A National Book Award Finalist | A New York Times Notable Book

Faced with the sale of the century-old family summer home on Cape Cod, where he had spent forty-two summers, George Howe Colt recounts returning for one last stay with his wife and children in this stunning multigenerational family memoir.

This poignant tribute to the eleven-bedroom jumble of gables, bays, and dormers that watched over weddings, divorces, deaths, anniversaries, birthdays, breakdowns, and love affairs for five generations interweaves Colt’s final visit with a lifetime of childhood memories and family history. Run-down yet romantic, The Big House stands not only as a cherished reminder of summer’s ephemeral pleasures but also as a powerful symbol of a vanishing New England way of life.