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Contents
may/june 2020
76
features
38 Looking Ahead at Bedrock Gardens
The future looks bright in Lee, with Bedrock’s first full season as a public garden beginning in May. By Robin Sweetser Photography by Morgan Karanasios
50 An Updated Village Home
A couple’s renovated house in the Amherst’s Historic District now has lots of pizazz, thanks to a talented team of designers and craftspeople. By Jenny Donelan Photography by John W. Hession and Morgan Karanasios
32
60 Inspiration for Everyone
If you love flowers, don’t miss the pocket-garden tour in Portsmouth on the third weekend in June. By Carrie Sherman Photography by Morgan Karanasios
departments
22 Favorite Finds
Inspired by the Garden
26 Home Cooking Let’s Do Brunch
By Mary Ann Esposito
32 Master of His Craft
A Garden of One’s Own By Andi Axman
69 Special Advertising Section:
A Showcase of Landscape Designers
50 on the cover and page 38
A hedge of ‘Emerald Green’ arborvitae provides a backdrop for the Wave Garden and its white columns of varying heights at Jill Nooney and Bob Munger’s Bedrock Gardens in Lee. Atop each pedestal is a piece of Nooney’s metal artwork. Photography by Morgan Karanasios
60 in every issue
16 From the Editor 18 Letters from Our Readers 20 On the Town 91 Home Resources 92 Mark Your Calendar!
76 Inspiration
A Home That Brings the Outside In By Debbie Kane
82 Garden Rx
Spring Gems By Robin Sweetser
96 At Home in New Hampshire Heaven on Earth
By Hillary Nelson Illustration by Carolyn Vibbert
Visit nhhomeMagazine.com to read our digital edition, learn about events and use our resource guide. As part of our ongoing effort to support sound environmental practices and preserve our forests for future generations, New Hampshire Home is printed locally by Cummings Printing, a Forest Stewardship Council printer. USPS permit number 008-980. New Hampshire Home is published bimonthly by McLean Communications, Inc.; 150 Dow Street; Manchester, NH 03101; (603) 624-1442. © Copyright 2020 by McLean Communications, Inc. Periodical postage paid at Manchester 03103-9651. Postmaster, send address changes to: McLean Communications; PO Box 433273; Palm Coast, FL 32143
10 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Rob Karosis Photography
res i d ent i al co m m erci al i nter i or d es i g n
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Residential Commercial M e re d i t h & N ew Lo n d o n , N ew H a m p s h i re Landscape 6 0 3 . 5 2 6 . 6 2 0 0 boninarchitects.com
contributors
may/J u n e 2020 Vol . 14 | N umb er 3
nhhomemagazine.com Ernesto Burden Andi Axman Art Di r ector John R. Goodwin P hoto Ed itor John W. Hession Asso c iate Ed itor Kara Steere ed itor ial Ass istant Rose Z. King photo graph er Morgan Karanasios
Vic e PR ESI D ENT/PU B L ISH E R ED ITOR
Jenny Donelan is an editor and writer with a wide variety of interests, and has covered areas that include computer technology, best business practices, pets, skiing and home design. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe and numerous other publications. Mary Ann Esposito is the host of the public television series Ciao Italia, now in its twenty-ninth season, and the author of thirteen cookbooks, including her most recent, Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy. She lives in New Hampshire. Visit her website at ciaoitalia.com. John W. Hession is New Hampshire Home’s photo editor as well as a photographer and filmmaker specializing in architecture, design, food and advertising. He is currently working on a series of films for the New Hampshire Dance Collaborative. See his work at advanceddigitalphotography.com. Debbie Kane is a writer and editor based on the New Hampshire Seacoast. She writes about home, design, food, spirits and a variety of other subjects for regional publications and clients across New England. She may be reached at debbiekanewriter.com.
se n ior de sign ers
Jodie Hall, Nicole Huot contr i butors
Jenny Donelan, Mary Ann Esposito, Debbie Kane, Hillary Nelson, Michael Nerrie, Bill Noble, Carrie Sherman, Robin Sweetser, Carolyn Vibbert s e n ior sal es m anager
Jessica Schooley (603) 413-5143 • (603) 345-2752 jschooley@mcleancommunications.com Brook Holmberg Sherin Pierce BUS I N E SS M ANAGE R Mista McDonnell Event & Mar keti ng m anager Emily Samatis Busi n ess & Sales Coordi nator Heather Rood Digital Me dia Sp ec ialist Morgen Connor Sal es Support Manage r Angela LeBrun VP/consume r m ar keti ng VP/r eta i l SAL ES
Morgan Karanasios is New Hampshire Home’s photographer. While she was a student in Dijon, France, she took photographs throughout Europe and continues to develop her passion for photography. Rose Z. King is New Hampshire Home’s editorial assistant. She is a PhD student at the University of Glasgow, specializing in Venetian Renaissance art. Hillary Nelson is a freelance food and garden writer and photographer. She lives and works in Canterbury just across the street from her husband’s distillery, Cold Garden Spirits. Visitors are welcome to stroll through the garden and small orchard weekends during distillery hours. Learn more at coldgarden.com and coldgardenspirits.com. Michael Nerrie is the CEO (Chief Environmental Observer) at Distant Hill Gardens and Nature Trail, a fifty-eight-acre not-for-profit in Walpole and Alstead. An avid photographer, he documents his observations in the fields, forests and wetlands of Distant Hill with his camera. To see more of his photos or learn more about Distant Hill, visit distanthill.org.
e d i to r i a l Co r r e s p o n d e n c e
Andi Axman, editor
New Hampshire Home 150 Dow Street; Manchester, NH 03101 (603) 736-8056 editor@nhhomemagazine.com Subscriptions
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Bill Noble has worked as a garden designer for twenty-five years. As director of preservation for the Garden Conservancy, he helped preserve and restore dozens of gardens in the United States. He is author of the forthcoming Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden, about his own garden in Norwich, Vermont, which is included in the Smithsonian Institution’s Archive of American Gardens. Carrie Sherman works as a freelance writer/editor. She also writes fiction, and her short stories have been published in the Saint Katherine Review and Yankee magazine. She lives in Kittery Point, Maine, with her husband, Terry, and their dog. She can be reached at carrie.sherman7@gmail.com. Robin Sweetser writes a gardening column for the Sunday Concord Monitor and is a contributor to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, among other publications. A former Seacoast resident, she now lives and gardens in Hillsborough. Carolyn Vibbert is a Portsmouth illustrator whose work also appears on packaging for food and wine brands such as Barbara’s, Stone Cellars and Williams Sonoma. She is represented by Freda Scott, and you can see more of her work at fredascottcreative.com. 14 | New Hampshire Home
© 2020 M c L ean C ommunications , I nc . New Hampshire Home is published bimonthly by McLean
Communications, Inc.; 150 Dow Street; Manchester, NH 03101; (603) 624-1442. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the publisher’s written permission is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any mistakes in advertisements or editorial. Statements and opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect or represent those of this publication or its officers. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, McLean Communications, Inc.: New Hampshire Home disclaims all responsibility for omissions and errors.
may/june 2020
INTRODUCING
Craft: the artistry you expect from Ethan Allen. Custom: each piece made to your specifications. Born in our very own Vermont workshops, the pride of Ethan Allen. This is what we mean when we say, “We make the American home.”
