For many Island families, the hardest part of downsizing is not the house. It is the cottage. The weathered shingles, the squeaky screen door, the beach path worn smooth by three generations of bare feet. When you are deciding what comes next on Prince Edward Island, the family cottage can feel like a decision all its own. After more than 25 years in real estate, I have sat at many kitchen tables talking it through, and there is a calm way to approach it.
The cottage is never just a building. It holds the summers of your children's childhoods, the card games, the storms watched from the porch. Here is what I have learned: the memories do not live in the walls. They live in the people who made them, and they travel with those people. Naming that early makes every option easier to consider.
Why the question is coming up now
National surveys of Canadian cottage owners show a quiet generational shift. Most owners hope to pass the cottage to their children or grandchildren, yet a growing share report the next generation does not want to inherit it. Meanwhile, the costs of carrying a second property, from property taxes to insurance and upkeep, have climbed faster than many owners expected. On PEI, seasonal cottages line the North Shore from Cavendish to Brackley Beach, and roughly one in seven Island dwellings is not occupied year-round. The question is not whether you love the cottage, but whether it still fits the life you are moving toward.
Three honest questions to ask
When I work with families facing this decision, we start with three simple questions that do the heavy lifting.
- Who will use it? List who actually visits each summer, and how often. A cottage that sits empty is a different decision than one full of family.
- Who will care for it? Someone has to open it in spring, close it in fall, and handle repairs in between. That job is real, and it needs a name.
- Who will carry the cost? Taxes, insurance, utilities, and upkeep add up every year. A shared budget matters as much as a shared calendar.
If one person or family can say yes to all three, keeping the cottage can work beautifully. If no one can, the cottage is quietly becoming a job.
If the cottage stays in the family
Families who keep the cottage usually succeed because they talk like partners, not owners. A shared-use calendar, a shared budget for upkeep, and a written plan for the big repairs prevent the resentment that sinks many cottage inheritances. Some Island families also rent the cottage through the summer season to help cover its costs.
If it is time to let it go
Letting the cottage go is not losing the summers. It is choosing where your energy goes next. Many of my clients sell the family cottage and use the freedom to buy a smaller, easier home closer to town, to travel more, or to reclaim their weekends. The North Shore cottage market draws buyers from across Canada who want exactly the life you have had.
Whatever you decide, you do not have to decide alone. The cottage question is a lifestyle question and deserves the same care as the home itself. If you are downsizing on Prince Edward Island and wondering what comes next for the family cottage, I would welcome a confidential consultation. Call me at 902-314-4064 or reach out through the contact page, and let's explore the options together, at your pace.
Kind regards,
Cheryl Burns REALTOR®