In the 1970s, Madeleine Blais's in-laws purchased a vacation house on Martha's Vineyard. A little more than two miles down a dirt road, it had no electricity or modern plumbing, the roof leaked, and mice had invaded the walls. It was perfect. Sitting on Tisbury Great Pond-well stocked with delicious oysters and crab-the house faced the ocean and the sky. Though improvements were made, the ethos remained the same: no heat, television, or telephone. Instead, there were countless hours at the beach, meals cooked and savored with friends; nights talking under the stars, until, in 2014, the house was sold

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