It was a place that represented dignity, peace, and tradition. And for one family, every summer it embodied all that was good and carefree about childhood. As seen from one cottage in which four generations of the Little family can be traced, "Home in Fenwick" charts changes in character through the years as new families bring new blood and the once-settled balance in the community shifts.

Located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Connecticut River, Fenwick was settled in the 1890s by well-to-do families from Hartford, and later received distinction as the favored home of Katharine...