Hillside Village is now Covenant Living of Keene! Over the course of our 130 year history, Covenant Living has grown to serve 5,500 residents in 19 communities across 10 states. We are one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit senior living organizations, and with a strong fiscal foundation, an excellent retirement choice. We’re proud to be in Keene and we’re committed to offering seniors a future filled with promise by providing happier, healthier engaged living surrounded by friendship, purpose and security.
more about us, schedule a visit or request a copy of our financial report by calling 1-877-285-6631 or visiting
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3 Lb Pork Loin Roast
1Tbsp. MOV Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, Crushed
2 Tbsp. NHHS Lemon Rosemary Blend
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp NHHS Ground Black Pepper
Pre heat oven to 450 degrees F. Combine Lemon Rosemary blend, salt, pepper, garlic and MOV Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a shallow bowl and heat in microwave for 15 30 seconds to bloom the spices.
Rub the oil and spice mixture on the top, bottom and sides of the loin, completely coating it. Place the loin fat cap side up on a rack inside a backing pan. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes then drop the oven temperature to 250 degrees
Cooking time will be between 60 90 minutes. The internal temperature should be no lower than 145 degrees. Remove from the oven and let sit so the juices disperse back into meat before slicing
“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.”
Allow me to add to Maya’s list: upended travel plans, slow-moving traffic, an uncooperative computer, and calling any corporate office these days (press 1, press 2, press ad nauseam).
To be honest, I haven’t handled any of these things skillfully or maturely at times. I’ve been known to growl expletives at my silent laptop, my innocent phone, and the distracted person who cuts me off in traffic (windows closed). But there are moments when I surprise myself with an eerie calm during moments of chaos. This quiet, peaceful pause gives me time to ask myself: “Is this worth getting tied up in knots?” The answer is, invariably, “no” to most of the little inconveniences in life, like tangled Christmas tree lights.
One thing that has helped me attain this temporary Buddha-like state, I believe, is having a place in my home I can call my sanctuary; a corner of refuge, order, tranquility. I have a comfortable wicker chair in the corner of my bedroom where I listen to music, write in my journal, and meditate. It is a simple space, but one that calls to me when the proverbial “muck” hits the fan.
In this issue, Sarah Sim of Intentional Interiors looks at our bedrooms and how to create a feel ing of escape from the modern world’s stresses. Such a simple redecorating of a space with this intention can make all the difference. We all deserve a sanctuary from the cacophony of the world. Especially during the holidays.
Here’s to a peaceful, tranquil holiday, Marcia
PUBLISHER Backporch Publishing LLC
Marcia Passos
Patricia Herlevi Nancy McGartland Denise Mazzola Sarah Sim Caroline Tremblay
Kelly Fletcher
ADVERTISING SALES: jeanne@atHOMEnewengland.com
CONTACT US atHome Magazine 16 Russell Street • Keene, N.H. 03431 603-369-2525 marcia@atHOMEnewengland.com www.atHOMEnewengland.com
atHome is published four times a year (Spring, Summer, Fall/Holiday and Winter) by Keene, N.H.-based Backporch Publishing LLC. atHome is a consumer publication that highlights the homes and gardens of residents in tri-state area of New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.
This magazine is copyrighted. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. The views expressed in atHome magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of its advertisers, publisher or editor. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, neither atHome nor Backporch Publishing LLC assumes responsibility for any errors or omissions
Learn more about Backporch Publishing LLC at www.backporchpublishing.com
www.athomenewengland.com
Maya Angelou
By Patricia Herlevi / Photos courtesy Matthew Tell
Matthew Tell (Matthew Tell Pottery) creates alchemy from fire, earth and water. A master of the wood kiln, Tell’s vases, bowls, and other objects seem otherworldly, as if they popped out of a Tolkien fantasy. However, Tell has captured the Vermont landscape (as well as the Alaskan wilderness) within clay, glaze and technique.
On his website, Tell reflects, “It is the awesome power of the fire that alters and enhances the pieces in the kiln. I like improvising, let ting the process determine the outcome. Wood firing fulfills this need because each firing is different and full of unintended surpris es.”
He graduated from Marlboro College, where he studied with Mal colm Wright and Michael Boylen. He founded a pot tery collective, Brattleboro Clayworks, in 1983 with seven other potters. In 1988, he moved to his cur rent location in Marlboro, where he was inspired by the mountains and colors of Vermont. Then in 1993, he designed and built a wood kiln that is responsi ble for the glassy and even metallic (think copper) texture of his pottery.
