Essex.

Essex is the smallest and arguably the most storybook of the Cape Ann communities — a shipbuilding village of roughly 3,700 people wrapped around the Essex River and the edge of the Great Marsh. The causeway through the village center says it all: clam shacks and seafood institutions on one side, a string of antiques shops on the other, and working boatyards where wooden hulls are still launched the old way. If you want a town where you can kayak a tidal estuary before breakfast and browse for a Federal-period sideboard after lunch, this is it.

The housing stock is long on character and short on volume. Expect antique capes, colonials, and farmhouses along Main Street and the roads radiating from the village, mid-century and newer homes tucked into wooded lanes near Chebacco Lake, and a beloved colony of cottages out at Conomo Point with front-row views of Essex Bay. Only a handful of homes trade in any given month, and marsh-view and water-access properties draw buyers from well beyond the North Shore — so serious shoppers should be ready to move quickly when the right listing surfaces.

Commuting is a trade-off Essex residents make knowingly. There is no train station in town, but the MBTA Newburyport/Rockport Line is close: Manchester and West Gloucester stations on the Rockport branch sit just over the town line, and Ipswich station on the Newburyport branch is a short drive north. Route 128 is reached through neighboring Manchester-by-the-Sea and Gloucester, while Routes 133 and 22 cross through town. In summer, the seasonal Ipswich Essex Explorer shuttle links the Ipswich train station with the Essex causeway and Crane Beach on weekends — a nice perk for car-free visitors and beach days alike.

Between the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, the fried-clam pilgrimage sites, river cruises and kayak launches, and thousands of acres of protected marsh and woodland, Essex offers an outsized quality of life for a town of its size — which is exactly why so many buyers who discover it never look anywhere else.

Essex partners with neighboring Manchester-by-the-Sea in the Manchester Essex Regional School District. Younger students attend Essex Elementary School right in town through grade 5, then move on to Manchester Essex Regional Middle School and Manchester Essex Regional High School, which share a modern campus in Manchester-by-the-Sea that opened in 2009. Well-regarded private options sit within an easy drive, including Brookwood School in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Pingree School in South Hamilton, and Landmark School in nearby Prides Crossing, while Gordon College, Endicott College, and Montserrat College of Art are all close by on the North Shore.

Essex sits on the eastern side of Essex County at the head of the Essex River estuary, and is traditionally counted among the four Cape Ann communities along with Gloucester, Rockport, and Manchester-by-the-Sea. The town is bordered by Ipswich to the north, Hamilton to the west, Manchester-by-the-Sea to the south, and Gloucester to the east. It lies about 11 miles northeast of Salem and roughly 26 miles northeast of Boston.