A cottage in Wellfleet that feels like a home

The second-floor deck at a Surfside Cottage is off this skylighted bedroom. (Kathleen Burge/Globe Staff)

WELLFLEET - It's shortly after sunrise, and my wife is lying on her back, staring at a mourning dove that is perched on the skylight above our bed and peering down at us curiously. I slumber through this game. I need to be well rested for a summertime stay at Surfside Cottages, with energy enough to loll in the cold waves, eat succulent clams, that sort of thing.

Surfside is a condo association with two dozen cottages to rent, most in Wellfleet with a smattering in Eastham. While summer, sadly, is taking its leave, booking a Cape stay in the crimson-leaf season will lower your rates. (It's not too soon to start thinking about next summer, either. Many cottages were taken for July when we reserved ours in April.)

Sun worshipers of a libertarian bent might rethink their antiregulation politics after hearing Surfside's story. Zoned for commercial use as rentals decades ago, the cottages must be rented out by their owners a majority of the time, in exchange for a federal guarantee protecting the properties from being taken by eminent domain. Owners inclined to spend the entire summer here might face some official objections. Their loss is a tourist's gain.

We rented a three-bedroom brown-shingle cottage, its polished wood floors attesting to recent renovations. A second-floor deck outside the master bedroom was perfect for dining. Everything was clean and neat on our arrival. Surfside's hard-working co-manager, Armand Audette, greeted us in our yard. The personal welcome is not just neighborly but necessary, as there's no manager's office on the property for checking in.

The two upstairs bedrooms are equipped with ceiling fans and their skylights have sensors that automatically shut them during rain. (We found out on our second night that they worked.)

One offset to the cost of renting a house is that you get a kitchen. Ours was spacious and had colored tile pictures scattered on a white-tiled wall of whales, boats, shellfish, and lighthouses. Behind our cottage, a common area contained washers and dryers, a grill, a sand area for children, and receptacles for trash and recyclables.

Our only quibble was the staircase to the second floor, its steep, shallow steps tempting you to turn your feet sideways. It made going to bed almost as adventurous as climbing the sand dune path off the beach.

Geographically, the cottage was as convenient as it was comfortable. Walk five minutes and we were ankle-deep in the Atlantic. We were a 15-minute stroll to a small but handy commercial complex with a Post Office, farmer's market, liquor store, and amply stocked general store with Wi-Fi. For those contemplating a fall visit, the store sells wood for the cottage fireplace. There's also a gas heater in the living room. The center of Wellfleet with its array of merchants is about 10 minutes away by car.

Audette provides information on local goings-on, but Wellfleet tends to fill your days with unplanned activities like my walk in the company of 20 seals, who clustered 50 feet offshore and gawked at me during a morning stroll.

A few cautions are in order. Our cottage had no TV and you must bring your own sheets and towels and do the farewell housecleaning. The cottages have no housekeeping staff.

Rich Barlow can be reached at barlow81@gmail.com.