Chatham

In 1987, the hungry Atlantic Ocean broke the barrier beach protecting Chatham, swallowing a handful of shorefront houses. But in the last half century, most of the change that has come to this town on the elbow of Cape Cod has been more subtle. Historic houses gave way to hotels when Chatham became an attractive vacation destination for motorists, and then the hotels became homes again as summer visitors sought to have a place of their own for retirement. Amid real estate booms, Chathamites...