When I contacted Tell for an interview, he was packing for a Sunapee
Craft Show in New Hampshire. He has a booked show schedule that takes him into 2023. While seeing collections in person (such as at Vermont Artisan Designs gallery in Brattleboro) or from a visit to a crafts show, Tell includes three online galleries on his website that feature a pedestal that resembles a mushroom, eye-catching trays (rectangular and square) and other objects that one could add to an art collection.
Many people who excel at their craft or vocation knew their career path as children. Tell heard his calling when his parents took him on an outing, and a potter’s demonstra tion stole his focus. His first teacher was a fellow student from Greece who mastered the art of working with the potter’s wheel. Then after graduating from Marlboro College, Tell eventually taught his own students.
Drawing inspiration from the lighting and colors of the northern climes, Tell creates alchemy with fire and clay.
When I was seven or eight, my parents took me to Sturbridge Village (a recreated colonial village). There was a potter demonstrating on the wheel that was absolutely mesmeriz ing me. I stayed there watching for a few
hours till my parents dragged me away for lunch.
Fast forward to my senior year in high school.
There was a kid from Greece who was a whiz with clay on the wheel.
His English wasn’t so good, but he taught me a lot by show ing me stuff
I couldn’t figure out.
MAttHEW tELL POttErY 163 POttErs HiLL rOAd • P.O. BOx 232 MArLBOrO, Vt 05344802-254-8057
college with a good ceramics department. I chose Marl boro College and studied with Malcolm Wright and Michael Boylen, delving into the craft as a profession.
Were there other artists (from various disciplines) who inspired you and your work?
What age were you when you decided to pursue a career as a pottery artist?
When I went to college, I was looking for a small liberal arts
Georgia O’Keeffe-Hundred Flower Series; Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada-The English/Japanese Ceramic Folk Art Tra dition; Wolf Kahn-Abstract Expressionism; John Glick-Pot ter; Steven Hill-Potter; Roden-Sculptor.
What are your favorite colors to work with?
Variegated earth tones. Grays, browns, blues, reds and oranges. I would like to develop a mossy green glaze.
How does a wood fire kiln differ from a more standard or conventional kiln?
An electric kiln is about heating the chamber in oxida tion atmosphere. A gas kiln is about heating the space in a reduction atmosphere. This means taking the air out of the chamber by closing the chimney damper. The fire goes to the next source of air which is in the clay. This process changes the clay and glazes, making the work more toasty and brilliant. A wood-fired kiln uses an oxidation/reduction process. The flame, ash and gases go all through the chamber, directly affecting each piece. You consider the placement of each piece which will af fect the path of the flame and ash deposits of the pottery. Some potters let just the ash alone decorate their pots.
What inspired your work when you journeyed to Alaska?
The lighting and the landscape including glaciers, old-growth forest, and amazing mountains.
How does the landscape of Vermont feature in your pottery? Is it the colors, the lighting, the earthiness with the abundance of trees? All of the above and the ruralness and wildlife.
And what are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of taking on apprentices, interns, and stu dents who have gone on to becoming professional in the field, continuing the tradition of functional ceramics.
Patricia Herlevi contributes articles to The Brattleboro Reformer, Vermont Country Magazine, Animal Wellness Magazine, Monadnock Table Maga zine and other regional publications. She relocated to Vermont to pursue a path as an animal psychic and Reiki practitioner and to continue a second path as a writer.
Honor Your Inner (and Outer) Goddess with these delightful earth and moon goddess statues. $24 each. Stands from 6 to 10 inches tall. Available at Gaia’s Blessing, 1 Summer Street, Peterborough, NH, (see ad on this page); gaiasblessingshop.com.
It’s hard to imagine that a 10-acre grav el pit dug right down to the ledge rock could, within decades, become a generous garden banked by fruit trees, rows of raspberry tangle, and beaming sun flowers. But Cheshire Garden, snuggled as it is on a back road in Winchester, New Hampshire, is proof that a piece of land can be brought back to life, not only through planting but also imagination.
Cheshire Garden is home to the locally famous Tiny Farm stand, filled with chocolaty moon cakes, flavorful preserves, and Patti Pops, a frosty fruit treat treasured by summer lovers. While the farm also sells wholesale and online, a trip to the farmstand is an entirely different experience, as is a stroll around the property.
Ralph Legrande, who owns the farm with his wife Patti Powers, is a self-described “serial builder,” as well as a ferv ent recycler and repurposer. A builder of many years, he learned his craft under the tutelage of “a couple really excellent, old time carpenters in Northfield,” he says.
