Findings in Brief 



The development of summer homes in New Hampshire rests up- 

 on a broad and rapidly expanding base. Varied personal desires have 

 given many types of rural properties potential value for recreational 

 use. The trend in recent years has been toward increased purchases 

 of recreational properties by lower income groups. Urban residents 

 have returned to areas of former visits or travels to buy vacation 

 homes. Real estate agents have introduced prospective summer resi- 

 dents to remote and unfamiliar parts of the state. The influence of 

 friends attracting friends has added momentum to the development 

 of summer homes and the creation of summer vacation colonies. 



The transfer of rural properties to summer home use has taken 

 place with a minimum of disturbance in the normal lives of previous 

 owners. Waterfront sites have been created by the subdivision of idle 

 land being held in anticipation of maturing property values. Pur- 

 chases of open country homes have followed periods of abandonment 

 or natural crises in the lives of former owners. Summer residents 

 generally have followed on the heels of a declining agriculture and 

 have not displaced active farm operators. 



Summer residents have not halted the general trend of reversion 

 to forest cover, which on most properties was under way before the 

 transfer to summer home use. They have restored old buildings, 

 however, and in many cases salvaged historic structures from the 

 brink of collapse. The recreational demand has strengthened proper- 

 ty values, although the neglected condition of properties and the ab- 

 sence of strong alternative demands have kept sale prices at a relative- 

 ly low level. 



Recreational activity has strengthened the economic base of rural 

 communities. Summer homes were among the highest producers of 

 public revenue and the lowest consumers of public services. Average 

 expenditures of summer residents for local products and services were 

 not large, but the aggregate expenditures of more than one-quarter 

 of a million dollars in the three towns provided significant portions of 

 the incomes of year-round resident families. 



Continued development of summer homes in New Hampshire is 

 probable and desirable. The transfer of land to recreational use rep- 

 resents the best adjustment in many rural areas. Promotion and con- 

 trol of summer homes by considered public and private action can 

 facilitate orderly development and minimize the maladjustments ac- 

 companying change. 



