Come October, the cottages out toward the state park empty one by one, storm shutters go up, and the shoreline goes quiet except for the wind working the cedars along Duncan Bay. Somebody still has to keep those lawns looking lived-in, and Stage 4 property maintenance does it — mowing right through the last warm weeks, trimming around the outbuildings and stairs, clearing the leaf drift off the turf before it turns to mat. Year-round houses in town get the same treatment on the same steady rotation. Owners who are hundreds of miles away like knowing the grass is even and the edges are sharp when they pull in next spring. A property that is cared for while nobody is watching is the truest version of the work.