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Drive By: Beach Cottages

by | Aug 20, 2008 | Coastal, drive bys

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Drive By: Beach Cottages

Originally published August 2008

The wedding is now over and I have finally returned home again. My daughter and I intended for her wedding to be a “simple beach wedding” and in many ways it was. But as with any “destination wedding” (even a destination just 1 1/2 hours from home!) there are a few logistical issues to deal with. The first was how to handle accommodations for the wedding party. Fortunately, we have good friends who generously shared their lovely beach house in Gearhart so we would have a comfortable place for some of the wedding party to stay for the weekend.

We were so grateful for the use of that house, we ended up frosting 200 cupcakes in their kitchen the morning of the rehearsal. We made such a mess! Eek. It took us a few hours to clean up after ourselves.

Drive By: Beach Cottages

While I was in Gearhart to clean frosting off kitchen cupboards the day after the wedding, I snapped a few photos for you around the neighborhood. Because I KNOW you all love drive bys and I can’t possibly do a drive by without sharing it with you. I thought of you every time I took a photo, I knew you’d love the houses. So here you go, a quick Drive By in Gearhart, Oregon. Just for you, my chickadees.

Oh, and FYI, the reason that I didn’t run up for super closeups on too many of these houses (as I normally would for you) was because of the enormous pain I was in the day after from wearing super high-heeled red patent leather shoes for the wedding. I pulled some thigh muscles I didn’t know I had, running up and down stairs all day. OW! But, dang, I looked cute in those shoes if I do say so myself. Yet, I am facing the fact that my over 40 year old legs need more sensible shoes, I guess. Next dress up event, I’m wearing grandma style loafers.

Enjoy the tour…

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

Drive By: Beach Cottages

To view all of my drive bys, click HERE!

71 Comments

  1. Liz

    Is it wrong to want all those houses? :) I’m glad your daughter’s wedding went so well, I look forward to seeing the pictures.

    http://violetposy.wordpress.com/

    Reply
  2. all things bright and beautiful

    Miss Melissa – am so glad the wedding went well :-) God is good non? And hope you are not missing your baby too much. Smiles to you my friend from one yummy mummy to another :-) :-)

    i want to see THE SHOES!!

    hugs bug!!

    Felicity

    Reply
  3. Beck

    aren’t those places gorgeous! i must visit! can’t wait ti see the pics :)

    Reply
  4. CC

    Oh! These pictures are just dreamy!!!!!

    BTW….I bet you did look awesome in your red pumps! I hope you send us a pic of those as well. ;)

    Reply
  5. Becky K.

    There are lots of things to love about those Beach Houses…lots! I could not list them….love it!

    I am looking forward to what you will share from the wedding…so glad for you that it is done. Your daughter surely appreciates all of your efforts on her behalf. Especially those achin’ legs. Yikes! Times are a’changing for us, aren’t they?

    Becky K.

    Reply
  6. Adrienne

    I love the Oregon Coast. We lived on the north coast and later on the south coast so it’s time to move to the central coast, don’t you think? Thanks for the driveby homes. I would be happy, happy happy in any of them. Can’t wait to see more. ~Adrienne~

    Reply
  7. Tara

    Hi Melissa

    Sore feet…worth the price of look great! Which I am sure you did! :0)

    Thanks for the driveby–houses are very different from beach houses here (near the Hamptons)…Tara

    Reply
  8. autumn dahlia

    Wow, GORGEOUS! I love the cottage style. I would love to live in one of those!

    Reply
  9. hookedonhouses

    I’m in love with that little house at the top with the red door and the red flower boxes. How sweet! The one with the yellow door is beautiful, too. Thanks for sharing them with us. And I’m glad you survived the wedding with only minor injuries! -Julia :-)

    Reply
  10. Jan

    I love them all so much. Thanks for the share. You have such a great eye. That chimney is so clever. Love that detail. It was all so quaint and charming. Sorry about your muscle. But the shoes sound cute.

    Reply
  11. pam

    Glad it all went well for you, I like the house that had a little house leading from it, wouldn’t that be a fun playhouse for the kids, but yet blended with the mainhouse.

    Reply
  12. Betsy

    Amazing! Everything looks so pristine and yet relaxed. Wonderful.

    Reply
  13. Angie

    WOW! Love this drive-by. Every house/cottage SO CUTE!

    I can’t wait to hear the wedding stories. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  14. Melissa Lewis - Off The Wall

    Oh my goodness, I want one of these little cottages. They just are the epitome of lounging and relaxing. Love all the colors.

