Your Guide to Buying a Home in Sandwich (Cape Cod), MA

Buying a Home in Sandwich (Cape Cod), Massachusetts

(Sandwich Boardwalk)

Sandwich (Cape Cod) is located in Barnstable County

Over several hundred years, Sandwich has evolved into a classic New England town with gracious old homes, antique stores and museums clustered together in its central historic district. Even the town hall, built in 1834, is still in use. Lacking a deep-water harbor, Sandwich never developed like many Cape towns into a whaling or shipping port. But the town's relative proximity to Boston did make it very accessible to industrialization. Named after an English seaport, the town's moniker better designates a type of glass manufactured here.

Originally created by the Sandwich Glass Company, Sandwich glass is a vividly colored type, prized by collectors. The company made pressed as well as blown, cut, etched and enameled glass. Examples of all these styles are on display at the Sandwich Glass Museum. Various examples also reside above the doorways of many town homes. The oldest glassworks in America, Pairpoint Crystal (est.1837), is also open to the public on Route 6A in nearby Sagamore.

Other historical sites in town center include the Dexter Grist Mill, built in 1654 and restored in 1961. Fresh mill-ground corn is usually for sale in season. Also close by is the Yesteryears Doll and Miniature Museum. It houses antique dolls from Germany, France, China and other countries. The museum also has a collector's shop. Of special interest to children is the Thornton W. Burgess Museum. It was founded to honor the famous Sandwich author whose storybook characters included Peter Cottontail and Mother West Wind.

One mile from the center of town is Sandwich's largest and best-known attraction, Heritage Plantation. The museum houses a number of diverse collections including 35 antique automobiles from before World War II, antique firearms, military miniatures, and Currier & Ives prints. In May, the grounds blossom into a sea of flowering rhododendrons that are an attraction unto themselves.

To explore the town's true natural beauty, take the Sandwich Boardwalk, which crosses a creek and marsh through low dunes to Town Neck Beach. Other local beaches include Spring Hill and East Sandwich Beach. Nearby Shawme-Crowell State Forest offers clean, comfortable campsites and RV facilities on a first-come-first-serve basis.