Our home is in the heart of wine country and overlooks Seneca Lake from the east side, so the sunsets are often filled with spectacular colors. The atmosphere on this uncongested lake ranges from calm and peaceful to joyful and fun.

At first, I usually interact with guests mostly via email, as they're deciding whether to book our lake house, and when they have a lot of questions or want to book it. Then, at least about a week before their arrival date, I email them with directions to the house and some pre-arrival information such as how to get into the house when they arrive, what to bring, etc. My husband and I also live in the same neighborhood as the house, so it's very convenient for us to drop by to help out if something is needed. We usually like to let people have privacy when they're enjoying time with their family and/or friends at the house or on the lake frontage, unless they want to talk to us. If we're walking or driving by the house, we usually say hello and introduce ourselves. We like to meet our guests, but we don't always see them.

Our lake house is located in a small neighborhood, with about 15 other properties. Most of the other cottages are seasonal, and so their owners come about every other weekend during the summer. So, it's often very quiet and peaceful in the Spring, Fall, and Winter, as well as in the middle of the week during the Summer. On weekends it's more lively with a lot of activity though. Seneca Lake is the widest and largest of the Finger Lakes, and so it tends to have more sailboats (as opposed to motor boats and jet skis) than are on the other smaller, more congested finger lakes, making the atmosphere a little more quiet and peaceful.