Archive for the ‘Historic Houses’ Category

Fall Vacation

Friday, October 7th, 2011

October is really the best month of the year! For us, it is vacation time! The children are back in school making shopping a more pleasant experience for us old folks who no longer have small children at home and have come to enjoy peace and quiet! The foliage in New Hampshire, while not at its peak in our area yet, is certainly lovely up north. A week ago, we headed out on an overcast but pleasant day, our destination: Stark, New Hampshire. Along the way, we took a lot of photos including the following two pleasant scenes:

foliage scene - Sept. 30, 2011
a pleasant view of Fall in New Hampshire

horses at the Bell Farm
a scene in northern New Hampshire

Customarily, Jim always schedules his vacation for October. Last year at this time, he spent the three week time period taking photos for my soon-to-be-released book: Sweetheart and Mother Pillows 1917-1945 (Schiffer Publlishing Ltd., 2011). This year, he is creating a new “room” from an area that previous occupants of this house used as a “potting shed” and/or “mud room.” So far, he has installed electrical outlets, added insulation, taken up the old wide floor boards that were beyond “saving.” He has shored up the supports in the cellar, adding new joists, and has added pine boards for walls that will have a natural finish.

The area was previously unheated. We hope to add an electric fireplace. They are supposed to be adequate for 400 square feet and this cozy soon-to-be reading den has only 150 square feet. After the ceiling is painted and the new floor is added, we will think about the interior design. I am already considering various choices for furniture, a rug, and other textiles and wall decor. This is a fun project that, again, combines both of our talents and interests. I am forever amazed at the versatile skills of Jim Cummings and often wonder how I became so “lucky” as to be married to him!

We will take a day trip whenever we feel the urge to do something different but being home bodies, we are quite happy reading a book, writing, quilting, taking a walk, or baking a cake. It is true: there is no place like home. For us, travel with all of its stress, is overrated. Give me a nice homemade bowl of soup and some corn bread any day. To enjoy nature, all I have to do is to open the (new) windows at the end of our house that Jim just installed and listen to the babbling (former mill) stream. It’s all good! Call us fuddy-duddies. We won’t mind. Life is good!

Patricia Cummings

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Wisteria Blooms at Strawbery Banke

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

wisteria

This wisteria plant drapes gracefully over a gate at the Goodwin House gardens.

the Goodwin House

Strawbery Banke Museum preserves the home of Gov. Ichabod Goodwin and his wife, Sarah Parker Rice Goodwin. He served as New Hampshire’s Governor during the Civil War.

Our travels today took us to the beautiful seaside community of Strawbery Banke, a collection of historic buildings in Portsmouth, NH that were saved from devastation during an “urban renewal” project of the 1950s. Each building is unique and was home to families who lived in the area that was once known as “Puddle Dock.” Today, we saw examples of wild strawberry plants, some already with fruit. These plants were so plentiful in earlier days, they were the source of the place’s name: “Strawbery Banke.”

two houses

Here are two period buildings situated at the Strawbery Banke Museum

An 8 minute video to introduce visitors to the history of the area and the “birth” of the museum is available in the Visitor Center. The area has always been a melting pot of ethnicity because Portsmouth is a seacoast town. This living history museum features a number of historic reenactors within buildings and outside of one building. There is an art gallery of paintings associated with Portsmouth – mostly seascapes, understandably.

The museum store has all kinds of lovely things such as greeting cards, books, Sampler kits, Sasparilla (an old time drink), collectible thimbles, and many other enticements.

The Goodwin House features a greenhouse with typical houseplants of centuries past, including Venus Flytrap, a carnivorous plant that eats insects. I recognized most of the varieties by name. Along the paths outside the home were flowering bushes and plants such as these Iris:

Iris

Beautiful Iris!

Thomas Bailey Aldrich who wrote, “The Story of A Bad Boy,” once lived in a home that is on the premises. Today, any home that was open had an American flag flying in front of it. I imagine that more homes are opened to the public on weekends, or later in the season, when there is more foot traffic.

We enjoyed seeing the cooking hearths or woodstoves in each kitchen and all of the tools and cooking gear. I really liked seeing the various bed treatments: from overshot coverlets, to chintz bedcoverings with dusters and an overhead canopy, to a calimanco, wholecloth, quilted quilt, and a pure white bedspread and white canopy.

Pat - May 18, 2010

After all that walking around, I wanted to sit on a bench and Jim snapped this photo.

The site is but a brief jaunt by foot to the wonderful display gardens nearby that the University of New Hampshire maintains. That area is in view of Kittery, Maine, across the bay, once the site of an active ship-building operation.

Portsmouth is a unique town and we always enjoy visiting, with one exception: we always get lost. The streets are not laid out in any particular fashion. Think of “cow paths,” winding along, up hill and down, and you’ll have a close approximation as to what I mean. We escaped via Rte. 95 and headed west on Rte. 4.

Below are two books associated with Strawbery Banke. First is a biography of Sarah Parker Rice Goodwin, Sarah: Her Story by Margaret Whyte Kelly, (Back Channel Press, 2006), and the other, The Story of a Bad Boy by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Eastman-Lord Museum, North Conway, NH

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

If you like to step back in time, as we do, then you would enjoy visiting historic houses. There are more of them than expected, and yesterday, we discovered one that is a pip.

Now, while most people, these days, may think of N. Conway, NH as a shopping mecca with outlet stores, or else, a town that features skiing possibilities, I have a new appreciation for the town. In the building we visited, the Conway Historical Society which is helping to preserve the past.

We enjoyed the “Victorian parlor,” in mostly black or dark colors, and with a hand-painted wooden “firescreen.” Everywhere one looks in the house, a piece of the past is waiting to enjoy. There are pieces of clothing, from a soldier’s uniform hanging on a mannequin in the kitchen to an old Shaker style, wool jacket in a closet. There is a “woman” in mourning, completely draped in layers of black, from head to toe, with lots of lace. We were shown some “long johns” previously worn by President Grover Cleveland. He had an astounding waist size and does not appear to have been too tall. I know the waist measurement, but I’m not saying!

The different styles of furniture were grand, from the Murphy bed, to a rope bed with a homemade mattress, stuffed with the most amazing “stuff.” Again, I ain’t sayin’ what! Don’t want to give away the store!

From ephemera, to a collection of millinery pieces, to the history of the people who lived in that house, the place is enchanting, as was our guide, who knew so much about everything. Thank you, Susan! The collection spans the years from 1818-1945, and includes some Abenaki Indian artifacts. The Abenakis came down from Quebec to trade.
On such a hot day, the fact that there is an ice cream store next door was a blessing. I did not have to be invited twice!

To learn more about the Eastman-Lord House, click on their website. I will tell you right now, the photos don’t do it justice. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, as would anyone, especially those who love Victoriana. The place has limited hours and is open until Labor Day. There are other goodies awaiting, about which I have not even hinted! Here’s the link:

http://www.conwayhistory.org/eastman_lord_museum.html

Patricia Cummings

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