Rockport ice cream shop with one-bedroom unit is sure to melt your heart
The Blizzard of ’78 proved too much for the famous red shack artists know as Motif No. 1, but not for this 223-year-old landmark in Rockport’s downtown neighborhood. Time, however, does bring change, and for the Sullivan family, decades of operating Sunday’s Ice Cream is time enough.
“After 40 years, it’s hard to say goodbye, but everyone’s kind of gone in different directions,’' said Carole Sullivan, one of four of the late
John P. and Ingeborg Sullivan’s now-adult children. “I understand people can do whatever they want there, but I’d like to see it stay the way it is. We’ll see what happens.”
Located at the start of Bearskin Neck — the historic heart of this North Shore town where buildings are small in size but large with tourist draws like ice cream stores, restaurants, and coffee shops — this 1,552-square-foot building has two purposes: feed visitors on the first floor and offer a sanctuary on the second.
Let’s start with the sweets. Upon entering the seasonal store on the right, there are 32 flavors in front freezers (16 on either side of the cash register), 12 flavors behind that, and three storage freezers. This creates an aisle for what became the first job for many teenagers, some of whose children also worked there, Sullivan recalled.
Dark brown beams original to the property cross the ceiling, but the building and grounds underwent a year-by-year overhaul that ended in 2015, Sullivan said.
Opposite the freezers is a gathering space for customers next to a bay window. Ice cream in hand, head toward the back (a half bath with ceramic tile flooring and a single vanity is on the right) and arrive at something as equally attractive as a cold treat on a hot summer day: Windows look out over Rockport Harbor and a triangular patch of lawn with seating the Sullivans historically shared with their customers. Grass is a rarity in this compact shoreline neighborhood.
Serenity is offered upstairs. To get there, step outside and turn right into the driveway and past a pair of tandem parking spaces, a bonus in a neighborhood where parking is more challenging than even in Somerville or the South End. Midway is a stairwell ascending to the one-bedroom unit above. Opening the door lands one at the midpoint of the 570-squarefoot single-level home, where the flooring is oak in all but the kitchen and bath.
Directly on the right is a galley-style kitchen with porcelain tile flooring. The cabinets are white with gold-toned pulls, and the appliances are stainless steel. The dark granite counters offer a pleasing counterpoint to the cabinetry. Drum shade lights hang overhead.
A door from the kitchen opens into the 162square-foot bedroom, which is in the front of the house. The ceiling is shaped by the angles of the Cape-style roofline. There are two windows looking out at Bearskin Neck. The bedroom comes with a single closet and storage in the eaves.
A door from the bedroom opens to a 114square-bathroom that includes a washer and dryer. There is a single vanity with a dark granite counter like the ones in the kitchen, a porcelain tile floor, and a shower behind a curtain. The shower flooring is pebble stone, and the surround is porcelain tile with a mosaic inlay.
One can also access the bathroom from the 262-square foot living room. Natural light pours into the latter space from three windows and a slider to a 242-square-foot water front facing new deck with white supports, wire railings, and a corkscrew staircase to the backyard.
But the most important part — the view — is unchanged.
“The lobster boats are there year round. It’s a nice protected cove,’' said Sullivan who lived in the unit for a decade while managing the family business. “The sunrises, they’re beautiful. And the moonrise is amazing . ... It’s with a heavy heart we sell it.”
Kim Jylkka Lorden of the Syndi Zaiger Group at Nest Real Estate in Manchester-bythe-Sea has the listing. The home requires flood insurance.
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