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from the editor
The Comforts of Home
A
s I write to you, spring arrives in two days. And a completely new normal is upon
us as a result of the coronavirus. With lightning speed, our lives have been upended and changed. I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and safe, and everyone
is taking good care in these trying times. Part of the new normal is practicing social distancing (an oxymoron if I ever heard one—
what we’re really talking about is physical distancing with more social contact than ever!) Photography by John W. Hession
and spending more time than most of us are used to at home. I’ve worked from home for decades and enjoy it, but know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I do miss getting out to meetings, scouts, photo shoots, events and gatherings with family and friends, but hunkering down at home will hopefully help mitigate the virus’s spread sooner rather than later. At this time, home is more of a comfort than ever—a safe place where we can relax, unwind and feel protected. The other place I look to for comfort is the outdoors, which is now an even more important part of my day-to-day life. I’m grateful to be able to walk out my front door and down dirt roads for miles. Out my back door are hundreds of acres
At this time, home
is more of a comfort
of woods we love to hike. As spring makes her entrance, I am comforted by the enduring cycles of the natural world—despite the coronavirus, the daffodils are already poking up in the garden. Our early blooming magnolia has lots of fuzzy buds, and the lilacs patiently
than ever—a safe
wait their turn to burst into beautiful, fragrant flowers. These signs of spring and others
relax, unwind and
hope you’ll enjoy the stories and photos that follow. (Please know that all the photographs
place where we can feel protected.
assure me the difficulties we’re currently facing will pass—sooner rather than later I hope. By the time you read this, our gardens will have woken from their winter slumber. I in this issue that show people near one another were taken months before the coronavirus pandemic hit.) Gardens are living works of art, and the garden designers you’ll meet in this issue are all bona fide artists. Jill Nooney and Bob Munger have been working on their Bedrock Gardens for more than thirty years (page 38), and today there are twenty-three gardens linked with paths to form a true living work of art. Nooney’s sculptures are also on display in the gardens. Bill Noble—who has worked on preserving gardens across the country, including those at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish and The Fells in Newbury—has an extraordinary garden of his own in Norwich, Vermont (page 32). It’s the subject of Noble’s forthcoming book, Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden, and is scheduled to be open to the public on the Garden Conservancy’s Open Day Tour on Saturday, July 18. Meet two of the gardeners from last year’s Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth tour (page 60), and learn about some garden designers’ favorite spring-flowering shrubs (page 82). Inside the home, see the fruits of talented designers’ work. Emily Shakra renovated a historic Amherst home (page 50), and architect Jeff Demers and kitchen designer Mari Woods reimagined a house in New Castle (page 76). While you’re hunkered down at home, make Sundays special with a delicious brunch, recipes courtesy of Mary Ann Esposito (page 26). As you read this, I hope you and your loved ones are well. Here’s wishing everyone good health, peace and all the very best,
Editor 16 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
letters from our readers Prized Baskets
What a great article you did on Alice Ogden [Carrying on Traditions, March/April 2020]. I had no idea anyone was making such fine baskets around here. I ran a handicraft cooperative in Cameroon, West Africa, as a young man when I was in the Peace Corps. One of my proudest achievements in life was making that co-op work, and providing a good living to hundreds of women who made baskets. Now, more than forty years later, the co-op is still functioning, though not as vigorously. We had a great export market back then, but now it is just selling to tourists. Anyhow, I plan to go visit Alice Ogden this summer, and maybe I’ll give her a West African basket. I collect baskets of all kinds and may have to order one of hers. —Henry Homeyer in Cornish Flat
Just a quick note to say how much I liked the March/April 2020 issue, especially your article on Alice Ogden. I love the photos of her in her yard with the flowers behind her and then working on a basket. The photos of her baskets are also wonderful, and her craftsmanship is lovely and superlative. My mom used to make baskets, nothing so fine as Ogden’s, but I’ve always loved baskets as a result of my mom’s creativity. The intro was cool as well. I liked thinking about people for millennia making baskets out of grasses and strips of wood. —Carrie Sherman in Kittery Point, Maine
On shelves in her Salisbury studio are an array of Alice Ogden’s black-ash baskets—note the exquisite miniatures hanging above the top shelf.
A MODERN, URBAN CONDO • THE BUZZ ABOUT BEES • A MARDI GRAS FEAST NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME
INSPIRED
| INSPIRED DESIGN
DESIGN A COMFORTABLE RETREAT WITH A MODERN AESTHETIC
NHHomeM
Photography by michael j. lee
JA N UA RY/ F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 0
Tiny Buildings
aga z i n e
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A Modern Retreat
Thank you so much for the wonderful article [A Contemporary Lake Home That Stands Out, January/February 2020]. I was thrilled to see the article in print, but over-the-moon about landing the cover! My team is honored. Debbie Kane’s story was well written and produced. Please give our regards to your team. —Jeff Swanson, principal of Renovation Planning & Interiors in Boston 18 | New Hampshire Home
I got home yesterday to a beautiful copy of your March/April 2020 issue and, to my wonderful surprise, found my caboose included [Favorite Finds for Sustainable Living]! Thank you so much! I hope to attend the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance’s Old House & Barn Expo with the caboose. So we will see you there. Thanks again— you turned my week around :-) —Chi Hofe of the Roundhouse Workshop LLC in Contoocook
Editor’s note: Like many other events, the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance’s Old House & Barn Expo has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. We will keep you posted. We love hearing your thoughts about the stories we’ve published, and we’re always on the lookout for homes and gardens that might interest our readers. Write to us at Editor; New Hampshire Home; 150 Dow Street; Manchester, NH 03101; or e-mail editor@nhhomemagazine.com. We look forward to hearing from you! may/june 2020
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New Hampshire Home | 19
Get Inspired!
A MODE RN, URBAN
ABOUT CONDO • THE BUZZ
GRAS FEAST BEES • A MARD I
On the town
This Old House Turns Forty!
OME PSHIRE H NEW HAM 020 EBRUARY 2 JA N UA RY/ F
As part of celebrating its fortieth anniversary, This Old House hosts Kevin O’Connor (right) and Charlie Silva (left) came to the Bank of New Hampshire Theater in Concord in February. O’Connor and Silva shared some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from upcoming shows. The party was hosted by NHPBS, and among those attending were New Hampshire Home editor Andi Axman and her husband Mark Goldstein. Photography courtesy of NHPBS
INSPIRED
DESIGN
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T A COMFORTABLE RETREAIC
ESIGN INSPIRED D
WITH A MODERN AESTHET
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Celebrating a Decade of Sustainability
At its annual meeting in December, the New Hampshire chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) celebrated its tenth anniversary at the Bank of New Hampshire Theater in Concord with a guest presentation by Sam Evans-Brown (center), host of New Hampshire Public Radio’s Outside/In show and podcast. Among the USGBC board members on hand that night were Mark Goldstein (left), of Milestone Engineering and Construction in Concord, and Doug Shilo, of Levallee Brensinger Architects in Manchester. Photography by John W. Hession
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may/june 2020
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New Hampshire Home | 21
favorite finds inspired by the garden
Don’t worry about watering this desktop garden of five magnetic ballpoint pens housed in a handmade oak tray. MoMA Design Store store.moma.org
Brighten up your garden with Monrovia’s Coral Charm Peony, whose large flowers have a lovely fragrance. Rolling Green Nursery in Greenland • (603) 436-2732 • rollinggreennursery.com
Make an immersive statement, even on a single wall, with Time Travel Floral Wallpaper. CB2 • cb2.com
Add some pizzazz with this glass-and-wood piece by Louis Pulzetti, a fan of the Arts & Crafts aesthetic and the designs of architect brothers Charles and Henry Greene. League of New Hampshire Craftsmen • nhcrafts.org Toast spring with these etched blooms tumblers, handmade in Turkey. Terrain • shopterrain.com
Greet your guests with flowers! Anthropologie • anthropologie.com
22 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
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New Hampshire Home | 23
favorite finds inspired by the garden Show off your plants in these hand-made, ceramic planters. Frontgate • frontgate.com
Bring the sunshine in with a Big Sunflowers indoor/outdoor wool rug designed in Vermont by Judith Reilly. Chandler 4 Corners • chandler4corners.com
Draw attention to a border with a turquoise and copper-leaf wind spinner. Gardener’s Supply Company gardeners.com
Dream of flowers under a botanical floral comforter and matching sheets. L.L. Bean • llbean.com
Cook for the season with Le Creuset’s enameled cast-iron Flower Cocotte. Sur La Table • surlatable.com 24 | New Hampshire Home
Dress up your walls with artwork inspired by nineteenth-century French artist Brulet Lecomte. Ethan Allen • ethanallen.com may/june 2020
home cooking with Mary Ann Esposito
Let’s Do Brunch This is a time to relax at home, and the meal doesn’t have to be fancy.
O
ur yard is a feast for the senses in May and June. The fragrant magnolia tree greets
me along the driveway, and a blue carpet of forget-me-nots snuggle with dainty yellow primroses in the rock garden. My favorite pink-and-white striped tulips stand assuredly upright, their petals a wondrous study in design. This is the perfect time of year for Sunday brunch—a creative blend of breakfast and lunch. Not only do we get to savor good food, but we also get to enjoy nature flirting with our senses. We can thank British author Guy Beringer, who many say invented brunch, because in his words: “It is talkcompelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” In the early 1930s, brunch caught on in the United States and became especially popular with hotels; because many restaurants were closed on Sunphotography courtesy of Paul Lally
days, people were looking for something new. Restaurants soon began to realize that brunch could be a moneymaker, and started offering groaning boards of everything from breakfast eggs to sliced roast beef to cheesecake and chocolatedipped strawberries. Brunch became a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach with endless food choices, all washed
the goal—like a brioche French toast
spinach omelet or eggs Benedict, arti-
down with newly minted morning
prepped the night before and popped in
choke salad, asparagus and tender lamb.
cocktails, such as bloody Marys, bellinis
the oven just before the doorbell rings.
