On the Shelf To Be Read #2: The Outermost House by Henry Beston

 

A recent video about the book The Outermost House by Henry Beston has inspired me to take the book off my shelf and put it on my TBR short list. It also shortly after my wife and I took a road trip on Cape Cod  to Provincetown(the very tip of Cape Cod) to visit a friend. 

The Outermost House by Henry Beston was first published in 1928. Even though it refers to a "year on the Great Beach of Cape Cod" the book is based on Henry's visits there over the course of two years. When Henry proposed to Elizabeth Coatsworth knew of his notes and no book manuscript she quipped, "No book, no married.". That apparently was enough to get him going. He finished the book and they were married. They did honeymoon there but rarely visited afterward. 

The Outermost House was located about 2 miles south of Nauset Coast Guard in Eastham, Massachusetts on the outer arm of Cape Cod facing the North Atlantic. It was a two room cottage designed by Beston and built by a carpenter named Harvey Moore (and crew). It was named "The Fo'Castle" for the four large windows faced the ocean. Because of storms and eroding dunes the cottage was moved in 1933 and 1944. The North Atlantic finally claimed it in February 1978 during the fierce Blizzard of 78. I lived on the south shore of Massachusetts on the inner side of Cape Cod Bay and remember the storm quite well.