Dear Cape Friends,
If you’re new here, welcome. If you’ve been along for the ride for a while, welcome back. Each week I try to share Cape Cod real estate with a little common sense, a bit of humor, and just enough market insight to keep you ahead of the curve.
While chatting with a neighbor here in North Chatham recently, she told me a story about her house that sounded almost impossible to believe.
…Her house came from Nantucket.
She’s part of what I would respectfully call the “Old Guard of Cape Cod” - tough as nails, not afraid to give you her honest opinion, but also the kind of person who would go out of her way to help a neighbor in a heartbeat. I always enjoy talking with folks like that. They’ve lived through the Cape’s changes over the years and often have the best stories about what life in Chatham used to be like.
And like many of the Old Guard around here, they’re friendly, generous, and always willing to lend a hand. But cross them, and you may quickly feel like you’re staring down the barrel of a shotgun. (Mostly kidding… but only mostly.) 😊
Her home, she told me, originally came from Nantucket - moved across Nantucket Sound on frozen ice. Let me say that again: her home was moved from Nantucket to Chatham across the frozen Sound.
Back in the 1700s and 1800s, when winters were colder and the Sound would freeze solid, people sometimes waited for the right conditions and moved entire houses across the ice using large wooden sleds. Workers would lay planks - called “flakes” - in front of the house as it moved, picking them up behind and moving them forward again, inch by inch.
The process was known as “Flaking.”
Imagine trusting the winter ice enough to drag your entire house across the ocean.
For over 30 years, I’ve been chasing striped bass on that stretch of water- from the tip of Monomoy to Great Point - often with my old fishing pal, Paul Conte. It’s the exact spot where Nantucket Sound meets the Atlantic Ocean. And when I say “Great Point,” I’m not talking about a clever remark - I mean Great Point, on the northerly tip of Nantucket, where the Sound collides with the Atlantic. (A slice of Heaven, IMNSHO)
Even on a beautiful summer afternoon with blue skies and calm seas, it’s no joke out there. So it’s practically impossible for me to imagine being out there pushing a house across the ice. Incomprehensible in fact. Eye-ya-yie.
Why the hell go through all that effort? Because even back then, a well-built home was far too valuable to abandon. Lumber was scarce, craftsmanship mattered, and a good house was something worth saving.
It’s a reminder that Cape Cod real estate has always had a bit of resilience built into it.
And speaking of seasons changing…
After a long a** winter, the Cape is starting to feel that familiar shift again. The days are stretching a little longer, the light is changing, and before long the spring market will begin to wake up.
My wife reminded me this week that the crocuses are starting to poke through the ground, and if history is any guide, the real estate market won’t be far behind.
Behind the scenes, I’m already hearing from a number of homeowners who are quietly preparing their properties for the market. Some are doing small projects, others are waiting for the right window, but the early signs suggest we could see a meaningful number of new listings emerge over the next several weeks.
No houses will be crossing the Sound on ice this spring - BUT - the market does tend to start moving again around now.
If you’re curious what this could mean specifically for your home or your plans, I’m always happy to chat. And if you’re around Friday morning, I’ll be back at the Chatham Perk from 8:00–9:00am. As always, coffee’s on me.
Spring is inching closer – you can smell it in the salt air!
See you around the elbow,
Paul
P.S. If you’re starting to think about buying or selling, PaulBorde.com is a good place to browse listings, catch past newsletters, and stay current on the market - and, if I may say so, please click here and revisit a few of my Pulitzer Prize–level past newsletters