House for Sale | Garland Mill Forever

Originally published in the December 1973 issue of Yankee.

Would you know how to find a Christmas present that would make about half the men in this world happy—i.e., truly happy … i.e., permanently happy? Well, here’s how: 

From U.S. Route 2 in Jefferson, New Hampshire, take North Road towards Lancaster. After a couple of miles, you’ll come to Gore Road—actually the first side road. Follow Gore Road for a mile or more to an abrupt turn to the left, where it becomes Garland Road. At the foor of a gentle hill, not a half a mile on, the road crosses Garland Brook. Stopping here, you may look downstream across a meadow punctuated with fir balsams to a millpond and, beyond it, to the last of New Hampshire’s water-powered sawmills that operates for profit. Now look up the road, at the edge of the meadow, to a white house with porches on both sides. Turn around and see the view of beautiful Mount Cabot and the Pilot Range that the house sees. And there you have it: an operating water-powered mill which has supported Harold Alden, the owner, for 47 years; a five-room house (with complete bath), built in 1929 with lumber cut and sawn by Alden; seven acres with the brook, millpond and view; plus innumerable outbuildings including an old blacksmith shop, complete with forge and anvil; two garages (both two-car); tool and wood sheds, etc. 

The mill is three times bigger than it was when built in 1856, but the original timbered frame, complete with rafters and ridgepole, is enclosed by the present building. An 18’ saddle on a Lane Triple Aught carriage can feed 32’ to 34’ logs to the saw. A bullwheel drives the endless chain which draws the logs from the millpond while a slab saw is rigged to cut the slabs. 

To dress out finished lumber, there is a 24” planer that can handle timbers 12” thick. A two-saw gang edger finishes boards up to 18” wide. A tongue and groove machine mills matched boarding to 12” widths. Finally, there is a 6” clapboard planer. 

And all of the equipment is powered by Garland Brook. So, phooey to the “energy crisis!” However, to be perfectly honest, there are times when Garland Brook says phooey to the mill. During dry spells in the summer, for instance, Harold Alden is accustomed to begin sawing at 4:30 a.m. until the millpond no longer has sufficient water to drive the saw through the log. Then, later in the day, after the pond has filled again, he will saw into the evening. 

Yet despite the vagaries of water power and the seasonal operation of the mill—April through November—Alden saws between 150M and 200M board feet of softwood lumber annually. Of this, about 50M board feet is custom-sawed for people who bring their own logs to the mill. The larger balance is sawed from logs that Alden buys for his own account and, after sawing and planing, sells retail at the mill to customers who come by. 

In addition there are approximately 300 running cords of slabwood (figure four “running cords” to one regular or solid cord since slab wood is sold in foot lengths) produced and sold in a year. 

One more thing you ought to know about the mill—particularly if you are asking directions. It’s the Garland Mill, not the Alden Mill, even though William Alden, Harold’s father, bought it from the Garlands 88 years ago. Old names aren’t easily changed in the country. (There is an Alden Mill about a quarter of a mile away, but that’s a diesel-powered mill run by Harold’s brother.) 

Harold is not particularly happy about selling this property on which he has lived for more than 70 years; but then, nobody is particularly happy about some of the decisions that are dictated by advancing years. He was even reluctant to talk price although he finally allowed that the house, land and mill “should fetch nearly $50,000.” … If it all works out, just remove the pages of this article and put them into an envelope on which is written the name of the luckiest man in the world. Then add four words: “It’s yours. Merry Christmas!”  

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