They did renovations, historical reconstructions, and massive barn raisings that required four people to push up a single truss. That background and a little nudge from the mother of invention — necessity — later stirred up a penchant for pallet-building in Legrande, and he has turned it into an art form.
“I was standing around here with this ‘27 Model A that I didn’t want to get rusty,” he says.
And so he whipped together a shed constructed out of whole pallets, which he had many lying around. For years he’d picked them up a few at a time at the local hard ware shop, saving them for projects to come.
“The idea of using pallets for part of the wall sections came along with the idea of building these trusses,” he says.
To create a 9-foot by 12-foot structure, he built a series of triangular trusses on the ground.
“Then, just like raising a barn, you push one up and attac h a pallet to it,” he says. “Once you’ve got a couple of them up, this thing ain’t going anywhere.”
A lover of geometry, Legrande follows the motto: Keep it simple. So when he set out to build the first structure, he decided all the angles would be 45 or 90 degrees.
“That totally made a huge difference,” he notes.
The triangle shapes this method creates lock together with even the nails forming triangles, generating impressive strength.
“Then it evolved to where I came upon the idea of using pallets up in the entire roof system,” he says.
His second building was crafted using this approach, and standing inside, amongst farm tools and scrap wood, all around is a network of interlocked pallets.
“They’re simple as hell, and you can make them as fancy as you want,” he says of his builds.
While clapboards and elaborate trim could easily be added, he’s happiest incorporating
elements like an upcycled slate roof or found objects decora tively repurposed around the door frame.
But don’t be fooled; each structure looks as dapper as it does solid.
“I use native shiplap pine for the skins on all of them. F rom the outside, you’d kind of never know what’s going on in there,” he says. “I love me some pine.”
Legrande has gone on to build several of these sheds — a garage, a woodshed — along different parts of the property to suit different needs. Each has its own character, draped in grapevines or adorned with shaggy bird nests.
Among them are additional spaces he’s made with materials other than pallets, including the Tiny Farmstand and a Slovaki an bee house with specialized hives contained inside.
“You can open up the back of these hives; they look like a cabinet door in your kitchen,” he says.
The location of the hives protects them from intruders, li ke hungry bears, and the design allows the beekeeper to get at the honeycomb without ever getting near the bees. They instead hum happily in and out of exit slits on the side of the building.
While not constructed with pallets, the bee house offers another sampling of Legrande’s simple, understated, eloquent and classic approach to the farm shed.
“I love the old stuff … They’re supposed to look like New England’s supposed to look,” he says.
He jokes that one day the sheds he’s built, which dot the landscape at unique angles, will be joined by one continuous covered bridge.
“I think it’s the Swiss in me; I like little cabins and ch alets,” he says.
The bridge may have to wait for now, as he’s planning first to help a neighbor build a tiny house on wheels for a college-aged
daughter. Though he will likely use the rough, sturdy and recy cled materials he’s become known for; the finished product will no doubt illustrate Legrande’s thoughtful, country aesthetics.
“With tidiness, you can really make something,” he says. His descriptions may make his builds seem effortless, and his materials list includes everything but the kitchen sink, but the intention and calculation behind his designs are unmistakable.
“I always hesitated to have other people do this because you really have to pay attention to the geometry and the way things are nailed together,” he says.
The weight of an entire structure literally hangs in the balance.
“I’ve taught a few guys out there to do this, and they’re out there spreading the pallet word. If it gets too popular, I won’t be able to find pallets,” he says with a laugh.
It doesn’t seem like a worry, as he and Powers have proven capable of making magic out of whatever is on hand, like growing goodness out of gravel.
“My wife Patti is a farmer from the beginning of time. Even her old soul is a farmer. And she just insisted that we were gonna put in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a little more. Then all of a sudden, it was just like all,” Legrande says.
Together they’ve made a farm filled with story, one plantin g and one build at a time.
The bedroom space is the most intimate room in our home. We sleep, rest, love and dream here. We spend around a third of our lives sleeping, and the quality of our sleep determines the quality of our day. Amidst the often stressful challenges of everyday life, we need a tranquil and peaceful retreat.
Here are some tips on how to turn your bed room into a sanctuary — a space where you can find relaxation, sound sleep and rejuvenation:
According to the principles of Feng Shui, your bed should be the main focal point and ideally be placed centered in the room against the wall. Viewing the door to your bedroom will keep you in the “power position” and promote a feeling of safety. Pick a bed with a headboard to further add a sense of stability. If possible, make sure you have enough room over your bed since low ceilings can have negative or “depressing “effects on your energy. Two nightstands, one on each side approxi mately the same size, will help keep a balance between you and your partner. I recommend investing in high-quality bedding. Natural materials such as cotton, linen or even silk will greatly improve your sleep and overall well-being. A cozy, textured throw blanket adds comfort, and an area rug under your bed helps to keep you grounded and your feet warm, especially with winter approaching.
