My last summer on Nantucket, I lived in a Dune Shack on Coskata, the Eastern most point on the island, in a wildlife refuge. Dune Shacks were built as early as 1865 according to Thoreau, along the coast of Cape Cod and the islands. Originally they were built to provide shelter to shipwrecked sailors. Over the years, these shacks became creative refuges for some very famous artists and writers. Tiny, with no electricity or running water it sat among the windswept dunes three miles out a peninsular. Propane gas had been added and I had a 1950’s icebox and stove and two gas wall sconces for light. Built in a flood plain, the structure was supported four feet above ground. This was the last existing Dune Shack on the island. Once John F. Kennedy created the National Seashore Park around the Cape and Islands these shelters if taken out by hurricanes could no longer be rebuilt or passed on from one generation to the next. This particular one was owned by a family of fourth generation Nantucketers. It was a magical place untouched in its natural environment since it was built. It was an adventure I could not have foreseen when I took the ferry from New York City to the island.

Stay tuned…