Fill-ins could be a cheese platter, smoked
and mimosas.
Or a fruit compote also made the day
salmon, cold cuts, a variety of olives
before.
and rolls.
The beauty of brunch is that it can satisfy a variety of tastes and the meal
In hosting a brunch, think of the time
Lay everything out so guests can pick
need not be elaborate. Compatible and
of year and focus on foods that are in
up a plate and serve themselves, and let
easy-to-put-together foods should be
season; for spring, you might consider
that talk-compelling take hold.
NHH
Text, Food Prep and Styling by Mary Ann Esposito | Photography by John W. Hession 26 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Overnight Brioche French Toast
Serves 8
Allowing the bread slices to really soak up the egg mixture overnight creates a moist and more flavorful French toast; use a good, tight textured brioche-type bread for best results. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for buttering a dish 1 cup packed, light-brown sugar, divided
8 large eggs, beaten
1 cup half-and-half or milk
Grated zest of 1 large orange Recipe courtesy of Mary Ann Esposito
nhhomemagazine.com
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 2 teaspoons cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 thick slices Brioche-style bread
1. Butter a large, rectangular baking dish and set aside. In a bowl, whisk the melted butter, ½ cup of the sugar, eggs, half-and-half or milk, orange zest, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. 2. Arrange the bread slices in the baking dish, slightly overlapping them, and pour the egg mixture evenly over the slices. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF degrees. Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the slices with the remaining brown sugar. Bake 25–30 minutes or until the slices look slightly caramelized.
New Hampshire Home | 27
home cooking with Mary Ann Esposito
Ham Steak with Honey Mustard Gaze and Apple Slices
Serves 8
A brunch can be for just a few or a crowd. I like to keep it on the small side so I can really enjoy my guests and the brunch! Ham steak is perfect! 1 stick butter 4 large Cortland apples, cored and each cut into 4 thick rounds 1/2 cup maple syrup 8 tablespoons light-brown sugar 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 4 teaspoons honey mustard 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 1-pound pieces cooked ham steak 1. In a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the apple slices in a single layer or in batches, and cook them over medium heat until they soften and begin to look caramelized. Transfer them to a dish and keep warm. 2. In a small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, brown sugar, vinegar and mustard. Set aside. 3. In the same sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the ham steaks in a single layer or in batches, and cook about 4 minutes per side. 4. Pour the maple syrup mixture into the pan and cook, turning the ham a few times until it is coated with glaze. Remove from the pan. 5. Cut each ham steak in half and serve with some of the glaze poured over the top; add 2 apple slices per plate. Recipe courtesy of Mary Ann Esposito
Crunchy Asparagus Spears
Serves 4–6
Asparagus is one of the first harbingers of spring, and this is a favorite way to serve it for a brunch. 2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 pound fresh asparagus, washed, dried and ends trimmed ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup sesame seeds Lemon wedges, for garnish
28 | New Hampshire Home
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Pour the olive oil onto a non-stick baking sheet and spread out with a brush. Add the asparagus in a single layer and turn each one several times to coat in the oil. 2. Combine the cheese, salt and sesame seeds on a platter or a sheet of wax paper. Roll each asparagus spear in the mixture to evenly coat and place it back on the baking sheet in a single layer. 3. Bake until the asparagus is easily pierced with a knife at its thickest part and they have begun to brown. Transfer to a serving dish and, if you choose, serve with lemon wedges. Recipe from Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy by Mary Ann Esposito
may/june 2020
Ricotta Cheese Omelette S e r v e s 6 – 8
Imagine a kitchen...
Omelettes are perfect for brunch, and the ingredient combinations are endless—from vegetables to herbs and cheese. Ricotta cheese makes this omelette smooth and creamy. 6 large eggs 1 tablespoon grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 11/3 cups ricotta cheese 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley 1/2 teaspoon salt Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 teaspoon butter 1. In a bowl, beat the eggs with a wire whisk and grated cheese until fluffy. Add the ricotta, parsley, salt and pepper, and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Set aside. 2. In a 12-inch, non-stick sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the butter until bubbly. Pour in the egg mixture and cook over medium heat until the bottom starts to set. 3. Lift the edges of the omelette with a spatula and let the uncooked top mixture run underneath. Continue cooking until the top is not runny. 4. Place a flat dish or round pizza pan larger then the pan over the top, and invert the omelette onto it. 5. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Slide the omelet back into the pan and cook the remaining side until set. 6. Turn it out onto a serving dish, cut into wedges and serve. Recipe from ciaoitalia.com
Vintage Kitchens W
hether you live in an old house with original features, or plan to create something entirely new, the goal is the same: a consistent aesthetic theme and a kitchen that works — beautifully.
vintagekitchens.com
603.224.2854 24 South Street Concord, NH 03301 nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 29
home cooking with Mary Ann Esposito
Dried Fruit Compote
Serves 8
While fresh fruit is ideal for making a compote, a slowly stewed mixture of dried fruits is a good alternative when fresh is not in season. Choose a mix of fruits with varying colorsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;such as apricots, cherries, cranberries and prunes. Make the compote the day before and refrigerate.
1 cup dried pitted prunes or plums 1 cup dried apricots, nectarines or peaches 1 cup dried cranberries or cherries Juice and zest of 1 large orange 1 tablespoon apple cider 1/2 cup sugar
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the dried fruits. Add the orange juice, zest and enough apple cider to cover the fruits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 2. Add the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. 3. Lower the heat again and simmer gently, uncovered, for 10â&#x20AC;&#x201C;15 minutes or until the fruit has softened and the syrup is thick.
1 cinnamon stick
4. Remove the cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice. Transfer the compote to a bowl, and allow to come to room temperature. Garnish with mint leaves.
4 whole cloves
Recipe courtesy of Mary Ann Esposito
2 whole allspice Mint leaves, for garnish 30 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 31
master of his craft
Bill Noble says his “Flower Garden’s generous style and the way it frames the view complements the scale of the landscape.” July brings tall stands of delphinium, as well as generous clumps of summer phlox, catmints, filipenulas, bee balm and hydrangeas.
A Garden of One’s Own Not only has Bill Noble preserved
significant public and private
gardens around the country—
he has created
an extraordinary garden at home.
C
reating a garden is a labor of love that
back. “I tried to make a garden that felt right
requires vision, knowledge, patience
for its place,” Noble says. “I also wanted
and hard work. Mix these ingredients
to create a romantic setting and fill it with
with just the right amounts of sun and rain,
interesting plants.”
and add in hardy plants, good soil and lots of
Noble has chronicled this journey in a
TLC, and voila—you will be richly rewarded
new book called Spirit of Place: The Making
over time with a beautiful landscape.
of a New England Garden, which is scheduled
That’s the long story short of how Bill
to be published June 23 by Timber Press.
Noble created the garden surrounding the
He’ll be doing book signings and talks this
mid-nineteenth-century farmhouse just over
summer, and better yet, save Saturday, July
the Connecticut River in Norwich, Vermont,
18 because his garden is scheduled to be
that he’s called home since 1991. Noble was
open to the public on the Garden Conser-
able to build on the bones of the garden that
vancy’s Open Day Tour—see page XX for
once flourished out front and work his magic
more information. Don’t miss this wonderful
on a blank canvas of twenty-two acres out
opportunity as Noble’s garden is included in
By Andi Axman | Photography by Bill Noble 32 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
the Smithsonian Institution’s Archive
went on: This is how I could combine
Newbury. In 1998, I became director
of American Gardens and has been fea-
my interests in history and garden
of preservation for the Garden Conser-
tured in other publications, including
preservation. My work at Saint-Gaudens
vancy in Cold Spring, New York. Since
Martha Steward Living, House & Garden
turned into a full-time job.
2013, I’ve been a consultant in garden
NHH: Did you study horticulture
public garden management.
and the New York Times.
design and preservation as well as in
New Hampshire Home [NHH]: How did you
in college?
find your way to gardening?