When it comes to choosing colors for your bedroom, stick with warm, earthy and calming colors such as chocolate, copper or cream. Deep blues and purples can also be a good choice since they enhance a sense of relaxation.
A variety of sources are most important when lighting your bedroom. You want to include lights on the ceiling, on your nightstands, and in other corners of the room.
I suggest a warm tem perature and dimmable lighting to make the room cozier. Let in lots of nat ural light during the day, and keep your room dark with blinds or curtains during the night to sup port restful and uninter rupted sleep. If you have enough privacy, consider sheers that filter some sunlight but still let you enjoy the beauty of your surroundings when you wake up.
From a Feng Shui perspective, keeping your bedroom orga nized and decluttered is crucial. Clutter can be distracting and counteracts relaxation. When you keep clutter to a minimum, it increases the flow of your space. Ideally, keep only items in your bedroom that you love, need or represent something important to you. Let go of everything else or store it in a different room.
The same goes for decor: Choose a few meaningful items to decorate. Place your favorite piece of artwork opposite your bed so you can see it first thing in the morning. It should be something you draw inspiration from, motivation or simply joy. Choosing photos will improve the quality of your roman tic relationship when only focusing on pictures of you and your partner. Plants are an excellent way to fill blank spaces and help with air quality. I personally love to incorporate crystals. Each piece is unique and beautiful. You can use them to focus on an intention; for example, choose a stone like rose quartz, which is associated with love, to invite more intimate love into your life.
Ideally, you don’t keep any elec tronics in your bedroom. If you decide to have a TV in your bed room, I recom mend keeping it in an armoire that you can close or keep behind a curtain. It is also preferable to keep all work-related items outside your bedroom. If your space doesn’t allow that, consider using a screen, a curtain or plants as a room divider to clearly separate the bedroom from your office area.
Another important aspect of turning your bedroom into a sanctuary is creating an altar or meditation space ... a designated area such as a console table, shelf or simply a yoga mat or meditation pillow. There, you can journal in the morning, set your intentions for the day, meditate, center and ground yourself to start the day and bring it to a close in the evening.
Sarah Sim is the owner of Sarah Sim Intentional Interiors. Photos courtesy Sarah Sim.
sarahsimdesign.com
Call Sarah today for a consultation.
ARE YOU READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR SPACE INTO YOUR SANCTUARY?
W E L C O M E T O S A R A H S I M I N T E N T I O N A L I N T E R I O R S , A S M A L L I N T E R I O R D E S I G N S T U D I O L O C A T E D I N S O U T H E R N N H !
Scott Farrar at Peterborough has been providing compassionate care to seniors of the Monadnock Region for over 113 years! Some of the great benefits of living in the Scott Farrar Community today include:
Chef prepared meals
Staff onsite 24/7
Hour, yoga, movie matinees, gardening & more
Housekeeping & maintenance
Medication & transportation assistance
Individualized care plan
physical, occupational and speech therapy services
much more!
us today 603-924-3691 to schedule a tour of Scott-Farrar at Peterborough.
Winter is approaching. By now, you’ve mowed the lawn for the last time, picked vegetables and herbs, and cut flowers to bring inside (or not!).
With the onset of winter (and gardening downtime), now is a great time to think about what went well in your landscape and/ or garden this past season. What did you enjoy? And what did you not enjoy these past months?
Here is a list of five suggestions and actions you can take to have a more enjoyable landscape next year.
Are you providing for the activities you want in your landscape? Grilling? Relaxing? Play? Now is a great time to re-evaluate the physical aspects that provide for how you use your landscape. Start with one activity that would you bring more enjoyment to your space. Don’t ignore the fact that a particular area is too wet or too dry during part of the season. Make sure to locate the new aspect with convenience in mind.
Not much? That’s OK! Here’s how you can reduce your gardening time:
• Plant more native shrub areas on the outside of your yard in “ribbons” or groupings. Well-spaced shrubs “read” like an organized, tended landscape over time. They also take up space and reduce the amount of grass. Many native shrubs also feed fruit and seeds to birds, providing exciting leaf textures and fall colors. If you choose native shrubs, they won’t need to be watered after becoming established. They survive our weather, not needing to be replaced.
