Cape Cod houses designed by architectural firm Polhemus Savery DaSilva get a modern approach to a traditional aesthetic. The emphasis on light and open space is seen in their work on these homes and the Cape Cod Museum of Art. These photos are from Architecture of the Cape Cod Summer: The Work of Polhemus Savery […]
Homes
The family’s grandfather, Brigham Newton Bullock, a successful railroad and banking executive, built this three-story brick Victorian in 1890 for his bride, Flora. He located it high enough on Prospect Street in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, to allow for views of the town from its curved porches and dramatic tower. The couple’s only child, Richard, who grew […]
SLIDE SHOW: Cape Cod Houses This is a story about summer and light. About inner and outer beauty and how a house reflects them both, on its own and in relation to the landscape around it. It’s about the yearning we feel here in New England when our brief but glorious season is finally upon […]
I returned to my hometown this week. The Walpole, New Hampshire, “Old Home Days” committee had invited me to give a reading at the library. I arrived early enough to catch the end of the parade and let the familiar landmarks settle in: the big shade trees and stately white Colonial homes lining Main Street, […]
With good reason, we felt a bit apprehensive as we approached the side-door entrance on the covered porch, after walking up from the circular driveway, with its dramatic flagpole in the middle. Already we were impressed by the almost full acre of well-cared-for lawns and perennial gardens; the crabapple trees and Norway maples; and the […]
Homes
How Old is Your House?
If you’re trying to date your house, you may be able to find a clue in its plastering job. Although it’s difficult to determine the age of plaster itself, you can come up with an approximate date by examining the lath behind the plaster. The earliest lath was hand-split with a hatchet, resulting in an […]
Quite a few readers have written or e-mailed us over the past few months as a result of Yankee‘s article in last year’s fall issue on New Hampshire’s Monadnock region. “What sorts of properties are available in that area right now?” they ask. So we’ve spent a little time moseying around the 40 towns and […]
If you’re female, live within driving distance of central Massachusetts, are fed up with winter, love to cook, scrapbook, quilt, knit, discuss books–whatever–and have several girlfriends who feel the same way, read on. We’ve found the place for you to spend a fun winter getaway weekend. It’s a 10-room, rose-colored Federal-style home on four acres, […]
Build on the heights; raise it to the sky. As any good cathedral builder from the Middle Ages will tell you, it’s all about the soaring space, rising and transcendent. The appeal is timeless, of course — that, and the accompanying light. “It was always my number-one priority,” says Bonnie Harris, sitting with her husband, […]
When one thinks of Bethlehem, one of course thinks of Christmas. And as in all the Bethlehems around the country (like Connecticut’s, for instance), the post office in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, accommodates literally thousands of people who come every December to have their greeting cards postmarked. But Bethlehem, New Hampshire, once known as Lloyd Hills, […]
Expert advice on heating old houses from home-improvement expert Tom Silva. In an age of rising fuel prices, can we still love old homes?
Homes
Family Tradition
Gretchen and her daughters, Megan and Phoebe, and their families celebrate Christmas Eve together. True to the artist’s sensibility, decorations are unfussy. The handmade ceramic tree, is a gift from a friend; the snow globe, vase, and reindeer come from Gretchen’s favorite local gift shop, Simple Pleasures. A few antique ornaments on an ironstone plate […]