    So glad to hear the wedding turned out great Melissa. I know you had a lot of women in the blog world praying for that special occasion! Would have loved to been in that kitchen while y’all were frosting away:)

    Reply
  15. Rhoda

    What beautiful beach houses! They are so well kept and pristine. I loved that little shot of the solo swing.

    And I was LOLing at the red high heels comment. Ugggh, I know what you mean, it’s so hard to wear high heels anymore. But I can’t do the granny shoes either.

    Looking forward to wedding pics!

    Reply
  16. Haley

    I look at your page all the time…. I love to look at the pictures and dream about how nice it would be to live in the particular home. I am decorating and doing some small renovations to my kitchen and dinning room and I tried to look for some pictures but the ones I find are no where near your pictures. i need some inspiration…. how do you find them?

    Reply
  17. denise

    Hi Melissa!

    I’m so happy for you and your family that the wedding was wonderful Love the drive-by. Don’t think you should give up the shoes…just find someone to do the stairs for you!!

    Reply
  18. Lisa

    Can’t wait to hear stories and see pics from the wedding. Glad it went well and that you survived it!

    Those houses are so adorable! I would love to vacation there.

    Reply
  19. Susan Drysdale

    Oh you’re showing my dream houses. I love them all! I can’t wait to see the wedding pictures and your red shoes.

    Reply
  20. mrs darling

    You certainly have a better eye for things than I do. Everytime I go to the beach I see dilapidated weathered homes from the salt in the air. I guess thats why you’re the decorator and Im not! :) I love the daisies in front of the house. That is gorgeous.

    Reply
  21. Karen B

    Thanks for the beautiful drive-by. I, too, love the red and yellow house with lime green door and striped chimney. How cute is that? I bet the inside is great too.

    I’m so happy that the wedding went well. Let me know how it feels afterwards. My daughter’s is in 5 weeks! Yikes! It’s crunch time.
    Blessings,
    Karen B.

    Reply
  22. kayellen

    Oh my goodness! So many beach cottages! What a wonderful post!
    Sorry to hear you pulled a muscle…those darn high heels!

    Thank you for sharing your lovely photos:)

    Blessings,
    kayellen

    Reply
  23. anne

    So pleased your daughters wedding went well.

    What always amazes me with your photos, is the amount of space around the houses…not like here in the UK where everyone is piled on top of each other, unless you live on a remote hill in the middle of the country side, its the same where my cousins live in Canada and Australia..

    Reply
  24. porter

    This makes me soo excited to escape the city for the weekend!

    Reply
  25. Jennifer

    So glad that things went well with the wedding — yea! I love the pictures of the beach houses — particularly the one with the green door. So darling! What I wouldn’t give to transform my house into one of those! :-)

    Reply
  26. Kathleen Grace

    I never, ever, get tired of looking at pictures of beautiful, quirky, interesting homes. Love them! Thanks for the drive-by!

    Reply
  27. laney

    oh my goodness …the first one … the first one… the first one! simply perfect…

    Reply
  28. Joan Kosmachuk

    Such dedication to take these pics after your busy weekend. The homes are very lovely to look at for sure. Makes one want to pick up sticks and move to any beach at all. Thanks for sharing,
    Joan Kosmachuk, Professional Organizer

    Reply
  29. Elizabeth

    I love them all, but I have to go w/ the craftsman with the lime green door and round window as #1! I’m always afraid someone is going to yell at me on my drive-bys, but I do them anyway! I just posted some shots from my vacation in Maine last week.

    Reply
  30. megan duerksen

    oh these are gorgeous.
    i love the laid back feel of beach houses.
    i want one.
    just one! not that much to ask i think!

    i forgot that i did a drive-by too. i am so glad you did this and reminded me.
    i’ll post it tomorrow. :)

    i am dying to see those shoes. i think i need high heel red patent shoes. you can mail them to me since you aren’t going to wear them anymore.

    looking forward to the wedding pics. i was taking a bath :) this weekend and suddenly i remembered the wedding and said a prayer for you and your family.
    have a great evening.

    Reply
  31. KJ

    Your pain was still our gain! What lovely homes and creative paint embellishments! Very charming!

    I’m so glad to hear that your daughter’s wedding went off beautifully! Hallelujah! Frosting messes or not, the day sounds like it was beautifully orchestrated.

    I won’t be wearing very high heels at Bri’s wedding. My 50-year old feet don’t like me when I do that. Now, to find something attractive…

    I just handed over my daughter’s birth certificate, SS info, shot records, etc. I have held on to them all these years. I told her that she was old enough to keep them in her own records. It was an odd moment. There is so much that I’m letting go of right now. It’s bittersweet and, I puddle up sometimes.