BN: No, I didn’t. After graduating Beloit
for the Garden Conservancy. What I
Bill Noble [BN]: I became interested in gar-
College in Wisconsin, I studied medi-
loved is that I was exposed to lots of
dening in my late twenties when I real-
eval history and got a master of arts
plants and gardeners who suggested
ized I wanted to work outside. I grew
from the University of Toronto in 1977.
I try different things. I brought home
up in Connecticut, and as a boy, loved
I did a lot of traveling when I worked
plants that people gave me or recom-
playing in the woods and hiking. After
NHH: How did you learn
mended, and created beds to take
graduate school, I lived in Lebanon,
about gardening?
advantage of different soils and mois-
New Hampshire, and then moved to
BN: One thing about the National Park
ture conditions for those plants, which
nearby Cornish, where I found myself
Service is that they are good about
is something that Stephan Parrish did
farming. I had a vegetable garden and
training. I also took courses in Boston
with his garden at his Cornish property
helped start a farmers’ market. In 1987,
and got a certificate in garden arts from
called Northcote [New Hampshire Home,
I found seasonal work restoring the
the Arnold Arboretum. I stayed at Saint-
May/June 2017]. I was very influenced
hedges at Saint-Gaudens National His-
Gaudens until 1993, when I became
by his work there and my work bring-
torical Park in Cornish and a lightbulb
director of landscapes at The Fells in
ing that garden back to life.
Upright Lombardy poplars and columnar arborvitae lead the eye from the late-summer garden to the sublime Upper Valley landscape. nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 33
master of his craft NHH: In what way?
den presentable by get-
BN: I was working at Northcote when I
ting rid of blackberries
was designing flowerbeds at home. Like
and Rugosa roses that
Parrish, I combined trees, shrubs, peren-
were out of control. Out
nials and bulbs in those gardens.
front, I decided to work
NHH: How about other influences?
there—old-fashioned
BN: I was also inspired by the rock
shrubs, a nice row of
garden at The Fells along with gardens
peonies and flower
I saw in the Pacific Northwest. That is a
beds against stone
great place to visit gardens, as you see
walls. I also wanted to
more use of colorful shrubs, variegated
make a flower garden
textures and a freer combination of var-
of my own that had
ious plants than you’d see here in New
hydrangeas, roses, iris,
England. Gardeners in the Northwest
delphinium, daylilies,
have created their own style, influenced
phlox, asters—all the
by the gardens in the Mediterranean
old-fashioned stand-
and in California.
bys—underplanted with daffodils for spring.
NHH: Please tell us how you began
photography COURTESY OF roger foley
with what was already
Bill Noble relaxes in his garden.
creating your own garden.
NHH: What was next
for screening. We live on the deck and
BN: I spent a few years just cleaning up.
on your list?
the porch in the summer and love the
My next step was drawing and refining
BN: The garden began to take shape in
view. The land falls away quickly into a
a master plan, to define the boundaries
1996, with the planting of Lombardy
hayfield, and now we have a fairly long
of the garden. I began making the gar-
poplars, and hedges and evergreens
and narrow progression of gardens.
In the footprint of the formers stable, low-growing alpine and woodland shrubs mirror vegetation found at higher elevations in the distant New Hampshire hills. 34 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Bill Noble’s New Book
We believe spaces are beautiful when they work.
Bill Noble gets into the weeds about what it took to create his own garden in his new book, Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden, which is scheduled to be published in June. You can meet Noble and have your book signed at these events (please verify online): Wednesday, May 27, 7 p.m. Norwich Bookstore 291 Main Street • Norwich, VT (802) 649-1114 • norwichbookstore.com Sunday, June 21, 2 p.m. Garden Party at the Tracy Memorial Library 304 Main Street • New London, NH (603) 526-4656 • tracylibrary.org The Garden at Tracy Library is a historic garden, designed by the Olmsted Brother Landscape Architects in 1926 for the education and enjoyment of the public.
Next, I opened up the vegetable garden, both to grow veggies and use as a nursery for plants. I also cleaned up around two foundations—where the former stable used to be is now the Stable Garden and the Rock Garden is where the milking parlor used to be. Last, I planted trees for shade. A grove of paper birch, inspired by Saint-Gaudens, now grows in the barnyard. NHH: What were your goals
for your garden? BN: I wanted my garden to feel like it
had always been there. I also wanted this to be a garden to stroll through, where you could sit and reflect, enjoy the plants, take in the views and investigate what is beyond. When people visit, I love that they find their way through and circle back around for another look. NHH: How big is your garden? BN: Bigger than I intended—
two-and-a-half to three acres.
creating beautifully functional spaces
Lea Kelsey, President
7 Henniker Street, Concord, NH info@3wdesigninc.com 603.226.3399 www.3wdesigninc.com
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 35
PMS 194 MAROON & BLACK
master of his craft NHH: And how about irrigation?
Garden Conservancy Open Day Tour
BN: I drag a hose around the garden
Saturday, July 18, 11 a.m.–5 p.m
Noble’s garden is one of three in Vermont open to the public this day; three others are open on Sunday, July 19 (please verify online). On Saturday, Noble and Susan Howard will present a Digging Deeper session from 5 to 6:30 p.m., when he will talk about some of the design considerations and special plants in his garden. Tickets to visit Noble’s garden and others are $10 per garden (children twelve and under are free) and available day-of at the garden. Discounted ticket booklets may be purchased in advance at gardenconservancy.org. For the Digging Deeper session, tickets are $30 for Garden Conservancy members or $40 for general admission. Register at gardenconservancy.org/open-days/open-days-schedule/digging-deeper-spirit-of-place
and am trying to irrigate less, although I regularly water the vegetable garden and newly planted plants. I’ve built up the soil with compost and shredded leaves, and it retains moisture well. Also, we are on a north slope. I used to run a sprinkler on some flower beds, but the well ran dry three years ago. I’m trying to better match plants with soil, light and moisture needs as there are large stretches of the gardens that don’t get watered. NHH: What’s the best way
to learn about gardening? BN: Visit gardens and talk with other
gardeners as much as possible. Public gardens are a great resource, and there are more of them and they’re better than when I began. They have lots to offer keen observers. Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine, are treasures. There’s nothing like seeing a plant in place, seeing how a garden is put together and talking with people. You learn a lot from them. NHH: What does gardening mean to you? BN: Gardening has helped define my
life—I get a great deal of satisfaction being outside. There’s also the aesthetic reward, the satisfaction that is the fruit Stalwarts of the old-fashioned flower garden bloom in June: Siberian and bearded irises, rose campion, roses, coral bells, and hardy geraniums framed by a vining honeysuckle.
of all the work. Finally, there’s the intellectual challenge of figuring out how plants want to grow and how gardening
NHH: What do you do as far
can dig in the ground. My goal is to
as maintenance?
do all the moving by the end of April,
BN: In late summer and fall, I take notes
before plants put out a lot of growth
Resources
and photos of each area. In October,
and while there’s still a lot of moisture
I write up my notes, and in February,
in the ground. My colleague Susan
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens • (207) 633-8000 mainegardens.org
I rethink things. Any areas I want to
Howard, from East Thetford, Vermont,
renovate will be with plants I have on
works with me one day a week—I could
hand, as there are very few places for
not have made this garden without
new plants.
her help. It usually takes me until the
Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (603) 675-2175 • nps.gov • sgnhs.org
end of May to recover from the end of
The Fells • (603) 763-4789 • thefells.org
winter.
The Garden Conservancy • gardenconservancy.org
In April, I prune plants and move any that need moving as soon as I 36 | New Hampshire Home
can rise to the level of artistry.
NHH
Garden in the Woods • (508) 877-7630 nativeplanttrust.org Susan Howard • pyrus.hort@gmail.com Bill Noble • billnoblegardens@gmail.com
may/june 2020
Historic estate. Unmatched views. Explore the Arts and Crafts architecture and interior of the 1914 Lucknow mansion and its technological innovations of the early 20th century. • Mansion tours • Dining • Horseback riding • Programs and events • 28 miles of trails and waterfalls Photo by Almorinda Photography
Open daily, late May through late October (Please check our website for updates and programs!)
Route 171, 455 Old Mountain Rd. Moultonborough, NH castleintheclouds.org | 603-476-5900 nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 37
Looking Ahead at Bedrock Gardens The future looks bright in Lee, with Bedrockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first full season as a public garden. By Robin Sweetser Photography by Morgan Karanasios
38 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
A hedge of ‘Emerald Green’ arborvitae provides a backdrop for the Wave Garden and its white columns of varying heights at Bedrock Gardens in Lee. Atop each pedestal is a piece of owner Jill Nooney’s metal artwork.