• Mow Less! Overseed your grass with a Bee-Lawn seed mix. Mowing every two to three weeks at a 3-inch height, even on a reg ular lawn, increases the number of tiny, low flowers, which offer habitat and nutrition for an increased number of pollinators!
• Choose landscape and/or garden changes in locations you often see, particularly from windows inside your home. Sure we have areas we think we’re supposed to spend money on but using this strategy reaps a double benefit. Planting a “pollinator patch” that you can see from where you drink your earliest cup of coffee can bring more daily joy.
You’ve seen the vast expanses of burnt grass in your neighbor hood. Lawns are an expensive, destructive, time-consuming obses sion that came to us from 1700s Europe. Lawns are not American landscapes. Forests, prairies, wetlands, mountains and meadows are American landscapes. Lawns are not even healthy. A “Tufts six-year study found that the use of lawn pesticides was associated with a greater risk of canine (aka, man’s best friend) malignant lymphoma (CML).” Shifting gears to plant native plants can add your landscape to the new “Homegrown National Park” map, or creating your own designated Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation can be a much healthier and more rewarding way to find delight and join others.
• Less weeding. Plant “green mulch,” i.e., native ground cover plants that block sunlight from reach ing weed seeds.
• Less cost. The Farmer’s Almanac estimates, “The leaves of one large tree can be worth as much as $50 worth of plant food and humus. Pound for pound, leaves contain twice the mineral content of manure.” Your fall leaves are free!
• Less watering. Lay down a 3-inch “blanket” of this year’s fall leaves, shredded by mowing, at the base of all of your plantings to conserve moisture and reduces evaporation and the need for watering.
• Less stress. Seeing a pretty anything ... flower, bird, or leaf in my yard helps me breathe more deeply. You too? It would be hard to overestimate the value of time spent outdoors. Sunshine boosts vitamin D production, which allows our bodies function more effi ciently. At the same time, the simple act of being out in the natural world increases serotonin levels, promoting calm and reducing stress.
Thinking through and acting on any of these five steps can be an effective way for next year’s landscape/garden to bring you more enjoyment and even more peace of mind. You can choose actions that will mean less mowing, watering and weeding.
Choosing other steps will result in more pollinators in your yard and more seasonal changes, color and textures. Planning this winter can mean more play in your yard and/or feeding the songbirds you love from native shrubs instead of bags of seeds that endanger bears.
Your efforts can create more joy next season because your yard will have more of what makes you happy.
Checking for water leaks is the first step in examining your winter water use. You probably have leaks if it exceeds 12,000 gallons per month for a family of four. Walk around your home with your eyes and ears open to find leaks, and don’t forget to check pipes and outdoor spigots. You can also detect silent toilet leaks, a common water-wasting culprit, by adding a few drops of food coloring to the toilet tank and waiting 10 minutes before flushing. If any color appears in the bowl, your toilet has a leak. Visit epa.gov/watersense for do-it-yourself repair tips, or contact a plumbing professional.
The average American household wastes more than 10,000 gallons each year from
Be sure plumbing fixture connections are sealed tight and give leaking faucets and shower heads a firm twist with a wrench. Contact your favorite plumbing professional if you can’t stop those drops yourself. For additional savings, twist a WaterSense-labeled aerator onto each bathroom faucet to save water without noticing a difference in flow. Faucet aerators cost a few dollars or less and can save a household more than 500 gallons each year — the amount it takes to shower 180 times!
If you just can’t nip that drip, it may be time to replace the fixture. Look for WaterSense-labeled models, which use at least 20% less water and are independently certified to perform as well or better than standard plumbing fixtures. Replacing an old, inefficient shower head with a WaterSense-labeled model will shrink your household’s water footprint by 2,700 gallons annually while still letting you shower with power, thanks to EPA’s efficiency and performance criteria. With less hot water passing through, WaterSense-labeled showerheads can also save enough energy to power a television for a year.
This article is provided courtesy of the NH Department of Environmental Service. Learn more at des.nh.gov.
The fear response! But canines, much like human children, can be taught to not be afraid of strange noises and experiences. Here’s how you can help.
When I babysit my grandson Jackson, who is 16 month old, and he hears a new sound or turns his attention towards something, I label it for him.
One Sunday, I was playing on the floor with him when sudden ly there was a loud noise from outside, and he looked towards the window.
Instinctively I picked him up and said, “Jackson, that sounds like the plow truck. Let’s go see it.” As we stood at the window, I
repeated what it was, “See Jackson, it’s the plow truck. The plow truck has come to plow out the driveway.” And just like that, Jack son understood what the noise was and what this truck was doing in his yard.
