Can’t afford that home on the water? How about building a place out of water? Er, that is, a form of water.

Check out this extraordinary video that’s part of Dan Cruickshank’s fascinating Adventures in Architecture series. 

Ipswich, MA - Little Neck, in Ipswich Mass, is one of the most charming seaside communities ever.

The neck shoots off larger Great Neck and forms small hill that rises up behind Plum Island. Though a peninsula, it feels like an island and is surrounded by peaceful waters and sweeping ocean views. The hill is dotted with small charming summer cottages. Some are old fishing huts and all are simple, cozy and inviting. You feel transported to seaside 1927. In addition, it’s a warm, inviting community with a clubhouse and a summer full of organized activities for families.

This Little Neck view has not changed in the scores of years since this postcard was issued.

A highlight is the beach. When the tide is in, it’s not much – barely enough sand to place your chair on. But when the tide is out, it’s a glorious, wide sand spit that reaches out into the channel. You can practically wade (ok, maybe you have to swim for a few seconds) across the channel to gorgeous Crane beach.

Ready to make a purchase? You’ll find a few places for sale, but there’s a catch. You’re buying only the cottage, not the land underneath.  In 1660, William Paine donated Little Neck to Ipswich in trust to benefit local schools. A trust runs the land and rents it out, donating the proceeds to the town’s schools.  The trust is run by Feoffees (an old-fangled term meaning trustee). Originally the land was rented to farmers, but eventually, the sea view became the real draw.

If you’re like me, your family and friends would commit you if you spent large sum on real estate that isn’t really real estate but just wood, windows and screens. If you don’t control the land, couldn’t they take it away from you? Then you’ve got a whole lotta cottage to move to your real backyard (if, indeed, you own one of those).  In fact, a similar community in Connecticut was disbanded recently.

Sure enough, the arrangement in Little Neck has hit a rocky patch. In July 2006, the Feoffees drafted a new lease with higher rents, demanding that renters sign or move.  Renters are fighting the increases as unfair and untenable.  The Boston Globe has been covering the dispute.

The real problem? Cottages on Little Neck have sold for $250,000 to $600,000. That’s right: a half-million dollars, which is part of the problem here. Those high prices aren’t due to the amenities in these cottages (very few of which even have heat), but due to their locations. So really the value is based in the land itself, which belongs to the Feoffees and so should be reflected in the rent, not in the cottage price. Probably, a better system would be for the Foeffees to own, maintain and rent out each cottage.

But, it’s pretty tough to change the rules of game now. Most Little Neck residents have invested large sums in their cottages. Higher rates make it difficult for them to continue to rent and cover the mortgage and/or sell at an equally high price to get their money back out. It’s a mess. Also – a change like that would ruin the community feel that exists on the neck, and who knows if the Feofees want to handle upkeep, cleaning and administrative duties.

Hopefully they’ll settle the dispute. There must be a way for all parties to get the most out of this sublime spot. But, it took a while to get into this jam, and it may take a while to muddle out of it. 

Gloucester, MA - Probably this site’s Homes on the Water category should be titled Houses We Covet. Here’s one I’ve admired for years:

Mansion McDreamy: The Birdcage House on Sherman Point

Perched on a rocky point overlooking Gloucester’s magnificent Good Harbor Beach, this house was built by Judge Edgar J. Sherman in 1878. It was actually bolted to the rocks to keep it from being swept away. Not sure if that’s in line with today’s building codes, but it’s kept house and cupola in its gorgeous location for years. The structure even withstood the 1938 hurricane.

There’s a great mention of it in the September 1891 Edition of The New England Magazine:

…the judge not only founded his house on the traditional rock but placed it so that a pebble might be dropped from the piazza into the restless surges directly below. Perched high above the ocean though it is, for it is nearly seventy feet at low water, the spray moistens the windows at times, and not infrequently an angry wave comes startlingly near the door.

Can you put a price on such a location and lovely structure? Well, sure. It was listed for sale last year at $8 million.