Several adults cooking together in the kitchen
The Bayside Escape

Hoopers Island, Maryland · on the Chesapeake Bay

Photographs

The house, room by room

15 photographs, with people in them so the rooms read at their real size.

An empty room tells you nothing about whether fourteen people can eat in it. Every photograph here has a group in it for that reason, and the captions say what people actually do in each room rather than listing what is in it.

The kitchen, with four people in it

One large oven, an island that seats four, and enough space that more than one person can cook without getting in the way. Groups usually split the week into who is cooking which night, and this is the room that makes that pleasant instead of a queue.

Several adults cooking together in the kitchen
Four people cooking at once, which is the real test. Full cookware, dishes and glassware for the group are already here.
Children baking at the kitchen island with an adult
The island seats four and ends up being where the children are. Worth knowing there is one oven, so a big meal wants planning rather than improvising.
Morning coffee and breakfast at the kitchen island
Mornings tend to happen here in shifts rather than all at once. Coffee machine, waffle iron and filtered water.

Somewhere to go when you want to be away from everyone

Two living rooms on two floors. With a group this size that matters more than square footage: it is the difference between people enjoying each other and people needing a break they cannot get.

People relaxing across the sofas by the stone fireplace in the afternoon
The downstairs living room, which fits the group in one circle around the stone fireplace — decorative, and it does not light. Upstairs there is a second living room with the big television and a work nook with bay views, for whoever needs to take a call.
Children playing with blocks and board games in the upstairs play corner
The upstairs play corner. Board games and building blocks are here, which buys the adults an hour.

Six bedrooms, fourteen beds

Six bedrooms and four and a half baths. Said plainly, because it matters on arrival: the house sleeps 24 across fourteen beds, and five of those are queen sofa beds — four in the living rooms, one inside bedroom 4. A group of 24 is not 24 people in bedrooms.

A bedroom with twin beds made up
One of the bedrooms made up for children or a pair. The main-level master has the king, a freestanding soaking tub, and is reachable without steps.

The Flex Barn, and why it is empty

Sixteen hundred square feet, sixteen-foot ceilings, a rubber floor, and a sliding door you can drive a car through. It is deliberately unfurnished. Bring your own tables, chairs and games and make it whatever your weekend needs. It is included at no extra cost, and nobody sleeps in it.

Young children playing with toys on the floor of the open Flex Barn while adults talk
Most groups end up using it as somewhere the children can be loud while the house stays quiet. It is a big empty room, and that turns out to be the point.
A family playing cornhole in the barn on a rainy day
A wet afternoon with the cornhole out. It also takes gear, wet coats, bikes and anything else the house cannot hold, and you can drive in to unload.

Decks, pergola and the fire pit

Front deck and rear deck, both step-free by ramp. The front looks out over the bay and holds the rocking chairs. The pergola seats twenty and is lit at night. The fire pit is where most groups end up after dinner.

Adults with coffee in rocking chairs on the front deck in the morning
The front deck in the morning, looking out over the bay. This is a water-view property rather than waterfront: the shoreline is a short walk across a quiet road, and people crab from it.
The pergola lit with string lights at night, people on the swing seats
The pergola after dark. Swing seats, string lights, and room for twenty, which makes it the default place people end up.
A group around the fire pit in the evening
The fire pit. Quiet hours start at 10, which the neighbours appreciate and which is easier to honour here than it sounds.
Children on the backyard playset with adults nearby
The playset in the back. Just over an acre, and worth saying: the lot is not fenced.

Arriving

Parking for ten cars and boat trailers, and a step-free route in. Check-in is 4 PM; your door code is emailed within a few days of booking, and the WiFi on arrival morning.

A group unloading cars on arrival in summer, kayaks on a roof rack
Arrival day. Ten-plus cars fit in the driveway, trailers are fine, and you can drive into the barn to unload.
An older woman walking up the step-free ramp with family and luggage
The ramp. The main level is step-free throughout including the master, and there are ramps at both decks and into the barn. We are not ADA certified and there are no grab bars, which is worth knowing before you book rather than after.
The house seen across the water at golden hour
The house from across the water. Hoopers Island, about forty minutes from Cambridge — a working island at the end of the road.
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