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 39
O
One of the joys of summer is visiting other gardens.
Whether you’re a gardener seeking inspiration, information or just a pleasant afternoon outing, nothing beats getting a glimpse behind a new garden gate.
This year, Bedrock Gardens in Lee is opening for its first
full season as a public garden. Owners Jill Nooney and Bob Munger decided in 2007 that, for their garden not to fall into disrepair when they could no longer care for it, they would have to take action to preserve it. “The pleasure others derived from the garden—paired with the fact we can’t take it with us—propelled us to try and turn the garden into one open to the public,” Nooney says.
Popular demand
Bedrock was already a popular garden destination. “Way back in 1998, we started opening the garden two weekends a year as a stage to showcase my outdoor sculptures,” Nooney says. After a few years, word of the garden spread fast. “For several years, we were open one weekend a month, and when we went to two weekends a month, we had more than five thousand visitors!” Munger says.
Above: The two-hundred-long water channel called the WiggleWaggle snakes its way from the springhouse to a small pond where cranes keep an eye on the koi from behind the metal cattails. Left: Though Bedrock Gardens began as their private oasis, Jill Nooney and Bob Munger have created a living work of art worthy of sharing with the world.
40 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
The most impressive water feature on the property is a two-hundred-foot-long channel dubbed â&#x20AC;&#x153;the Wiggle-Waggleâ&#x20AC;? for the way it curves across the property.
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 41
42 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
While Nooney and Munger created the garden as their own private oasis—designed with its back to the road and its heart in the middle of the property—others found refuge there as well. “What began as a haven just for us evolved into a space that the public insisted we share and preserve,” Nooney says.
Roots of a garden The garden has been created on land that was originally a farm dating from 1740. When Nooney and Munger bought the property in 1980, the land had been neglected for about forty years. The couple spent their first years there clearing overgrown fields of poison ivy, saplings and brush. Actual landscaping began in 1987; then Nooney and Munger added a ¾-acre pond in 1991. The soil excavated from the pond was used to build a berm alongside busy Route 125 to buffer the road noise and block the sight of traffic. Selective cutting of trees opened up the property even more, and two miles of trails made the wooded areas accessible.
Art meets nature Over the years, Nooney and Munger have added all manner of unique structural elements and hardscape, including stone walls;
nhhomemagazine.com
Left: The Spiral Garden is edged with spinning roof vents atop metal culvert pipes. Take time to walk the moss-and-stonepaved labyrinth. Below: A wooden arbor frames the entrance to the area around the house where there are many metal sculptures and themed gardens.
New Hampshire Home | 43
Above: Called Cop Top for its copper roof, this pavilion—made from an antique skylight— overlooks the WiggleWaggle. Inside, chairs made from old tractor seats and other pieces of farm equipment rotate 360 degrees to give views in all directions. Facing page: Bluegreen foliage and blue catmint flowers complement the yellow-flowering elecampane growing near the base of this tall, gong-like structure, one of several Jill Nooney has made using bronze cymbals.
44 | New Hampshire Home
paved paths and patios; a living Belgian fence
a formal grove—called a bosquet—of seven-son
made of eleven varieties of espaliered apples; a
trees (Heptacodium miconioides) at one end of the
massive torii gateway arch; a tea house; pagodas
property, over the pond, down the four-hundred-
and pergolas; a tall arborvitae hedge; water fea-
foot-long allée of Chinese fringe trees (Chionan-
tures; and lots of art.
thus retusus), through the torii gate to two maple
In the winter, when she can’t be out in the garden, Nooney is in her workshop busily welding ar-
trees on the boundary line of the neighboring farm.
bors, plant supports and her fanciful pieces of gar-
A second axis is called the “baxis”—short for
den art. Many of these quirky sculptures are made
back axis. Almost as long as the first, it starts at
from old tools and farm implements, giving them
the barn, looks across several garden spaces, in-
new life. Her work is full of witty puns and symbols,
tersects the first axis at the torii gate, goes under
making it as cleverly entertaining as it is beautiful
the high pergola and ends at a tree hung with
and adding a sense of humor to the garden.
compact discs, that sparkle in the light.
Lots to see and do
ing a specimen plant or piece of sculpture to
Nooney believes that a garden needs to have
catch the eye and lead visitors to explore what
destinations. At Bedrock, there are twenty-three
lies ahead.
Nooney is very conscious of sight lines, plac-
garden areas linked with paths to form a journey
The twenty-three gardens combine to form a
with comfortable spots along the way to sit and
huge, living work of art. There is the Garish Gar-
enjoy the sights.
den, which boasts red, orange, bright pink and
There are many axis views that draw visitors
yellow flowers in eye-popping combinations;
through the garden. One is nine-hundred-feet
dynamic sculptures; and even a fun-house mir-
long, looking from a pair of thrones backed by
ror. The formal Parterre is a calm garden of white
may/june 2020
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 45
Above: A fanciful dragon sculpture watches over the path near the Wave Garden. Facing page, top: The shiny Moonstone Arbor is your portal into the shade of the Swaleway Garden. Bottom left: Pink lotus buds get ready to burst into bloom near the start of the Wiggle-Waggle. Bottom right: Seen from the Garish Garden is the antique copper skylight used as a springhouse holding the pump that recirculates water from the pond to the WiggleWaggle. The Belgian fence in the background is made of apple trees espaliered in a diamond pattern.
46 | New Hampshire Home
flowers enclosed with a clipped yew hedge. Its
is also a knowledgeable horticulturalist, having
diamond-patterned pathway leads to a center
graduated from the Radcliffe Seminars Landscape
pool with fountain. An eight-foot metal arch of
Design Program. She is the idea generator, and
three acrobats frames the view of a Japanese water
Munger, a retired family physician and problem
garden, drawing the eye to the teahouse behind
solver, enjoys finding ways to bring those ideas
it. There is a garden dedicated to all things round,
to life. “If you can think it up, I can make it hap-
one devoted to dwarf conifers, a rock garden, a
pen,” he told his wife.
swaleway for spring flowering plants and many
“Bob can fix or build just about anything,”
more gardens to discover. If you are feeling brave,
Nooney says. He has made intricately patterned
be sure to visit the Dark Woods where mysterious
walkways and patios, devised the plumbing for
sculptural figures await under the tall pines.
the pools and fountains, built stone walls and
Tireless teamwork
constructed buildings. The most impressive water feature on the property is a two-hundred-foot-
Nooney and Munger are two incredibly talented
long channel dubbed “the Wiggle-Waggle” for
people who work well together, complementing
the way it curves across the property. Water flows
each other’s strengths. Not only an artist, Nooney
from the springhouse—made from a repurposed
may/june 2020
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 47
Enjoy Your Visit Bedrock Gardens plans to be open to the public as soon as possible in May—please check the website for information. Hours this summer will be Tuesday through Friday as well as the first and third weekends of the month through October—all days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bedrock Gardens has also added a daily garden tour program for those interested in exploring the gardens in greater depth; another option is a less regular, guided art tour. It is always best to check the bedrockgardens.org before you plan to visit as well as to explore upcoming events, lectures, workshops and daily offerings. Bedrock Gardens has a new point of entry with a larger parking lot, restrooms, admissions buildings, garden shop with plants for sale and a gracious welcome area in which to gather. Bedrock Gardens’ Annual Gala is scheduled for May 30. You can also find Bedrock Gardens at Plant Something NH Day, which is scheduled for June 6; a Pollinator Festival is also planned for that day. Check bedrockgardens.org or Facebook page facebook.com/bedrockgardens for further details about this season’s schedule, events, classes and workshops.
Funnel Gardens on each side of the wide path lead visitors toward Hex Rock, which has a naturally eroded “X” marked on it.
skylight—through the three-foot-wide channel filled with pink lotus blossoms and into a thirtyfoot-wide koi pond, before being pumped back to the springhouse. Like many of the large, more involved features of the garden, Nooney says this one took about two years to complete. When they began work on their gardens, Nooney and Munger were busy professionals raising a family. Both love gardening and working outside was a way to decompress from the daily grind. With the exception of running heavy equipment, they did all the work themselves. About twenty of their thirty-seven acres are planted in gardens, which include many rare and interesting perennials, trees and shrubs. This creatively re-purposed New England farm is a one-of-a-kind property and has become a haven for art, horticulture and inspiration. It also is part of a green corridor that connects five area
Bob Munger and Jill Nooney alight for a minute on wooden “thrones” flanked by lion statues. Located at one end of the long axis, the seats offer a place to rest and enjoy the view of the gardens.