On another occasion, I was pushing him in his stroller down Main Street when a gentleman and a dog walked past us. As he turned his attention toward the dog, I began labeling it. “Oh, look, Jackson, it’s a doggie! What a cute doggie.”
You get the idea. It’s how ALL of us learned to make sense of our world.
Have you ever heard an unfamiliar sound and walked to a window to see what it was? Of course, we’ve all done this. It’s how we continue to make sense of the sounds, smells, and sights we encounter.
Guess what? Your puppies and dogs need this too! They are domesticated animals living in our hu man world without a lot of DNA to help them. They need us to explain the world to them.
If you have a new puppy or dog, start carrying around a bait bag with some very yummy treats.
(Not kibble!) Every time your puppy or dog alerts you to something, a sound or a sight, label and feed her at the same time. All people can be friends, and all dogs can be, well, dogs; cars are cars, and trucks can be trucks. Feed, feed, feed. You get the idea.
You’ll start to notice, over time, with consistency, that your dog or puppy starts to look at you when
Your dog or puppy can be comforted when frightened by strange sights or sounds by your reassurance and a yummy treat.
they see the things you’ve been labeling for them. Yeah! Success.
You will have to continue to do this until your dog begins to relax around the things and/or you see the recognition in them — plan to do this for months.
Help your dog make sense of his world by labeling and feeding the things he questions.
This helps prevent reactivity in dogs, and it helps reactive dogs (some, not all) calm down about the world around them.
Certified Professional Dog Trainer Denise Mazzola (pictured here with Gio) is the owner of Denise Mazzola’s Everything Dog. She has been working with people and training dogs for over 30 years. Everything Dog provides services to clients throughout the Monadnock Region of NH by offering private lessons, group classes, board and train, as well as day training services. Denise has been published in the trade journal, Chronicle of the Dog, and writes a monthly column for Everything Dog’s Monthly Newsletter. She also hosts a monthly “Ask the Trainer” radio show on WKBK. Denise lives in Keene with her life and busi ness partner, Amy Willey CPDT-KA, and they share their home with two dogs. She has three adult daughters and two grandsons. For more information visit everythingdognh.com. On Youtube at Everything Dog.
1277 Putney Rd
Br at tleboro, VT 05301 US
Phone: 802-254- 8755
191 Henniker St Hillsboro, NH 03244 US Phone: 603- 464-3755
351 Elm Street Milford, NH 03055 US Phone: 603- 673-1669
80 Martell Ct Keene, NH 03431 US Phone: 603-357-5720
334 Main St Walpole, NH 03608 US Phone: 603-765-9400
65 Jaffrey Road Peterborough, NH 03458 US Phone: 603-924- 6801
the Stone House (once called The Lake House), sitting like a monument at the intersection of Routes 9 and 63, has a long and storied history: It first served as a tav ern for traveling stagecoaches, then as a tea room and inn for city travelers to enjoy Spofford Lake, and most notably, has been rumored to be part of the Underground Railroad.
Today, the home is owned by the Chesterfield Historical Society, which plans to open it as a museum. The Society’s website notes the house is remarkably intact, with many of its orig inal features, including its delicate woodworking details, soapstone fireplaces, plaster walls, ballroom and attic accommodations, giving it,
according to the Society’s website, “significant historical value.”
The well-preserved house has parlors and dining areas at the first story, a ballroom, and guest chambers that were once reserved for the more “genteel” travelers at the second story. There are also rare attic cubicles, still intact, used to house teamsters, drovers, and others who were satisfied with a wooden bunk in an unheated space.
The Stone House is probably best known to those living in the area today as a bookstore. But according to The Ches terfield Historical Society, The Stone House has been rumored to be part of the Underground Railroad, using space behind the old fireplace (or, according to some accounts, the cellar) to hide runaway enslaved peo ple. “This can not be prov en,” the Society states on its website. “However, facts do support that it was a popular place for locals to gather, get news, hold militia gatherings, and social events especially dances in the upstairs ballroom.”
In the 1920s, Brooklyn ribbon magnate, Morris Friedsam,
bought the house and added electricity, heat and indoor plumb ing. He employed skilled craftsmen to restore the quality of the original construction.
