nice to meet you!

    @Rosie, aren't they?

    @Dora, thanks for stopping in, great to meet you.

    @Stephen, me too LOL.

    @Marcy, yeah, I totally agree.

    @Christine, no doubt LOL. I'm sure I couldn't afford them.

    @Heather, agree. :)

    @Sheena-kay, I bet lots did LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  43. This was one of my favorite parts of the summer vacation we took there- I still have the postcards!

    ReplyDelete
  44. @Bev, how fun! I didn't know you had been there. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.