    Hugs, KJ

    Reply
  32. Robin

    Love the photos!! Glad the wedding went off WITH a hitch!! LOL

    hugs to you,
    Robin

    Reply
  33. Mari-Nanci

    Thank you for the tour.

    And there had better be pics of you and your gorgeous high-heeled red shoes! Coming soon. :-)

    Miss Mari-Nanci
    Smilnsigh

    Reply
  34. Laura

    Show us the shoes! (And just say, “no” to loafers.) :-)

    What a beautiful looking place!! Sort of Cape Cod-like. I just love all of the homes in your photos.

    Reply
  35. A Fanciful Twist

    I am giggling about the thigh muscles you didn’t know you had!!!! I LOVe these houses, take me away, to there, today!!

    I can not wait to see the photos, I am certain the wedding was more than glorious!!! xoxoxo

    Reply
  36. cathleen

    What an absolutely awesome treat to look at these photos. Thanks Melissa for posting them. Now I am off to dream of someday living in one of these!

    Reply
  37. bj

    So glad things went good for the wedding…there’s ALWAYS some things that could have gone better than they did, tho.
    I can just see your cute self in those high heeled shoes. Great Scott…I am pretty sure both my legs would fall off if I had to wear them again !!
    These houses are just sooooo dream houses. So pretty…

    Reply
  38. Bejeweled

    Love your house drive-bys! The cottage house with the lime door is so charming! Now… I wanna see those fab red shoes :)

    Reply
  39. Aubrey

    Those pictures are so fabulous, they made me smile while looking at them. Did people let you in their back yards? They’re nice.

    I love the one with the porch surrounded by daisies. I have a few daisies, I need some more and a porch. And a house that looks more like a cottage. And then even more daisies.
    I think I’m too in love with those photos.

    Reply
  40. Mrs. Q

    I agree with the others, I want to see the shoes :)

    Love these houses, reminds me of going to visit my grandparents at the beach…good times!

    Reply
  41. Christi from Charm & Grace

    Melissa, congratulations on getting your daughter married in such grand style! I can just imagine what a beautiful thing it was for you all on the beach. Only you would have enough energy left to snap pictures for your blog friends, and these are gorgeous! You had me at “Ice Cream & Espresso Shop”! :) Hope you will have some time to sit back and relax a little now.

    Blessings,
    Christi

    Reply
  42. karen

    ok, i knew i liked your decorating style…and now i know I’d love to know you in person the mother of the bride in RED PATTEN LEATHER 5″ spikes…you are one heckofawoman!!!!!!

    I love these homes…what a darling area. Of course anything by the water is charming. Interesting just how pretty plain ole daisies can be as a border.

    The chimney on the one house painted with stripes was whimsical and really different too.

    Go girl…if you just wear those heels around the house not only will your legs keep their gam charm, you’ll just be too cool.
    :)

    Reply
  43. Design for Mankind

    It’s all so beautiful, Melissa— and I’m so glad the wedding was a success!!! I’m sure you looked absolutely gorgeous, as did your daughter! :)

    Reply
  44. Connie

    Please tell me how to find this lovely place. It is so beautiful
    and it makes me homesick for my hometown, which was on a lake. The photo’s are so good, and I enjoyed my visit with you.

    Reply
  45. Elizabeth

    I. Want. That. First. House. Oh my goodness, I covet!!!

    Cant wait to hear more about the wedding!

    Reply
  46. Lynda

    Beautiful, beautiful homes! I can’t wait to see your photos from the wedding! Hope you’re getting some r&r now that everything is behind you.
    xo,
    Lynda

    Reply
  47. Melissa

    Hi everyone! So you all want to see the shoes, eh? Well I’ll have to see if there are any photos of those babies. If not, maybe I’ll snap one myself so you can see what I am talking about. Thanks for your patience while I am regrouping and reentering my life. I can’t wait to share wedding photos and stories, and gear up for fall with you all. Before we know it we’ll be talking about holidays again! :-)

    Come back Friday for the Sweet Escape post, I just might have some wedding photos ready by then. Certain SWEET ones. Maybe. No promises.

    Love to you all…

    Reply
  48. PamperingBeki

    I looooove the white daisies surrounding the porch! Too cute.

