There was never a concerted plan to start a vacation rentals company. Sometimes you find yourself well down the path before you realize you’re on that journey. I had been selling mortgage-backed securities for Credit Suisse and then found myself with quite a lot of time on my hands... Having rented my own weekend home a few times (the house known as The Cottage), my neighbor, also a second home owner, asked if I would do the same for his home (The Lodge), followed by the owners of a darling cabin down the lane (River Cabin), and so on. Thus, Red Cottage Inc. was born.

After flipping a couple of houses, just before the market imploded (one of which was a finalist in the Sullivan Showcase Awards) I became a Realtor, ostensibly to see listings as they came to market. But I realized I really enjoyed viewing and selling lovely country homes, so in February 2010 I hung out my own shingle, forming Country House Realty.

Just before Halloween 2008 there was a freak snowstorm up in The Catskills, and it was then I vowed to find a way to justify spending time somewhere warm and sunny as part of a business venture. So the following autumn I launched Select Island Rentals, which currently offers fabulous rental homes on chic, but relaxed Harbour Island, in The Bahamas. And as I write this, with the ground blanketed in snow for the foreseeable future, I can tell you that this was  a GREAT idea.

Red Cottage Inc. has branched out from representing Catskills properties exclusively, and offers an award-winning rental in the Hudson Valley called Ten Broeck Cottage.  We added a tastefully renovated home in the charming North Fork town of Greenport, Long Island, just minutes from the beach, which was a great hit with last summer’s renters, and this year will add a second property nearby on the Marina.

So we thank the great many of you who have spent time discovering our special properties and their magnificent locales, and look forward to presenting you with an ever-growing, carefully-curated collection of desirable properties you can call “home”.

Jennifer Grimes
Founder
Red Cottage Inc.