1143 Lakeshore DriveBrighton, VT 05846Price: $399,000

Set in a quiet pocket overlooking Island Pond, this seasonal lakefront cottage offers something few waterfront homes on this lake can match: the largest all-sand beach on its side of the water, open mountain views across the lake, and a west-facing lot built around the sunsets Island Pond is known for. The beach is the headline, and it lives up to it. Soft white sand slopes into a gentle, sandy bottom - no rocks, no muck, no drop-off - ideal for swimming, wading, floating, or launching a kayak straight from your own shoreline. When the water is lower, the beach stretches even wider, the kind of shoreline neighbors row across the lake to enjoy. The views are the second act. A wooded bluff lifts the cottage above the water just enough to frame a wide, uninterrupted look across Island Pond to the mountain ridge on the far shore. Loons call at dawn, eagles circle in the afternoon, and the sky keeps working all day long. Then comes the sunset. The property faces west, and both the deck and the lower stone pavilion are positioned for it. Evenings unfold from a river-stone pavilion laid by the cottage's original builder - a covered, hand-built perch right at the water's edge, where the lake turns gold and the mountains soften to silhouette. Three bedrooms, fresh paint, a new tin roof, concrete foundation with a small cellar, and propane heat. Three-season, winterized each fall. A flat, double-lot-sized parcel with generous parking and a wooded backdrop. Boat or paddle to the town dock for dinner at one of three restaurants, ice cream, the grocery, or the library. Offered as is - a rare chance to own one of Island Pond's best beaches, its finest sunset lot, and a true Vermont lake cottage with generations of family history.