48 | New Hampshire Home
properties and encompasses more than two hundred acres, preserving open space. “What makes the garden noteworthy is its size, and its blend
may/june 2020
of unusual horticulture, strong and inventive garden design, and critically sited sculpture. My mission in the garden is to encourage visitors to slow down and stay a while; the more you look, the more you see,” Nooney says.
Going public Becoming a public garden has been a long process; attaining nonprofit status for the Friends of Bedrock Gardens was one of the first hurdles to overcome, taking ten years. “The mission of the Friends group is to take over and run the garden,” Nooney says. The Friends group also established a governing board and brought in John Forti as founding executive director. “When I first visited Bedrock Gardens, I felt inspired by the genuine creativity, unique plant selections that I had never seen before and a sense of wonder,” he says. “The landscapes ranged from classical to wild and woolly, from elegant to humorous. I was instantly at home there.” Forti recently returned to New Hampshire af-
plantings like a fernery, and a children’s garden
ter three years as horticulture director at the Mas-
space that will offer fun and meaningful lessons
sachusetts Horticultural Society. Area folks know
for families with our own unique twist,” Forti
him from his years as curator of historic land-
says. “I look forward to growing a staff that will
scapes at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth and co-
help us to become exemplary stewards, educators
founder of the Seacoast Slow Food chapter. “His
and agritourism leaders in our region. Above all,
knowledge of plants, the region and its people, in
I look forward to helping us grow as a land-based
addition to his magnetic personality, make him
cultural oasis and gathering place for the commu-
the perfect person for the job,” Nooney says.
nity to find calm and inspiration in a harried and
Forti’s primary role as director is to increase
fractious world.”
Bedrock’s visibility locally as well as nationally,
Forti points out that the town of Lee is like the
expand their educational programs, professional-
bread-basket for the Seacoast. Bedrock is surround-
ize their operations, and secure their place as a des-
ed by amazing farms, wineries, distilleries, nurser-
tination for horticulture and art. “He will carry us
ies and open space that make it a great family des-
over the threshold to be a fully public garden,”
tination from anywhere in the region. Nooney
Nooney says.
has created a pamphlet called “Off the Beaten
Future plans “I am personally excited to dive in and help cre-
Path,” which lists things to do in the area; there’s also a list of nearby places to eat on their website: bedrockgardens.org.
ate new design spaces, programs, garden mer-
“Our future is bright, and we are pretty darn
chandise, and fun places for family and commu-
excited to share the garden. Come one, come all
nity engagement,” Forti says.
and bring your curiosity,” Nooney, Munger and
The woodlands between the parking lot at a
The clipped yew hedge enclosing the formal Parterre Garden stands in direct contrast to the free-flowing design of the beds on either side of the path emerging from it. Nicotiana, ornamental grasses and white hydrangea bloom near one of Jill Nooney’s metal totems.
Forti say.
NHH
new point of entry and the existing landscapes offer opportunities to create additional gardens.
Resource
“We are just starting to explore how we can add
Bedrock Gardens • (603) 659-2993 • bedrockgardens.org
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 49
an updated
Village
HOME After Joanne and Bill Zeolie found the perfect house in Amherst’s Historic District, they enlisted a talented team of designers and craftspeople to help make it their own.
A few years ago, long-time Amherst residents Joanne and Bill Zeolie began thinking about moving from the town’s outskirts to its historic district. With one son in college and another in high school, the time seemed right to move to a smaller property in their favorite neighborhood—Amherst’s charming historic village, where you can walk to the store, town hall, library and village green with its many happenings. The home they eventually found was an 1850s farmhouse with a long footprint of connected, sunlit rooms. “The long layout worked for us,” Joanne says. “And the sunlight in this house is amazing. I was told that this style of home, built as a Greek Revival with additions over time, is known as a sun liner, because you can see the sun shine in each room throughout the day.” A deep back yard was another plus, as Bill—who owns the home and garden center Bedford Fields in Bedford—is an avid gardener.
A new team for an old home When the Zeolies bought the house in 2018, it was in good shape from a structural standpoint, but needed updating in terms of paint, finish and flow. To that
By Jenny Donelan | Photography by John W. Hession and Morgan Karanasios Floral Arrangements by Apotheca 50 | New Hampshire Home
The spacious kitchen— with its natural light and areas for relaxing, eating and preparing meals—is the heart of the Zeolies’ home. The signature green and blue hues that appear throughout the house are visible in the kitchen table chairs and various decorative elements, such as the vases on the island.
may/june 2020
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 51
Top: The dining roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exposed ceiling beams make it clear that the house is old, even though much of the dĂŠcor, such as the upholstered dining-room chairs, are updated. A sliding barn door painted gray (above left) separates the office from the dining room. To the left of the office door is a chair upholstered in a striking blue (above right).
52 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
From left to right are Emily Shakra, of Emily Shakra Design in Bedford; Dan Hughes, of Capital Kitchen & Bath in Concord; artist Dana Boucher, of Bedford; and homeowners Bill and Joanne Zeolie. The floral landscape over the fireplace is by Boucher.
end, the Zeolies hired Emily Shakra, of
Capital Kitchen & Bath in Concord
Emily Shakra Design in Bedford. Shakra
was hired along with Shakra to plan and
had worked with the couple on their
execute the renovation of the approxi-
Brick flooring in an attractive her-
previous home in Amherst, and was fa-
mately 2,800-square-foot home. “Capi-
ringbone pattern was added to the
miliar with their sense of style and their
tal Kitchen & Bath was able to salvage
mudroom, along with vertical, shiplap
goals: “Function was very important
much of the original structure, which
walls studded with hooks for easy stor-
for the new home,” Shakra says, “but
helped lead us to the final design,”
age. Visible ceiling timbers were also
Joanne and Bill also wanted to create
Shakra says. In addition, some key in-
retained in the first floor of the house,
spaces that were cozy, family friendly
dividuals and companies who contrib-
making it clear that it has a long history.
and welcoming.”
and is also truer to how the room would have appeared originally, Joanne says.
uted to the effort were Jason Rivers, of
Some changes needed to be made,
In terms of aesthetics, “We wanted
J Rivers Custom Furniture in Deerfield,
however. When the Zeolies bought the
to make it bright and modern, but also
and Don Mavrikis, of Mavrikis Up-
house, it was painted in an eclectic as-
keep the old charm,” Joanne says. De-
holstering & Furniture Designs LLC in
sortment of colors (including green,
sign decisions throughout the project
Nashua. All are long-time partners of
pink and beige) that the homeowners
were informed by this balance between
Shakra’s.
were eager to replace with something
honoring the building’s origins and
more timeless. Shakra chose a neutral
embracing contemporary design, and
Timeless elements
lifestyles. “Joanne and Bill wanted their
One element no one wanted to replace
home to express that ‘cottage’ personal-
was the original wide, pine floorboards.
The Zeolies also installed a new
ity of whimsy and charm,” Shakra says.
These were refinished, and new pine
electrical system, added central air con-
“We did not stay true to one aesthetic
flooring was added to extend into the
ditioning and replaced the old, drafty
theme but chose to mix styles.” Sticking
work area of the kitchen, replacing the
windows with new—but still historically
to one style, such as “farmhouse,” can
pre-existing tile. The all-wood floor
accurate—models. In this last endeavor,
sometimes date a home, she says.
pulls together the large kitchen area
they were lucky to have some expert as-
nhhomemagazine.com
palette for the interior wall coverings and gray for the exterior.
New Hampshire Home | 53
Above: Original wide-plank, pine flooring was retained throughout the house, including in the kitchen. Right: The mudroom flooring consists of bricks set in a herringbone pattern. Far right: A black-and-white upholstered bench is a comfortable and practical element for the mudroom.
sistance from Joanne’s family company,
kitchen is divided into three parts: the
mented by open shelving and metal
JB Sash and Door Company of Chelsea,
workspace; the dining area, with its large
accents, as well as appliances from
Massachusetts, which specializes in cus-
birch table handcrafted by Rivers; and
Brennan & MacKay in Milford—support
tom, historic windows.
a seating area near the windows with
the functional aspects of the kitchen.
