John M. Hodgson Cottage (The Flower Cottage)

Clarence Luce designed this small structure, now radically altered, as a residence and retail shop (with accompanying greenhouses) for the already established florist business run by New Yorker John Hodgson for the summer colony. Originally, a gabled second story perched more delicately than it does today over a first level whose broadly flared, coved walls supported the deep overhang of the upper floor. One of these curved flanks can still be seen today on the north side of the cottage. This arrangement, along with a shingled exterior, an undercut porch (where there is now a Palladian window), and the diminutive size of the structure strongly suggest a small rustic work shed or garden pavilion, or even a boathouse or lifesaving station—references particularly appropriate for its intended function and locale.