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Historic "Summer Cottage" in the White Mountains

Photo gallery for Historic "Summer Cottage" in the White Mountains

Front view of house
Private swimming area
Living room
Den area off Living Room
Kitchen and Sun Porch

Reviews

9.2 out of 10
Wonderful
8 bedrooms4+ bathroomsSleeps 15464.5 sq m

Popular amenities

  • Parking available
  • Dryer
  • Washer
  • Pet-friendly
  • Fireplace
  • Outdoor space

Explore the area

Map
Tamworth, NH
  • Chocorua Lake
    ‪18 min walk‬
  • White Lake State Park
    ‪14 min drive‬
  • Saco River
    ‪17 min drive‬
  • Fryeburg, ME (FRY-Eastern Slopes Regional)
    ‪46 min drive‬

Rooms & beds

8 bedrooms (sleeps 15)

Bedroom #2

2 Single Beds

Bedroom #3

1 Queen Bed

Bedroom #4

2 Single Beds

Bedroom #5

1 Double Bed

Bedroom #6

1 Double Bed

Bedroom #7

2 Single Beds

Bedroom #8

1 Single Bed

Master bedroom

1 Queen Bed

4 bathrooms, 1 half bathroom

Bathroom #2

Bathtub or shower · Toilet

Bathroom #3

Bathtub · Toilet

Bathroom #4

Toilet · Shower only

Downstairs bathroom

Toilet

Master en suite bathroom

Bathtub · Toilet

Spaces

Porch or lanai
Kitchen
Outdoor play area
Garden

About this property

Historic "Summer Cottage" in the White Mountains

This historic property is one of many "Summer Cottages" of the White Mountains designed by C. Howard Walker around 1900, but it is the only one he designed and built for his own family. It has 8 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, and a grand living room that is 60 feet long. The living room has two grand pianos that were formerly owned by a concert pianist and a Metropolitan opera singer. It has a large porch with beautiful views of nature and mountains.

Situated on 10 private acres, it has private access to Lake Chocorua, one of the most picturesque lakes in the region. There is a private boathouse with access to several boats, including a canoe, a sunfish, and two kayaks.

Among several out buildings is a little playhouse that kids love.

Property manager

Geoffrey K Gill

Languages

English

Add dates for prices

Amenities

Kitchen
Washer
Dryer
Pet-friendly
Outdoor space
Parking available

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House Rules

Check in after 4:00 PM
Minimum age to rent: 21
Check out before 11:00 AM
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Children

Children allowed: ages 0–17
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Events

No events allowed
Contact host
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Pets

Pets allowed: dogs (limit 2 total)
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Smoking

Smoking is not permitted

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited
Note from host: Contact host
Long-term renters welcome
Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property
Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and a deadlock

About the area

Chocorua

Chocorua is home to this holiday home. Silver Lake Railroad and The Barnstormers Theatre are cultural highlights, and some of the area's landmarks include Conway Scenic Railway and Albany Covered Bridge. Travelling with kids? Consider Monkey Trunk Chocorua and Handcrafters Barn.
Map
Tamworth, NH

What's nearby

  • Chocorua Lake - 18 min walk - 1.6 km
  • White Lake State Park - 14 min drive - 10.2 km
  • Saco River - 17 min drive - 17.8 km
  • Ossipee Lake - 25 min drive - 16.7 km
  • Settlers' Green Outlet Village - 32 min drive - 29.7 km

Getting around

  • Fryeburg, ME (FRY-Eastern Slopes Regional) - 46 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪McDonald's - ‬11 min drive
  • ‪Tamworth Distillery & Mercantile - ‬10 min drive
  • ‪Yankee Smokehouse - ‬11 min drive
  • ‪Hobbs Tavern & Brewing - ‬10 min drive
  • ‪Aroma Joes - ‬11 min drive

Frequently asked questions

Is Historic "Summer Cottage" in the White Mountains pet-friendly?

Yes, this property allows dogs (limit 2 total).

What time is check-in at Historic "Summer Cottage" in the White Mountains?

Check-in begins at 4:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Historic "Summer Cottage" in the White Mountains?

Checkout is at 11:00 AM.

Where is Historic "Summer Cottage" in the White Mountains located?

