Hoping to have its cake and eat it too, the town of Westford has come up with a novel condominium deal.

NewsCenter 5’s Jim Boyd reported Friday that you can buy a brand new condo on a small pond but you can only live in your home six months of the year. Two-hundred-seventy-six cottages are being built. It’s s fine with the town, but officials don’t want to have to support year-round residents.

It is not one of your known Bay State summer vacation destinations. It is Summer Village at the Pond, a condominium community adjacent a little-known body of water in Westford, Mass.

One key asset, according to Summer Village’s Patty Cooke, is that it’s an out of the way location.

“I don’t have to sit at the Hampton tolls or the Sagamore Bridge on Friday night,” she said. They’re replacing 160 acres of a former campground with the one- and two-bedroom condo cottages, while trying to maintain the campground feel.

“Your kids can go ride their bikes. If you want to walk down to the beach and visit with a neighbor, or if you want to be off on your own, you can. But it’s a quieter pace, and you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere,” Cooke said. By agreement, the condos are strictly seasonal vacation homes. They can only be lived in six months a year, from April through October.

Cooke said the electricity and water get shut off right after Columbus Day. Dave Guthrie is the developer.

“I’m proud of the fact that we took 160 acres of developable land and turned it into a concept, which I think provides something to the community,” he said. “It provides tax revenue. It doesn’t impose any new school children.”

One resident had mixed feelings seeing the former campground converted to condos.

“I feel bad for the campers that used to come there all the time, but I think what they have done has been an improvement,” resident Ginger Burke said.

Cooke said the concept and the location just might be the right fit.

“If you look at the 495 belt and in toward Boston, we’re 20 minutes away. That’s manageable from time and also cost,” Cooke said.

Information from: TheBostonChannel.com

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