General info and instructions for guests
Towels, linens, loo roll, paper towels, tissues, soap, detergent, etc are stored in the laundry room.
There is no town trash or recycling pickup service in Eastham.
Instead, it must be taken to the Transfer Station. There is a $10 fee per visit for non-residents.
There are three recycling bins and two large trash bins out back behind the breezeway that can be filled.
Depending on when we are there next, we can take trash or recycling to the transfer station.
You'll see a QR code on the side of the cabinet as you walk into the Kitchen. Scan to get connected.
The Xfinity gateway is in plain sight on the living room TV stand. WiFi should reach everywhere.
All ethernet jacks in various rooms are live and provide wired access to the internet - even the two in the overflow room above the garage.
Many of the lights have been converted to Philips Hue.
The controllers are labelled and clearly distinguishable from the regular physical switches.
The controllers are actually removable remotes and operate rooms or zones, as labelled.
Their default behavior is to turn the lights on using a scene determined by time of day: brighter in the morning, restful in the evening and nightlight after 11PM.
Just hit the On/Off button within 3 seconds to cycle through the scenes or use the lower button any time after. Any scene can be dimmed or brightened.
Use the App to set custom scenes. Call me to be added as a member.
The physical breezeway switches have been temporarily masked with frog tape(!) to prevent turning off the circuit. Instead, use the Hue controllers that are temporarily attched next to the regular switches to operate lights for the whole living area, which includes the breezeway, living room, kitchen and dining room.
Although the standing light bulbs can be physically turned off, it's best to leave them turned on and control through the Hue switch.
The controller next to the entrance to the main bedroom operates all bedroom wing lights, including the nightstands. Again, best to keep the nightstand lights turned on and control through the app or Hue controllers.
The garage outdoor sconces (not Hue) are motion and nighttime controlled.
Same for the rear floodlights operated by the physical switch next to the living room fan controls.
You can Google Cast music to the living room speakers (WiiM amp), living room TV, deck speakers, main bedroom TV and overflow TV.
There is a cast group for living room and deck.
Use the Google Home app to control volume if the music app itself doesn't do that.
The WiiM amp has its own remote.
The WiiM amp also supports Airplay and Spotify's own streaming protocol.
You can control the WiiM amp through an app.
TVs all use streaming services. Feel free to use existing accounts or login using your own account.
There are three wifi enabled thermostats serving 3 heat zones: breezeway and living room, dining room and guest bedrooms, main bedroom wing.
A/C is controlled by the dining room thermostat.
You can control the thermostats remotely through the TCC app or the Google Home app if set up.
Water is supplied from a well. I believe it was tested not long ago and contained no PCBs. The water is quite pure.
There is a water softener in the basement that requires a supply of salt pellets. Ensure the housing around the tank is kept at least half full. If there are no more pellet bags, re-order through ACE Hardware in Eastham.
For drinking water, coffee, cooking, etc, use the small faucet to the right of the sink that supplies water filtered through a reverse osmosis system.
Go easy on the septic: avoid flushing harsh chemicals, oil or solids down the drains.
There are several leak detectors - two in the basement, one in the laundry bathroom - that will sound if they get wet. The Govee hub that communicates with them is currently located in a wall socket in the living room (next to the kitchen).
If any detector sounds an alarm, press its button to stop - after dealing with the leak, of course!
Place mats are in the 2nd drawer of the desk in the dining room.
Non-stick pans and wooden spoons shouldn't go in the dishwasher.
Filtered drinking water is available from the faucet to the right of the sink.
There is a separate air fryer in the appliance garage. Also, the microwave has an air-fryer setting.
The grill uses natural gas, which is great for not worrying about propane gas refills, but comes with the responsibility to ensure gas is not left running!! Please make sure the supply is turned off after use by turning red valve horizontal. See Images .
There is a retractable awning over the deck that is controlled by a Somfy remote, housed inside by the sliding door. Use the up and down buttons to open and retract (press once), and the My button to stop mid-way if necessary. Please retract awning at night and in windy conditions.
The deck speakers are connected to an amp in the basement which has a Chromecast audio attached. It is also Bluetooth enabled but I always prefer to cast. Most music apps (except native Apple) should see it.