This family-friendly Chocorua holiday home is within 1 mi (2 km) of Frank Bolles Preserve and Chocorua Lake. Forrester A. Clark Reserve and Bowditch Reserve are also within 2 miles (3 km).

Reviews

9.2

Wonderful

Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.
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Rating 10 - Excellent. 11 out of 16 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 4 out of 16 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 0 out of 16 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 16 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 16 reviews

9.0/10

Cleanliness

10/10

Check-in

10/10

Communication

9.8/10

Location

8.8/10

Listing accuracy

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

James H.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

A beautiful and historical mountain estate.

The Lake Chocorua area is really unusual. It has a wonderful history dating back to the late1800’s when many of the summer homes were built. And this house (named Pinecone) is a gem amongst them. Its many bedrooms and gathering spaces provide lots of space for a big family gathering. Eighteen of us from four generations celebrated our matriarch’s 80th birthday there and enjoyed every moment. The setting is completely private, located up a long driveway surrounded by forest. The private lake access and boathouse with kayaks, canoes, sunfish and more were fully utilized by our young crew. The lake itself, the product of a half-century conservation effort, has no visible homes on the shoreline. And the homes’ Great room with fireplaces, two pianos, antique furniture and massive dining table held our group comfortably each evening for dinner and board games. We made great memories at Pinecone, everyone is still exchanging photos, and we will return for another visit to this very special place.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2024

10/10 Excellent

Beth A.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Wonderful Family Gathering!

We had a family gathering of 15 - adults and children under 10. Geoffrey's place was perfect! The pictures don't do justice to the amazing house built in the 1890s. The multiple bedrooms and very large living room allowed for gatherings but also privacy when needed for our little ones. The kitchen was very well stocked for any type of cooking, and baking!, you would want to do. Access to the lake after a short walk down the driveway and across the road was easy for all. Lake Chocorua is a beautiful lake. Geoffrey was very responsive and helpful. We hope to return and highly recommend this location.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2024

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Check-in, communication, location
Disliked: Cleanliness, listing accuracy

Barely maintained

Property was unheated, which we weren't told until three days before. Fortunately They did have space heaters and the weather wasn't too cold. Dusty furniture; light bulbs missing making bathrooms dark, all plumbing was barely up to serviceable levels. Six of us came for a wedding and thought we'd enjoy being together. We all left early; eager to go home
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Erin D.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great place for a large family!

We had plenty of room for our family of 11. We took advantage of the local hiking almost every day and enjoyed the quietness of the area.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

donna l.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location

Family vacation

This house was ideal for a large family reunion gathering. As described it is a very old home. If your looking for something fresh and new this is not for you. Wallpaper is falling off walls and lots of peeling paint on walls and ceilings. One Bathroom is a bit moldy. Furniture is old (antique ish. It’s like a Classic. 2 Grand Pianos, amazing old books and games that bring back memories and pull Chain for toilets and lighting. Makes you feel like your living back in the day. Few Cons: 1- would be poor sleeping. The twin beds are horrible. Your can feel the springs inside. Maybe the original owners beds! Many of the older guests left early in the week as they could not sleep in these conditions. 2- Horrible lightening but to be fair there are tons of lamps but they do not throw off enough light during the night, And again 3-the peeling wallpaper and paint It’s just a old house. So much potential for a lovely home. I would recommend this location and would return. Location was close to many vacation spots, large space for families to spread out and/or gather to play games and chat. We loved the porch with rocking chairs, the grounds outside to play bocce and large living space inside for board games and cards. Pond was lake access with clean and updated boat house. Boats, canoes, kayaks, life vests, paddles all great condition. But there is No floating dock which was a disappointment. Would be nice to get away from mosquitoes. Miss it already.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Monica L.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great older house, great price, great communication

As stated it is an old historic house. There are so many interesting things the back stairway that leads to the kitchen, the beautiful main floor stair case, the front porch of the home, all the interesting photos thru out the house and all the bookshelves with interesting books. I was a little worried about there being only 2 showers and no little children for the bathtubs (4 bathrooms 2 with tubs only) but we had no issues with everyone getting showered. The boat house was great there were a few chairs, tubes for little kids, the canoe, 2 kayaks and plenty of life jackets for everyone. Since there were 3 families with kids coming there were a lot of questions, responses were always quick. Thank you Susan for your patience. We highly recommend if you have a large family who wants to stay in one house.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Richard T.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location