Gordon Chamberlain purchased the home in 1953 after Fried sam’s death and used the building as a residence and bookstore. After Chamberlain’s death, the house was bought by Constantine “Deeko” Broutsas in 1995. With care taken to its original features, Broutsas renovated it and used The Stone House as a shop to sell antiques, rare books, and fine art. Broutsas, who ran the shop until his death in 2018, was a colorful character who served as a spy after WWII for the Office of Strategic Services (predecessor to the CIA). His obituary says he had to “occasionally retrieve information from Russian collaborators, sometimes at night in the Black Forest of Germany.” Broutsas generously offered the com plex to the Chesterfield Historical Society, which purchased it in April 2018 using raised funds and LCHIP grant monies to repair the foundation and chimney.
The Stone House is now on the State Historical Register. Once repairs and work are completed, The Stone House will once again be open to visitors ... this time as a museum. The goal is to provide educational programs “focusing on Chesterfield’s agricultural, manufacturing, and lake resort past and the people who made it all happen,” according to the Society’s website.
Donations of period-appropriate furnishings are restoring The Stone House to its 1830s style, and plans are laid to also offer classes in weaving and spinning. Currently, builders are adding accessible entrances and restrooms.
The Chesterfield Historical Society plans to open The Stone House Museum from May through October.
Learn more about the history of The Stone House and the future plans of the Chesterfield Historical Society at chesterfieldhistoricalsociety-nh.org/history-of-the-stone-house
The Chesterfield Historical Society.
LEFT, top: The Stone House sits on the corner of Routes 9 and 63 in Chesterfield, New Hampshire. Pictured, the south side of the building. Bottom: The Stone House circa 1900.
THIS PAGE, clockwise: Doorway framed in soapstone, a sitting room in The Stone House Tavern, hallway in The Stone House, antique baby carriage.
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Laurel & Grove 83 Grove St. Peterborough, NH 603-924-4288
laurelandgrove.com
Fairgrounds Antiques 249 Monadnock Hwy Swanzey, NH 03446 603-352-4420
Twin Elm Farm 133 Wilton Road Peterborough, NH 603-784-5341 twinelmfarm.com
John C. Traynor Fine Art PO Box 553 W. Swanzey, NH 03469 603-357-7437
johnctraynor.com
Indian King Framery 149 Emerald St., Ste. D2 Keene, NH 03431 603-352-8434 indiankingframery.com
The Toadstool Bookshops Peterborough • Keene Nashua 603-924-3543 toadbooks.com
C hris Parker Building & Restoration 4657 Coolidge Hwy. Guilford, VT 05301 802-257-4610 oldbuildingfix.com
Eco-Logical Building Solutions 27 Frost Hill Road Marlborough, NH 603-876-4040 ecologicalbuilding solutions.com
Finn Property Maintenance 21 Sugar Hill Road Swanzey, NH 03446 603-892-1192 finnproperty maintenance.com
JA Jubb 38 Swanzey Factory Road, Swanzey, NH 03431 • 603-762-0669 jajubb.com
K+J Dean Builders, Inc. 20 Pine St. Swanzey, NH 03446 603-499-3561 kandjbuilders.com
Niemela Design Builders 118 Craig Road Dublin, NH 03444 603-563-8895 niemeladesign.com
Monadnock Design Studios PO Box 128 Winchester, NH 03470 757-272-2924 monadnock.design
Monadnock Millwork 1 Railroad St. W. Swanzey NH 03446 603-352-3207 monadnock millwork.com
CABINETRY
Vermont Custom Cabinetry 5 Dunning Lane North Walpole, NH 802-463-9930 x223 vermontcustom cabinetry.com
DESIGN/SURVEY
Huntley Survey & Design 659 West Road Temple, NH 603-924-1669 huntleysurvey.com
EDUCATION
Mountain Shadows School 149 Valley Road Dublin, NH 03444 603-563-8170 mountainshadows school.com
River Valley Community College
1 College Place Claremont, NH 03743 603-542-7744 ccsnh.edu
EDUCATION & COUNSELING
MCVP Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention 12 Court St., Keene, NH 603-352-3844 MCVPrevention.org
