Incorporated in 1712, Chatham sits at the elbow of Cape Cod with water on three sides. Its beaches face two very different seas: rougher surf on the Atlantic and calmer, usually warmer water along Nantucket Sound. Hardings Beach, five minutes on foot from the house, is on the Sound side.
Samuel de Champlain stopped here in 1606 to repair his ship, and in 1656 William Nickerson bought the land from the Monomoyick sachem. One story says the town was named for the Earl of Chatham; another says it was named in hopes of matching the success of the English naval town of Chatham.
Summer brings fishing charters, kayak rentals, a well-loved Fourth of July parade, Chatham Anglers games in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and band concerts at Kate Gould Park on Friday nights. The town's neighborhoods include downtown, North Chatham, West Chatham (where the house is), South Chatham, Morris Island and Monomoy.
Chatham Light stands on a bluff above Lighthouse Beach with sweeping views of the outer bar. A light station has stood here since 1808, and Thomas Jefferson appointed its first keeper. The current tower dates to 1877.