Great old place

This is the third 'stone house' we've stayed at in the Chocorua community built as summer 'cottages' around 1900. We own an 1830 colonial in a historic Massachusetts' town, so we enjoy the atmosphere (and challenges) of an old house. The house is very well preserved and filled with period furniture. I'm a cook and can say I was challenged by a kitchen spread out over 4 rooms. Bedrooms well appointed. Bathrooms typical of an old house when bath tubs ruled over showers.. Downstairs main room runs the width of the house with 2 large fireplaces. No central heating and it was a cold week, but the fireplaces, wood stove and space heaters made for a warm stay. Unreliable internet. It crashed on Sunday, we got it up and running Monday through a technician call. Crashed again on Friday. Gave up. Large yard, not much of a view of Mt. Chocorua because of tree growth. Good walking trails nearby.
Stayed 8 nights in Oct 2022

8/10 Good

Michele C.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Family vacation

Well equipped spacious, beautiful historical house. Perfect for our family vacation to accommodate us all. Great private lake access with all swimming essentials and kayaking. Thank you for contributing to a great family memory
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Sarag W.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great for bathing if Large Families

My family stayed there for a reunion. Best bang for your buck as far as beds/rooms. The private access to the lake was great. The house is gorgeous. It doesn’t have AC but it was pretty cool at night with fans. It’s close to Conway, and 1.5 hours to old Orchard Beach. Owners were responsive when we asked questions. Our kids enjoyed the play house and the nice yard space to run around , right off the porch.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Abigail S.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Family Vacation

We enjoyed our time in Chocorua. The pictures do not even begin to do this house justice. We spent most of our time down by the lake - we did end up bringing our own canoe and kayaks even though there are boats there. The new boathouse was great. Communication with the Gills was great. Would recommend for a family group like ours.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Emily P.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Fun and Sun in Seclusion!

It’s New Hampshire- so naturally- the area-it’s beautiful. We had great weather. We went out on the lake a few times. We travelled to Story Land and Diana’s Baths, and the Lost River Gorge. We spent an afternoon on the back porch and played risk, croquet, and even attempted to put together a 1000 piece puzzle. It’s an old home, but it is extremely charming. Plenty of room for everyone, Bathrooms which felt like everywhere. A fun old rotary phone I got to teach my teen to use! The owner was extremely responsive, and all directions/instructions were clear. Washer and dryer were extra large (compared to ours at home). Two pianos, lots of books, old and new. Reading a 100yr old publication of Snow White (top of the stairs bookcase) and other stories… terrific dvd collection. There is a maximum WiFi capacity, but we only let my grandmother connect to it (she isn’t a big user of the internet anyway) so the kids struggling for good LTE was great because we saw them in the mornings for sunny breakfast in the kitchen before heading out for the day. We have AT&T so I can’t speak for other service providers. We usually had 2bars max. But we were all about unplugging- so it was great. My father stayed the first night, and we were at first concerned as his old CPap was a three prong, but his current is two. Keep in mind, as it’s an older house- three prongs aren’t in every bedroom. But a cheap adapter would suit you fine. Linens for the beds were all soft and clean. The house is not air conditioned, but they have big box fans in every room. The room we stayed in had large near floor to ceiling windows and the breeze with the fan was perfect. The room my grandparents slept in was cool enough that they never needed the fan, and to be honest, we didn’t need it every night either, but as city folk, the white noise was good for us. There is a gorgeous view of mountains on the back porch, and really everywhere. I would 100% consider staying here again. Our party consisted of five children aged 3-14 and adults from late 30’s and early 60’s and early 80’s, and there wasn’t a single person who had a bad thing to say- except to say they wished we didn’t have to leave. Thank you Susan for sharing your home!
Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2022

