Finding a Home in FLX: Cottage Rentals & a Real Estate Obsession

We’ve loved the Finger Lakes region for years. Some of our favorite family trips have been rentals off Caywood Road on Seneca Lake, where our kids skipped stones on the shore and we first discovered Silver Thread Vineyard, just a few driveways down. The region quickly became one of those places that sticks with you.

Over the years, I started dreaming (okay, obsessing) about buying a lake house. I tracked listings constantly, watched the market cycle through seasons, and imagined what it might feel like to have a place of our own here. Still, it always felt like a long-term dream. Something for someday. Maybe once the kids finished college. Maybe once we sold the Pittsford house. Maybe, maybe.

Then the pandemic hit.

Like many people, we started reevaluating everything. Suddenly, "someday" didn’t feel like a given. We asked ourselves: Why not now? If not now, when? So, we got a realtor. Just to look. Just to see.

And somehow, the very first house we toured was the house. Right on Cayuga Lake, with a boat bar built from a vintage wooden sailboat, and a view that immediately felt like ours. We toured it in masks in October 2020, just as the market was heating up. We had no idea how wild it would get.

Five offers came in on a Tuesday. We got it.

Six months later, that kind of home would have sparked bidding wars with 20+ buyers and final prices hundreds of thousands over asking. The timing was wild, but it was meant to be.

We painted. We unpacked. We stood on the deck overlooking the water and felt something shift. This wasn’t just a getaway. It was home.

And that boat bar? It’s what inspired the name of this blog: Boat Bar 42 . “42” represents the latitude of the Finger Lakes.

Stay tuned for more about how this house and this region have shaped our wine journey and our story.

In the meantime, here are a few photos. Scroll through for a peek at that first walkthrough, the boat bar, how we made the house our own, and that beautiful lake view.

There’s much more to come, and we’d love for you to be a part of our journey, so make sure to subscribe to our blog and also check out our Facebook group, Finger Lakes Food and Wine Adventure.

Cheers from the lake!
—Niki and Scott