The Story

Hug Cottage Water Color
Watercolor by daughter-in-law Violet Mills

The Texas heat was getting to us. The price of home ownership was skyrocketing. We’re retired and we didn’t want to be house poor or hot. It was time for a move!

He had lived just a few blocks from Ohio’s Lake Erie shore once before and thought, “We do have grandchildren there, let’s return. So, here we are, and after a few months of house hunting we found our little bit of paradise on the Lake: A nearly 100 year old, 700 square foot, beach cottage.

Let’s be honest though, our little bit of paradise has a way to go before it arrives. We move forward with joy and heartache, and that’s what “Hug Cottage” (The website) is all about. Sharing with you honestly and heartfelt, our joys, frustrations and heartaches as Hug Cottage evolves into our bit of paradise.

Why “Hug Cottage”? Because the smallness of the cottage hugs us, and sometime all we can do is to hug each other and say, “We’ll get through this.” It is also “Hug Cottage” warmly welcomes us and invited us in, just a grandma did with a hug.

The first picture shows the first of our exterior changes. The second picture shows what we began with.