My husband and I are the owners of the “Vacasa Vacation Rental” you featured on the cover of the issue dated Dec. 28, 2021.

While this is indeed a vacation rental, first it is our family vacation home. My grandparents purchased the property on the prom when my father and his siblings were in college.

When my grandmother passed away in 2008, she left the property to my father. He lived in the house from then until his death in 2017. As his only child, I inherited the property. My husband (an Astoria native) and I had plans to remodel so our kids could grow up spending summers on the Oregon Coast as we both did as children.

But, as the house was built in 1900, it was just too old to remodel. So, rather than sell the property, we poured our life savings into creating a retreat that our family can enjoy and that one day our children’s families can also enjoy.

It’s not just a vacation rental. It’s a house for our family to make memories in, renting it while we’re not using it helps us pay property taxes and rebuild our savings. It’s not a property we purchased to flip or make money off of, but rather one that’s been in my family for decades. And, hopefully it will be for decades more.

Rhiannon West Chamberlain

Portland