When I moved to Rockport 30 years ago, I bought my house for $159,000. Sure, it was a mess. Drop ceilings stained with cigarette smoke. A bedroom minus a finished floor. A kitchen with ripped linoleum and five–count them–five doors: one to the front hall, one to the porch, one to the basement, one to the dining room and one to the front hall. And it’s a small room!

Still, I could afford it. And over the next 30 years, I slowly made improvements. Upgraded the door to nowhere in my bedroom (it literally opened to a five foot drop to the ground) to a sliding glass door onto a porch. Removed three of the doors in the kitchen to open it up. Put in new cabinets. The bathroom is next–with a 150 year old house, you’re never done.
Point is, I could afford it. These days, when you find a fixer upper, it’s likely $500,000, just to purchase a shell of a house. Figure you then have to spend $200,000 to make it livable, just to move in. A spec house near me on 12,000 square feet just sold for $1,500,000. Who can afford that but older, wealthier people?

Housing has become an unaffordable luxury for working people. At the Rockport Community Land Trust, we’re working to make it possible for the hard-working people who make everyday life possible to live and grow in Rockport. We aim to invest in our community–the town we call home–so that more generations of families sink roots into this amazing place and become stewards for those to follow.