    Reply
  49. Aunt Bea

    Melissa, Just found your blog and I’m totally hooked! LOL I can’t wait to see the wedding pictures. If they look anything like the ‘drive bys’ pics they’re gonna look awesome! I drive my kids absolutely crazy pointing out houses that are appealing as I drive by them. I just love those houses that you have shown. If you ever need someone to drive while you snap away with your camera…just let me know! I’ll be checking your blog frequently to see all the ‘pretties’ that you have to show us. Oh yes, a pic of the red shoes is definitely a must…I can’t imagine how you wore them the whole day…my legs are moaning in commiseration with yours! LOL
    Hugs, Aunt Bea

    Reply
  50. Penny

    Loving all of the drive by houses here!
    xo
    Penny

    Reply
  51. katiedid

    What a gorgeous place! I love the creative paint being used. I I can never see enough of shingled houses. What a wonderful place to share your wedidng festivities! Hope it was grand. :)

    Reply
  52. abeachcottage

    can’t wait to see the pics, shame about your muscles, worth it for cuteness

    great driveby, love the yellow door one the best…

    Sarah

    Reply
  53. Kristy

    Share the shoes !!! This is my first time commenting on your site but I’ve kept up with you for a few months now. I Loved the houses you shared here. Cant wait to see the pictures of the wedding. Have a great Thursday.

    Reply
  54. Lisa

    These are all so charming. Each one with it’s own personality. As always, it’s amazing that you can find so many wonderful photos to fit each theme you select.

    Have a great weekend.

    Reply
  55. Polly

    Ok, the stripped chimney is darling! And I’m with you about wearing cute shoes and the pain that follows =) Glad it all went well. Blessings… Polly

    Reply
  56. Ramona Owen

    Beach house love!

    Smiles ~ Ramona

    Reply
  57. dawn

    I am just drooling. I love that you share these special moments with us! thank you-

    Reply
  58. Fifi Flowers

    WOW… first I want an ice cream from that shop… then I want to walk around and look at all this great architecture… plus it would walk off the calories from the ice cream… GREAT post!

    Reply
  59. Catherine

    I absolutely love old shingled beach cottages!. Can’t wait to hear more about your daughter’s wedding and would love to see photos of those shoes!
    Hugs,
    Cathie

    Reply
  60. Kirstin

    Oh, my goodness. those houses are amazing. I loved the red one with the yellow door and then the one towards the bottom with the incredible yard! I want to go to gearhart now.

    Reply
  61. Joni Webb

    you are officially crazy! taking all these adorable pictures on the wedding weekend?????? ok – these are the cutest houses ever, but still, you need an appt. with Dr. Craziforhozez, ok? Promise me!

    love the cupcakes, can’t wait to see the great pictures of the wedding!

    Reply
  62. shannon

    those are absolutely to die for!

    Reply
  63. Barbara

    I love the siding on these houses, so weathered and cozy. Thank you for taking time out of your hectic wedding plans to take drive by pics for us. :)

    Reply
  64. Sweet Cottage Dreams

    I am in love……
    Now…is there any way of getting rich quick?

    xoxo
    Becky

    Reply
  65. Tamara

    I just love this driveby idea! What fabulous shots.

    Reply
  66. Debbie

    So lovely to visit these beach houses. I thought I was the only one who was nosey and checking out homes. LOL. I’m glad that I’m in good company.
    .-= Debbie´s last blog ..Thankful Thursday ~ Rescue =-.

    Reply
  67. Fairfield House

    Melissa,

    These homes are beautiful. It’s always interesting to me how beach homes (or shore houses as we in NJ say) and the beaches themselves differ from place to place.
    Love them all.

    Your Friend,
    Deborah

    Reply
  68. Tracy S.

    We LOVE Gearhart! My three kids and I rented a little house there just this April. It is adorably decorated, and right down the street from the photo in your original post. Check it out! http://www.bluedoorcottage.com

    We also did a beach cottage drive by while we were there –so many gorgeous homes! I hope while you were there you went to Cannon Beach and visited Sesame and Lilies http://www.sesameandlilies.com Huge shop with fabulous furniture, home decor and accessories. Luckily, we are in Seattle, only a few hours away!

    Reply
  69. Diane

    I love driving along the lake or coast and looking at cottages and dreaming of what it would be like to enjoy those really sweet cottages. Thanks for the tour!

    Also: I *loved* your Modern take on a living room for Apartment Guide. So sad you didn’t win. :-(

    And: When the Inspired Room pops up on my screen the photo shows a winter banner (Brrrr)….I haven’t noticed this before…but maybe I wasn’t paying attention.

    Reply
  70. crystal

    Loved the pictures, thank you! The flowers were so pretty.

    Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Weekly Inspiration 2008.09.14 - [...] Since I’m headed to Nags Head this week, I start with Beach Cottages at The Inspired Room: [...]
  2. Beach Cottage Drive Bys - [...] enjoy some more end of the summer beach cottage drive bys you can visit the way way back machine…

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