The heart of the home
two rocking chairs from Tappan Chairs
The kitchen is where the home’s col-
of Center Sandwich. “No home is com-
or scheme first came into play. The din-
The kitchen is the literal and figura-
plete without a space to enjoy morning
ing chairs are a spring green with black-
tive center of the home. With its wide-
tea in front of sun-drenched windows,”
and-white seat cushions, for example.
plank, pine floors, fireplace, exposed
Shakra says. Dividing the kitchen from
Joanne says she was initially skeptical
timbers and comfortable seating areas,
the dining area is a cleverly designed,
when Shakra suggested the particular
the kitchen is a natural gathering place
large island that incorporates a work-
shade of green that eventually became
for the family, and a favorite room for
space on the kitchen side and a built-in
a signature color for the home but came
Joanne and Shakra. The kitchen is also a
bench for the dining-room table on the
to love it. “These colors were chosen to
sun-filled room—made even more so by
other.
complement the outdoor scenery and
the windows over the sink that were en-
Shaker-style cabinets installed by
maintain the ‘cottage’ personality of
larged during the renovation. The open
Capital Kitchen & Bath—and comple-
the house,” Shakra says. “We also chose
54 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
a mix of materials for the kitchen that
own individual palette while still flow-
them, she describes her ideas to Rivers
were equal parts farmhouse and mod-
ing together.” The rooms also exhibit
and he makes them.
ern.” Among the most striking features
the same balance between farmhouse/
One of the pieces that did make the
that skew a bit more modern than farm-
cottage traditional and modern finishes
transition from the old house to the
house are the fabric window shades
that keeps the look fresh.
new is the large, round, wooden dining-
with a large floral print (made by J&R
The aesthetic for the new home ne-
room table. The dining room—with its
Langley Co. in Manchester) and the
cessitated mostly new furnishings, as
exposed beams, minimalist chandelier
striking, horizontal landscape painting
the Zeolies’ former house was more in
and upholstered seats—is a perfect ex-
by Bedford artist Dana Boucher, which
the Colonial/traditional country style.
ample of the house’s juxtaposition of
was commissioned for this project.
Rivers made many of the pieces to or-
old and new.
Rooms in line
der—in addition to the kitchen table,
Just off the dining room is a home
this includes a red, geometric mirror in
office where Joanne, a mortgage bro-
“Once we decided on the kitchen col-
the hallway and a blue end table in the
ker, and Bill share work space. This
or palette, we sprinkled those colors
living room. Shakra says she gets many
room is divided from the dining room
throughout the home,” Shakra says.
ideas for pieces that would work in a
by a handsome, sliding barn door that
“This allows the rooms to have their
particular setting, and if she can’t find
is painted gray. (Anthony, the Zeolies’
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 55
older son, had the idea of placing the door there.) The focal point of the living room is a circular, upholstered coffee table/ ottoman in the design scheme’s signature green. Shakra loves pieces that can be used for sitting or serving, and has had ottomans produced for many other projects. “They’re so versatile,” she says. Mavrikis Upholstering & Furniture Designs made the ottoman and many other striking pieces throughout the house, notably a black-and-white upholstered bench in the mudroom. The couches and other upholstered furniture in the room (from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, of Burlington, Massachusetts) are in a neutral beige, with pops of green, blue and other colors incorporated into throw pillows. The living room also has a navy-style lantern hanging over the ottoman that provides a graphical counterpoint. The
Above: In the family room, which looks out onto the patio and gardens, the wheeled coffee table resembles a garden cart.
lantern and many other fixtures in the
Top: A green ottoman in the living room can be used as either a table or a seat.
56 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
house are from The Lighting Showroom
rooms on the second floor—one for
in Bedford.
Anthony and one for the couple’s other
The family room—with its exposed
son, James.
beams, comfortable furnishings and
The two bathrooms on this floor
plaid window treatments—is Bill’s fa-
are finished in a variety of materials—
vorite, as it looks out onto the patio and
wood, stone and tile—that provide
his gardens. A wheeled coffee table in
textural contrast. Grays and neutrals
front of the couch subtly references a
are the dominant palette, but the mas-
garden cart. Above the family room is a
ter bathroom with its exposed original
game room.
clapboard has a shower tiled in blue and
Upstairs On the second floor, the master bedroom received a big makeover. The orig-
white as well as a striking blue-painted vanity. A handy bench across from the vanity is cantilevered into the wall.
inal room was very large, with a lot of
Challenges
unused space. So the team created a new
The project went fairly smoothly, al-
wall that made the bedroom a more in-
though working on a 150-year-old struc-
timate (though still generous) size, and
ture can be tricky. “There are always
allowed for the creation of a larger mas-
challenges when you’re working on an
ter bathroom and closet. The room was
older farm home,” says Dan Hughes, co-
then appointed with furniture, rugs and
owner of Capital Kitchen & Bath.
bedding from Company C in Concord.
The biggest renovation challenge
“This room was really transformed,”
for the homeowners, Joanne says, was
Joanne says. There are two other bed-
meeting the local historical district re-
nhhomemagazine.com
Above: A brick patio allows for outdoor dining and relaxing. Top: When the Zeolies bought the house, its shutters were stored in the garage but have since been painted and remounted.
New Hampshire Home | 57
quirements. Although the Zeolies were happy to comply in terms of maintaining the aesthetics of the village, there were some problems to solve: the windows, for example, had to be certain dimensions. In this, the Zeolies were lucky to have help from Joanne’s family company, which specializes in historic windows. Another challenge was installing the air conditioning unit in an antique house with different types of construction, including a portion on a raised slab. For Shakra, the biggest challenge was finding the right materials—furniture and artwork—to realize the vision of cottage/modern. The “hunt” was a major aspect of the project. In order to find everything she wanted, she had to cast her nets wide—relying on sources in New York and North Carolina as well as in New Hampshire. Among many other contributors to the project were Art 3 Gallery in Manchester, Sullivan Framing in Bedford and Apotheca, a floral shop Above: A little space from the very-large master bedroom was used to create a large master bathroom.
in Goffstown that helped provide some
Top: In the master bedroom, an architectural element acts as a kind of secondary headboard for the bed.
finishing touches with fresh flowers.
58 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Pine floors, blue-andwhite accents, and well-placed windows make this upstairs bedroom sunny and comfortable.
Outdoor changes
The garden is a work in progress, Bill
and Bill trusted the team to realize the
Outside, the house received a new paint
says—a matter of years rather than
overall vision and go to the next level
treatment—gray with white trim and
months.
with this project. “We had a lot of fun,”
black shutters. The homeowners discov-
Shakra says.
ered the shutters stored in the garage
Teamwork
(complete with old-style hardware),
Shakra stresses that one of the most
painted them and put them back up. In
critical elements of a successful renova-
As for the homeowners, they love
back of the house, the Zeolies expanded
tion/remodel is for the homeowner and
their new/old home and their neighbor-
the patio using Boston City Hall Paver
designer to assemble a team of contrac-
hood. “The village is a special place to
brick. The original patio was paved in
tors and tradespeople who can work to-
live,” Joanne says. “You can walk to the
brick, according to Bill. “So we kept that
gether to complete the project on time
library, to Moulton’s Market and to the
going,” he says.
and meet the overall vision. She says
village green. You see your neighbors—
she is very appreciative of how Joanne
it’s really uplifting.”
The yard and garden are Bill’s do-
“It was really rewarding to see the finished project,” Hughes says.
NHH
main. As the owner of a home and garden store who studied landscape design at New Hampshire Technical Institute, he has a natural proclivity for gardening, and enjoys the fact that the long, narrow yard is a more constrained canvas than the expansive landscape he managed on his former property. “The really cool thing is that it’s all right in front of me,” he says. “It’s manageable.” He inherited some perennials and enlarged the flower beds, a raised vegetable bed, a few evergreens, fruit trees, Japanese maples and blueberry bushes.
nhhomemagazine.com
Resources Apotheca • (603) 497-4940 apothecaflowershoppe.com
J&R Langley Co. • (603) 622-9653 • jrlangley.com
Art 3 Gallery • (603) 668-6650 • art3gallery.com
JB Sash and Door Company • (617) 884-8940 jbsash.com
Bedford Fields • (603) 472-8880 bedfordfields.com
J Rivers Custom Furniture • (802) 272-6636 jriversfurniture.com
Dana Boucher • (603) 591-2299 breathoffreshart.com
Mavrikis Upholstering & Furniture Designs (603) 883-6868
Brennan & MacKay • (603) 673-1177 brennanandmackayappliances.com
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams • (781) 552-5200 mgbwhome.com
Capital Kitchen & Bath • (603) 225-8300 capitalkitchenandbath.com
Sullivan Framing • (603) 471-1888 sullivanframing.com
Company C • (603) 226-4460 • companyc.com
Tappan Chairs • (833) 827-7267 • tappanchairs.com
Emily Shakra Design • (603) 661-4969 emilyshakra@aol.com
The Lighting Showroom • (603) 471-3299 thelightingshowroom.us
New Hampshire Home | 59
Inspiration for
Everyone If you love flowers, you’ll love the pocket-garden tour in Portsmouth.
