Editor’s Note: Second homes have a special place in the lives of many of our clients. In our latest Great Life Story, we are pleased to share with you the story of Silver Sands, a cottage on Lake Erie owned by dear clients and friends, Vince and Sue Pompili. Below Sue shares the history and legacy of Silver Sands. If you have a second home, perhaps some of the Pompili family’s traditions can be ones for your consideration. And if you don’t have a second home, perhaps give thought to how one might fit into your own great life story. Our team is happy to help you with that decision! 

Some houses are purchased. Others are inherited. A rare few become part of a family’s identity.

For more than a century, Silver Sands has stood on the shore of Lake Erie in Geneva-on-the-Lake, quietly witnessing generations of family life. Built in 1898 as a simple summer cottage, it began as a modest three-bedroom, one-bath retreat resting on cinder blocks. The cool breezes off Lake Erie served as its only air conditioning, the bedrooms were small, and the beach was the family’s living room. Life at Silver Sands was never about the house itself, it was about gathering together, slowing down, and creating memories along the water’s edge.

As each generation embraced the property, they also invested in its future.

In 1955, when the city elected to pave the road in front of the cottage and required the home to be moved back nearly ten feet, the family transformed what could have been an inconvenience into an opportunity. A full basement was excavated beneath the house, providing a permanent foundation, a furnace for year-round comfort, and a fireplace that extended the enjoyment of the home well beyond the summer months. It was the first major investment made with the next generation in mind.

More than thirty years later, in 1988, another generation demonstrated the same commitment. By purchasing the adjacent lot, they dramatically expanded Silver Sands while carefully preserving its original charm. The addition included a three-car garage, laundry room, two additional bathrooms, and two bedrooms, making it possible for larger gatherings of family and friends. The basement staircase was enclosed, and an impressive 8-by-8-foot Jacuzzi became part of the primary suite. Retaining walls were also constructed along the shoreline, protecting the property from Lake Erie’s constant erosion and ensuring that future generations would continue to enjoy the beach that had always been the heart of Silver Sands.

Then came another defining chapter.

On a cold winter day in 2005, Vince and I, accompanied by two close friends, learned that Silver Sands was for sale. We climbed the snowy hillside from the beach to take a look, uncertain whether such a special property was even within reach. Encouraged by our friends, we toured the home later that afternoon during a “For Sale by Owner” showing. Before the day was over, Vince had made an offer.

That decision would become one of the family’s greatest investments—not simply financially, but emotionally and spiritually.

For 21 years now, Silver Sands has been the gathering place for our family. Our two daughters, Maria and Caroline, spent their childhood summers riding bikes through Geneva-on-the-Lake, sharing family dinners at Eddie’s Grill, enjoying morning walks to Madsen’s Donuts, and spending countless hours swimming, boating, and laughing on the beach. With Vince’s job as an academic cardiologist, our primary residence changed over the years, but Silver Sands never did. It remained the constant—the place we all returned to.

Silver Sands has welcomed countless relatives, lifelong friends, neighbors, and new guests who quickly became part of the Silver Sands story. Annual Thanksgiving celebrations have transformed the cottage into a magical winter retreat overlooking snow-covered Lake Erie. Each summer, Father John Mulqueen, Sue’s uncle, celebrated Mass at Silver Sands, filling the home with faith as well as family. During the past five years, Vince’s and my spiritual small group has gathered annually for a weekend retreat, reinforcing what so many visitors have experienced: Silver Sands is not simply a destination — it is a place of peace, grace, hospitality, and renewal.

Now, 128 years after it was first built, Silver Sands continues to fulfill the purpose for which it has always seemed destined: bringing generations together.

Our family continues to grow. Maria married Patrick Wagner in 2023, and Caroline will marry Dillon Dalton on September 19, 2026, in Geneva-on-the-Lake, allowing yet another family milestone to unfold just minutes from the shores that have shaped so many of our treasured memories.

Silver Sands has never been viewed as a vacation house. It is a legacy property—a family investment we measure not in bricks, mortar, and shoreline, but in shared meals, children’s laughter, beautiful sunsets, prayers offered together, lifelong friendships, and traditions faithfully passed from one generation to the next.

The greatest return on this investment will never appear on a financial statement. It is measured in memories – whose worth is incalculable.

The hope for those who follow is simple: that future generations of our family will continue to gather at Silver Sands, care for it with the same devotion as those before them and add their own chapters to a story that began on the shores of Lake Erie in 1898.