My husband and I enjoyed our stay in Seaside cottage at the Homestead on Orcas Island. The property is a large one (2 acres?), with two cottages. The Seaside Cottage has a view of the bay and the islands; the Blackberry Cottage (BC) sits directly behind the Seaside Cottage (SSC). We just peeped into the BC while we were there (it was not occupied), and it seemed like it might be slightly bigger. However, the situation of the SSC was much nicer, with the water views and a place for sitting outside. The SSC was decorated in a tasteful "country cottage" sort of decor. Our taste leans to the more modern, but for this style, it was nice (not too kitschy, cutesy).

The property feels quite secluded from the next door properties and has beautiful large grounds with lovely gardens. A nice hot tub overlooks the bay. We didn't use the rowboat, kayak, or canoe while we were there, although they appeared fine.

The only downside to the place was the price. Trip Advisor says that the average price for this place is $142 -- not sure how it is collecting that information, but we paid $400 per night. Much as we enjoyed the stay, the price just seemed a bit high. Admittedly, I didn't do much comparison shopping, and perhaps that is the going rate on the island. Moreover, we were still happy with our experience, but I feel like $250 per night (which we paid for renting a much larger, far better equipped house in Mazama in the Northern Casades) would have been a more reasonable price, and even $300 would have been high. I'm going to list a few downsides -- the purpose in doing so isn't to trash the place, because we still liked it, but to identify some reasons why I thought the price was high.

The cottage is really that -- a cottage -- probably 20'x20' with a sleeping loft. If you had kids, they would be sleeping on a futon in the small living room, and I think you'd be really on top of each other. And I don't think two couples would do well at all -- there is really very little privacy, and the sleeping loft is the much more desirable place to sleep.

The sleeping loft contains a queen bed (not a king), and there's barely enough room to walk around the bed -- getting to the bathroom in the night means going down a short flight of stairs with no hand rail-- perhaps a worry for some older travelers.

The single bathroom was not luxurious, and the showerhead needed fixing (shoots out a mist of water). The towels and linens were of average quality. No bathrobes were provided. We ran out of toilet paper our last evening -- only one roll was provided, and there was no replacement roll. I'm sure it was just forgotten, but having to hunt down the pack of Kleenex in one's luggage is a little annoying.

There was no washing machine (or at least none that was obvious to me -- the binder describing the place referred to a washer, but I looked for it and didn't find it).

The breakfast that was provided for our days there was a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, a stick of butter, an (already opened) jar of jam in the fridge, and a few pieces of fruit (apples, bananas, oranges). There were no paper towels supplied.

There was a tiny TV with a DVD player in the closet (no DVDs supplied).

Fortunately, the Blackberry Cottage was not occupied for most of the time we were there, as the seclusion was one of the nicest things. I would probably go back, although I might look around a bit to see if there were better prices on other properties.

We really enjoyed the hike up Mount Constitution on our visit. The Kingfisher Inn (probably 2/3 mile walk from the cottage) was also a good place to get dinner. The grocery store right at the ferry dock was pretty well-stocked; at least in summer, you'd be able to get anything you'd want there. There is a VERY COOL artist (Anthony Howe) who creates kinetic sculptures -- his open air "studio" (basically a large field next to his house) is located right outside of Eastsound. If you are at all interested in arts, I would definitely stop by to see this -- he is a very unique artist.

My husband, toddler son and I recently stayed three nights in Blackberry cottage at The Homestead (there is another cottage called Seaside). The location, right on the water, was wonderful. During our stay no one was in the other cabin, so we had the entire property to ourselves: dock access with row boat, canoe and kayak, (sail boat, too, but we never chanced it), seating near the water, a large hottub and picnic table for outdoor dining. The cottage was very comfortable and nicely decorated. Bedding was comfy and the kitchen contained everything we needed to prepare daily breakfasts and two dinners. This is a child-friendly property and the furnishing/cottage structure posed no special challenges in terms of child safety. One night we had some additional family visiting and we were able to rent an extra room, providing accommodations for 3 more adults and a child. I also had the opportunity to meet proprietor Jeanne Skott, who was quite helpful with dinner recommendations (Two Sisters Thai was delicious) and was very pleasant and informative about life on Orcas island. I would definately come back to The Homestead and highly recommend it to anyone seeking a quiet and peaceful getaway.