The speakers have very loose fitting covers to protect them while not in use for long periods. Remove for the duration of your stay and replace at the end.
The cushions for the iron chair on the deck don't do well in rain: stand them up vertically behind the chair when it's raining or when leaving at the end of your stay, so they're protected by the eave.
Wood for the Solo stove can be found around the side of the house.
Beware of poison ivy in the brush out back. We have plans to level-out and landscape the back yard.
There is a corn hole set in the garage.
The switch for the rear floodlight is actually in the living room to the left of the fan controls.
There are three twin beds in the space.
An additional twin matress topper (stored in the closet area) can be used as an additional bed.
Or a king sized matress topper can be used for even more bodies!
A separate window A/C unit cools the space. There is a white remote for that. Please turn off A/C when not in use.
The extension cord for the TV is typically turned off when the space is not in use.
Beware of bumping the TV into the ceiling tiles, which are very delicate!
There is a separately powered surround system for the TV. Turn on the satellte unit for the rear speakers (black box on far side of room from TV). Adjust volume and fade using the separate remote.
Very occasionally the Washing machine stops (after a few grunts) a few seconds after starting a cycle. If this happens, unplug the wall socket, wait a few seconds and plug in. Then it should work.
There are two Pungo 120s and two CruiserSUP Escape LE 12' SUPs on the rack behind the garage.
Paddles are in garage. (Be careful with the Kayak paddles since they are 100% carbon fibre!)
The SUPs should not be left in the sun for extended periods, hence the tarp over the rack.
J-bars are in the garage. It is possible to rack all 4 watercraft: kayaks go on the j-bars; slide SUPs between the two kayaks but ensure there is sufficient padding on the roof bars so as not to damage the SUPs.
It is possible to walk an SUP or carry a kayak to Cove beach or the nearest inlet at Great Pond. As in, I have done it once!
If you happen to be at the house during winter, the fireplaces - which are both gas - make for a cozy environment.
The gas for both is usually turned off in the basement during the rest of the year.
The dining room fireplace is turned on by a switch inside the fireplace and the pilot must be lighted manually.
The living room fireplace has a pilot lighter in the housing below and, once lit, is then controlled by a remote. See Images for its controller.
There is a gym mat in the basement with a rack of weights for workouts.
Also a ping pong table.
There are three breaker panels. The sub-panel at the far end of the basement serves the kitchen bar (microwave and lower outlet), dryer and iron outlets, two overflow heaters as well as the EV level 2 outlet in the garage. Use of all circuits together may trip the 50 amp breaker at the main breaker panel.
The house has a 14KW Generac natural gas powered generator that kicks in when the power goes out.
It runs a brief exercise routine every other Wednesday at 2 PM.
In the garage you'll find beach chairs, umbrellas, Sun Ninja beach tent (call me for instructions - there's a knack), bocce ball, ladder ball, can jam, skim ball, football. The pink and white floaties are especially good for lounging on the bay side.
In the breezeway closet you'll find plenty of beach towels, beach mats, a Yeti backpack for carting beverages to the beach (fill with ice). There's also a heavy-duty Yeti ice bucket that's good for the beach or Moby's.
There's a small bamboo foldable table to use on beach for holding wine glasses, bottles, snacks, etc.
There's a Radio Flyer wagon to wheel beach stuff to Coles.
After coming back from the beach, it is a good idea to head around back and rinse off in the outdoor shower to avoid spreading sand everywhere.
There are four bikes in the garage. Feel free to use them.
There's a Thule rack in the garage that can be used to transport all four bikes. It is set up for a 2-inch hitch but has a removable adapter for a 1.25 hitch.
Pro tip: the bike rack is actually very useful for transporting sandy beach chairs.
The red bike needs an Allen key to adjust the saddle (usually found on the garage window sill).
Be aware that the brakes on the black bike are what I consider the CORRECT way around (moto-style, right=front, left=rear). They're also not very good and need replacing but generally slow the bike down!
There's a red pump in the garage. Unfortunately, two bikes use Schrader valves, two use Presta . There's an adapter for the latter.
Please lock bikes when left at the beach. There are two locks: the POOP lock and another combination whose code is the last time England won the world cup. Sadly it's not 2-0-2-6.