8/10 Good

rhonda m.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location

McDonough's Chocorua Vacation

We had a great time! The property is expansive and in it's hay day must have been absolutely glorious. The listing should be updated so expectations are properly set specifically with regard to clay tennis court and use of platform, canoe and kayak. What was great: * Grand home with plenty of room for all * Beautiful wrap around porch with chairs to relax * Spacious lawn area for all manner of lawn games * Fully stocked home w plenty of dishes/utensils/ cookware/bedding/laundry/dishwasher * Water access via common path * Views of the night were spectacular * Quick drive to some of our favorite restaurants (Hobbs, Yankee Smokehouse, Pizza Barn) * Short drive to mnt Chocorua Liberty train head * Host was excellent and very responsive to questions we had before we left * Host was great at giving notice regarding a handyman coming to fix a light that was reported by previous renters Just a couple of minor cons: * Really is water access not waterfront. Has a small area shared by another property that 7/8 can sit in the woods and about 6ft wide access that you need to step down into (not for elderly) * Swim platform was not in the water, but made a nice platform in the woods to store our SUPs * Tennis court needs work. Spent 3hr clearing it enough to use it, but only for very casual players. Critter holes had to be filled every 2-3 days * Canoe was down at the water but could only find 1 paddle in the garage * If it is warm you will need more fans. The kitchen and sunroom are very hard to cool down, but a large fan on the floor blowing to the open sliders helped * Note: they do have a lot of fans, we also brought 5 of our own and used every one of them the ones at the property * Outlets in sunroom don't work no lights at the table for playing games at night This is an amazing property. We would rent it again during a cooler week.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Brian C.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great getaway with plenty of room

Plenty of space in this home for entire extended family. Bedrooms were very comfortable, deck and outside spaces were perfect and the loooooong living room meant plenty of room for reading, puzzles, games and conversation. Location is perfect with easy access to North Conway (outlets, golf, restaurants), Tamworth Village (Distillery, Theater) and Ossipee. Plenty of beautiful hikes around as well as nice canoeing and swimming at the local lake.
Stayed 21 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Karen H.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Nice big historic home

The home is very nice and the lake was perfect. There is a short walk option to the lake...or you can drive down the path. We would pack one car with all the chairs and beach bags and then anyone who didn’t want to walk would hop in the car. Owner was very responsive with any questions before and during our stay 😊
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Aric D.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Wonderful mountain cottage

This home is perfect for large groups looking to get away from the world for a little while. And it’s a slice of history that’s just a delight to inhabit—really feels like another world. Thanks to Geoff for being an awesome host.
Stayed 8 nights in Jun 2021

10/10 Excellent

Efraim W.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Amazing

We had a wonderful month. Geoffrey was a pleasure to deal with. The lake is gorgeous and totally private. The pictures do not do it justice! The property is near all attractions although honestly we could’ve just stayed on the property and made use of the lake. We are looking forward to returning.
Stayed 28 nights in Jun 2020

About the host

Hosted by Geoffrey K Gill

Host profile image
This is a special house in a special place. My family has owned it since the early 1960s and it holds many special memories. I live and work in the Boston area ~2.5 hours away and my job does not allow us to spend as much time there as we would like.

We are renting it to keep it occupied and to let others enjoy it when we cannot, but since the place is so special, we like to know a bit about who is coming before we approve them.

I can come up in case of emergency, but we have a handyman and a cleaner who can be available for quicker response.

Why they chose this property

This neighborhood combines a beautiful secluded setting with easy access to many popular tourist areas.

Chocorua Lake is one of the best preserved and beautiful lakes in New Hampshire and perhaps the country. Approximately 90% of the land in the entire basin (more than 3000 acres) are protected by conservation easements. The iconic view of the lake from the highway was chosen for the back of the New Hampshire quarter. The lake is pristine. Nearby is Mount Chocorua, one of the most beautiful and most hiked mountains in the area with dramatic 360 degree views from its bald peak.

Our house is one of 15-20 "Summer Cottages" that were built for wealthy Boston families around 1900. Although they are less opulent than the Newport Summer Cottages, the craftsman style of our house and many of the others is much more in keeping with today's sensibilities. With a minimum of 10 acres per house, it is extraordinarily private.

The location at the boarder of the lakes and mountain districts of New Hampshire allows you provides easy access to many of the most popular tourist attractions in the state, including the Barnstormers Theater, Kankamaugus Highway, Polar Caves, Storyland, Castle in the Clouds, Lake Winnepausakee, and many more.

What makes this property unique

This property is special. Although the house is over 120 years old, only two families have ever owned it. My parents bought it from the descendants of Howard Walker, a famous architect and leader of the Boston Arts and Crafts movement during the late 1800s and early 1990s. Many of the original furnishings and details remain. The house has been written up in several books as an architectural gem.


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