One Last Summer for Tiny Cottage in Sea Isle

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI In a sea of large and modern homes, it stands out by being so small. The quaint, seashore-style cottage, painted an eye-catching antique red, has stood on 89th Street in Townsends Inlet for more than 100 years. Mature cedar trees that partly obscure the front porch provide cooling shade in the summer for a home that has no air-conditioning. Owners William and Anne O’Donnell, who live in Cinnaminson, N.J., have used the tiny house as their Sea Isle City vacation retreat since 1993. This summer is expected to be the last one they’ll spend in the old house. They have filed an application with Sea Isle’s Zoning Board for approval to demolish the house and replace it with a new single-family home that would have three stories. “We love our house. It’s going to bring us to tears to see it go,” William O’Donnell said in an interview. O’Donnell said he and his wife fondly call the house at 132 89th Street “our cottage.” They also love the cedar trees that surround it, although they can be messy at times with their broken branches, he noted with a laugh. The home was built in 1920 and originally served as an old fishing bungalow, O’Donnell explained. It has had only three owners during its 102-year history in the southern tip of the island. O’Donnell believes it was the first house ever built in Townsends Inlet between the inlet and the old railroad line that served Sea Isle many years ago. Mature cedar trees provide shade for the front porch. As much as he and his wife enjoy the house, it would simply require too much work to renovate it into a year-round residence as they prepare to retire and live in Sea Isle full time, O’Donnell said. “There’s no heat, no air-conditioning and no insulation on the outside walls,” he said. O’Donnell, 60, is a plumbing engineer who has worked with his company for 41 years. His wife is 58. In their application to build a new three-story house, the O’Donnells are seeking approval for zoning variances for lot area, lot frontage, lot depth and rear and side yard setbacks. They were scheduled to appear before the Zoning Board at Monday’s meeting. However, they have asked that their application be carried over until the May meeting to give them more time, said Genell Ferrilli, board secretary. In recent years, Sea Isle has been evolving into a more upscale resort town featuring large, multimillion-dollar vacation homes lining the beachfront, bays and other parts of town. The small, charming place owned by the O’Donnells is an anachronism amid the much bigger, modern houses dominating 89th Street. But before the house is demolished and the cedar trees are cut down, the O’Donnells will have a chance to savor their cottage and shaded front porch for one more summer. “We sit out on our front porch in the summer, and with those trees and breeze it’s still cool,” William O’Donnell said. Demolition would not begin until sometime after the summer season, O’Donnell pointed out. For now, he believes it is a bit premature to think about the home being torn down. But when it is, “it’s going to break our hearts,” he added.