ENERGY (RENEWABLE)
Green Energy Options
37 Roxbury St. Keene, NH 03431 603-358-3444 greenenergyoptions.com
ENERGY (GAS/OIL)
Patten Energy 160 Emerald St, Keene 603-352-7444 pattenenergynh.com
EVENT VENUES Aldworth Manor 184 Aldworth Manor Road Harrisville, NH 03450 603-903-7547 aldworthmanor.com
Cathedral of the Pines 10 Hale Hill Road Rindge, NH 03461 603-899-3300 cathedralofthepines.org
FIRE PROTECTION Life Safety Fire Protection PO Box 432 Keene, NH 03431 603-352-0202 lifesafetyfire.com
FLOORING Lawton Floor Design 972 Putney Road, #3 Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-254-9303 lawtonfloordesign.com
FOOD
Allen Bros Farm Market & Garden Center 6023 US 5 Westminster, VT 05158 802-722-3395 allenbrothersfarms.com
Monadnock Food Co-op 34 Cypress St. Keene, NH 03431 603-283-5401 monadnockfood.coop
FURNITURE
Shaker Style
Handcrafted Furniture 292 Chesham Road Harrisville, NH 03450 603-827-3340 shakerstyle.com
GARDEN/ LANDSCAPING Achilles Agway Six Locations achilleagway.com
Coll’s Garden Center 63 North St. Jaffrey, NH 03452 603-532-7516 collsgardencenter.com
DS Stone & Garden Scapes Greenfield, NH 03047 603-769-7173
dsstoneandgarden scapes.com
Ecoscapes 121 Pond Brook Road W. Chesterfield, NH 03466 603-209-4778 ecoscapeslandscapes.com
Healthy Home Habitats Keene, NH 603-313-9163 healthyhomehabitats.com
Maple Hill Nursery & Greenhouses 197 West Swanzey Rd Swanzey, NH 03446 603-357-2555 maplehillnursery.com
INTERIOR DESIGN Sarah Sim Intentional Interiors 603-562-4644 sarahsimdesign.com
JEWELRY/FINE Hobbs Jewelers 20 Depot St., No. 30 Peterborough, NH 03458 603-924-3086
NHHobbsJewelers.com
JEWELRY/HANDCRAFTED GeoGraphic Gems Keene, NH 603-369-2525 geographicgems.com
LOCKSMITHING Goodwin’s Locksmithing 4 Elm St. Swanzey, NH 03431 603-252-5625
MUSEUMS Mariposa Museum 26 Main St., Peterborough, NH 603-924-4555 mariposamuseum.org
REAL ESTATE Blais & Associates Realtors 32 Monadnock Highway Keene, NH 603-352-1972 blaisrealestate.com
Giselle LaScala RE/Max Town & Country 117 West St. Keene, NH (O) 603-357-4100 (C) 603-682-9472 glascalahomes.com
The Pub Restaurant & Caterers 131 Winchester St. Keene, NH 603-352-3135 thepubrestaurant.com
RETAIL: CLOTHING/SHOES
Howard’s Leather 1651 Route 9 Spofford, NH 03462 603-363-4325 howardsleathernh.com
Hubert’s Family Outfitters
Peterborough Lebanon • New London Claremont 603-863-0659 huberts.com
RETAIL: GIFTS & MORE
Artful Spirit Treasures 7 Malborough Road Troy, NH 03465 603-562-0931 artfulspirittreasures.com
Creative Connection 56 Main St. Ashburnham, MA 01430 978-827-6211 ccgftgallery.com
Gaia’s Blessing 1 Summer St. Peterborough, NH 603-567-7129 gaiasblessingshop.com
Historical Society of Cheshire County 246 Main St. Keene, NH 03431 603-352-1895 hsccnh.org
Joseph’s Coat 32 Grove St. Peterborough, NH 603-924-6683 jocoat.com
Knitty Gritty Yarn Shop 16 Depot Street Peterborough, NH 603-924-2028 knittygrittyyarn.com
Monadnock Oil & Vinegar 3 Grove St. Peterborough, NH 603-784-5175 monadnockoil andvinegar.com
Penelope Wurr Glass 167 Main St. Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-246-3015 penelopewurr.com
SENIOR LIVING Campbell House/ Wayne’s Place 164 Old Springfield Rd. Charlestown, NH 03603 603-826-0840
Covenant Living of Keene 95 Wyman Road Keene, NH 03431 1-877-285-6631 CovLivingKeene.org
Home Healthcare Hospice & Community 312 Marlboro St. Keene NH 03431 603-352-2253 hcsservices.org
NH Care Collaborative 25 Roxbury St. Keene, NH 03431 603-313-1869 nhcare-c.org
Scott-Farrar at Peterborough 11 Elm Street Peterborough, NH 603-924-3691 scott-farrar.com
TREE SERVICES Phil’s Tree Services PO Box 432, 34 Dale St. Keene, NH 03431 603-352-0202 philstreeservices.com
Wilcox Tree Service 334 Horse Hill Road Marlborough, NH 03445 603-313-0073 wilcoxtreeservice.com
Spofford, NH 603-363-8057
