Squarespace Case Study
365 Vacation Rentals, One Legacy SOAP Feed, Zero Compromises
CA McCann Realtors & Sons has been in business since 1939. Their booking data lived in a SOAP web service most developers would refuse to touch. As their Squarespace developer, I turned it into a fast, modern rental platform their guests love and their team runs without technical help.
Client
CA McCann Realtors & Sons
Industry
Real Estate, est. 1939
Platform
Squarespace + Node.js
Scope
Full vacation rental platform
The Challenge
McCann manages hundreds of vacation rentals and long-term listings, and all of that inventory lives in a booking system that only speaks SOAP: a legacy XML protocol that modern website platforms have no idea what to do with. Squarespace certainly doesn't ingest SOAP feeds out of the box.
The obvious options were bad. Manually re-entering 365 properties would guarantee stale listings and double bookings. Abandoning Squarespace for a fully custom stack would saddle a family-run firm with hosting, security, and maintenance overhead they never asked for.
They needed a third option: keep the simplicity of Squarespace for the team, and engineer the hard parts properly behind the scenes.
The Solution
A Node.js API layer on Vercel
A custom API fetches and parses all 365 properties from the provider's SOAP web service, transforms the legacy XML into clean JSON, and serves it to the site. The heavy lifting happens off Squarespace, so the frontend stays fast.
Property search and filtering on Squarespace
A custom frontend layer adds real-time search and filtering across the full inventory: location, property type, bedrooms, and availability. Visitors find the right rental in seconds instead of paging through static listings.
Availability calendars and rate tables
Every property page shows live availability and seasonal rates pulled straight from the booking system, so guests never inquire about dates that are already taken.
A custom calendar built from scratch
The off-the-shelf calendar widget weighed 45KB and dragged page speed down. I replaced it with a lightweight custom build that does exactly what the site needs and nothing it doesn't.
Inquiry forms wired to the business
Structured inquiry forms route each lead with full property context, so the McCann team responds faster with the details already in hand.
The Results
- 365 properties served live from a legacy SOAP feed, with zero manual data entry
- A 45KB third-party calendar dependency replaced with a lightweight custom build
- Search, filtering, availability, and rates in one seamless experience on Squarespace
- A platform the family-run team manages day to day without a developer on call
Have a Project Squarespace "Can't" Do?
Legacy data feeds, booking systems, and third-party APIs are exactly where my Squarespace development services shine. Tell me what you've been told is impossible.