Now in its thirty-first year, Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth offers a peek into cherished private gardens. Many of these small back yards have survived for centuries. Today, thanks in part to the tour’s inspiration, small gardens in Portsmouth have flourished first in one neighborhood, then another and so on.
The tour’s roots The vision for the tour began with Jackie Ellis, a member of South Church in Portsmouth. “In 1985, I went to England to study landscape design,” Ellis says. “On the weekends, people there opened up their gardens, and for a small fee, they’d have a ‘garden open.’ It was fairly random event every Saturday.” When Ellis returned to the United States, she missed the “garden opens.” She went on garden tours in Boston and Newburyport, Massachusetts, but there wasn’t a garden tour in Portsmouth. “Then I thought the ‘garden open’ idea would be a good fund-raiser for South Church,” Ellis says. Others did as well, and as Ellis recalls, almost immediately a dozen or so people said, “Sure we’ll be on the tour!” Because the gardens were generally small, the term “pocket gardens” fit perfectly. Since this has always been a walking tour, the gardens are close together. Often a neighborhood has a community of dedicated gardeners who tend to sign up together.
By Carrie Sherman Photography by Morgan Karanasios
60 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Susan and Mark Powersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s garden leans toward pinks and purples with a pop of contrast thrown in here and there. Small, solar lights along the wall provide soft light all year round, and playful garden art peeks through leaves.
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 61
The flowerbox—loaded with nemesia (summer snapdragon), verbena and ivy— connects the house to the garden in graceful way.
The Powers garden Susan and Mark Powers understand completely about being adaptable when it comes to gardening. When Susan and Mark moved to this house, neither was particularly interested in gardening. They did want their entrance to be a bit more inviting, and so they had the cement walkway removed and replaced it with brick-edged with granite. Then, Susan bought a pot of Million Bells, a bright annual that looks like small petunias, and placed it on the porch. It looked wonderful. This prompted Susan and Mark to get professional advice from a garden designer, who recommended a lilac and a hydrangea for the south side of their house. “Once we started,” Susan says, “we really loved it. We had no clue…” Initially, Susan and Mark thought they’d have a backyard vegetable garden. After all, Susan had grown up on a farm in New Hampshire, and she had fond memories of grabbing corn from the field and eating it hours later for dinner. But, their Portsmouth yard was shady and aphids munched on everything. So, after a couple disappointing seasons, they opted for flowers and bought their vegetables at the farmers’ market downtown. “We wanted an old-fashioned cottage garden. I like to have a lot of textures and colors,” Susan says. “There’s always something in bloom throughout the summer. And daylilies will carry us through that tough, end-of-July time when not as much is in bloom. My goal has been to plant tough, resilient perennials. For example, I planted Therese Bugnet, an old-fashioned hardy, fragrant rose with large red to pale pink flowers.” Each year, Susan and Mark add a bit more or improve something. They’ve created a raised garden bed with a stone wall that undulates along their backyard border. There are tall plants such as delphinium and a rose trellis. The list of plants is long and wonderful, 62 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Above: Fuchsia â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lambadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; blooms non-stop through the summer. Left: Homeowners Mark and Susan Powers. Below: Varieties of pink osteospermum, purple ageratum, fuchsia portulaca and white alyssum create a blend of colors and textures.
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 63
Right: Toward the back of the garden pink, purple and white Digitalis ‘Dalmatian’ (foxgloves) provide spires of color. Below: When paired with the lime green sedum ‘Angelina,’ dark purple salvia really stands out.
like an old poem—peonies, vervain, snapdragons, foxgloves, clematis, wisteria, monkshood, asters, black-eyed Susans, bee balm and a few tomato plants, just because. Susan’s approach is carefree. She keeps track of what she plants from year to year, keeping the plant tags in a box. “I go to the nursery and look for color combinations that I like,” Susan says. “There’s no formula. It’s all very intuitive. I look for that zing.” One rule of thumb she does endorse is the use of white alyssum to create contrast and to rest one’s eyes. And, she adds, the bees love it, as they do the two Linden trees. “We also have a lot of clover in our lawn, and neighbors have a couple of hives and some mason bees,” she says. As one season rolls into another, Susan’s color palette and tastes have evolved to include tropicals, such as the Mandevilla vine on their porch
64 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Left: The combined purple and orange colors in these osteospermum ‘Ostica Bronze’ flowers provide contrast and continuity with nearby flowers. Below: The pink peony ‘Bowl of Beauty’ adds drama.
“We wanted an oldfashioned cottage garden,” Susan Powers says. “I like to have a lot of textures and colors.”
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 65
Right: Grandiflora rose ‘Honey Nectar’. Below left: Homeowner Pam Gould stands at her back door. Below right: A well-proportioned hardscape complements the house and provides structure for plantings. A ‘Dapple Willow’ bush catches one’s eye at an entry point.
with its big red flowers, along with fuchsias and begonias. “I was shy about doing the tour initially,” Susan says. “But it was fun. We went on the tour ourselves, all within walking distance. It was really inspiring.”
The Gould garden Down the street and around the corner is Pam Gould’s garden, which was also on last year’s tour. Gould had recently moved to Portmouth to be near her son James’s family. They live a few blocks away and were on last year’s tour as well. “When we moved to Portsmouth from Connecticut in 2015, there was nothing here,” Gould says about her yard. “The back yard was fenced off for a dog. The house was built in the 1870s.” However, there were two big linden trees, well worth the shade. “When I started digging, there was broken glass and pottery, rusty old nails, and construction materials,” Gould says. “So, I planted vegetables in raised beds and pots.”
66 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Above: The climbing rose ‘Joseph’s Coat’ sports blooms with hues that change from golden yellow to deep red. Left: Grandiflora rose ‘Love’. Below: Bright blue pots full of easy-care red and yellow annuals anchor the driveway and bloom all summer long.
nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 67
a Florabunda named Bolero—that are very fragrant. I was walking in the nursery, and their smell was so brilliant, it stopped me in my tracks.” In short, that’s a good tip on how to buy a fragrant rose. For Gould, visiting a nursery is a sensory and tactile experience. “It usually takes me a couple of times even to pick out annuals,” she says. The tour is a great way to learn about gardening, say how to tell a Grandiflora (large showy roses on a long stem) from a Florabunda (stocky, hardy shrubs with roses). Gould’s garden seems to have it all: a flagstone path, a trellised wall, a patio and lush, fragrant roses—some of which continue to bloom throughout the summer. Plus, she has two fluffy, red chickens that lay eggs. “I started out with six chickens,” Gould says. “But two turned out to be roosters and Portsmouth is a ‘no-rooster’ town. So, I found them homes. Then, two died. So, now I have just the two.” As someone who has gardened and kept chickRaised vegetable beds border the side walkway of Pam Gould’s home.
ens for years, Gould is philosophical about set-
Check Out Portsmouth’s Pocket Gardens
backs. Where there was shade, she added hostas
This year’s Thirty-First Annual Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth Tour is scheduled to feature gardens in the Victorian neighborhood, bordered by Miller Avenue, South Street and Middle Street. The ticket brochure contains all the information tour-goers need: a list of the garden addresses, a detailed tour map and suggested places to park. The event is held rain or shine. Tickets are available at the South Church office (73 Court Street in Portsmouth) through 2 p.m. Friday, September 11, or online at southchurch-uu-org. Tickets can also be purchased at Wentworth Greenhouses in Rollinsford and Rolling Green Nursery in Greenland. Please verify online. The tour is presented by South Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit the church and are $20 in advance; $25 day-of.
and ferns. Then there was rock-hard soil, so she
Friday, September 11, 5–8 p.m. • Saturday,September 12, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Details at: facebook.com/PortsmouthPocketGardenTour
plus volunteers. The crew includes the gardeners,
added the patio and pots. It’s all about being adaptable. Plus, she keeps track of what’s been planted, worked or didn’t work, all in a simple notebook that’s always handy.
Making the tour happen Ellis remains involved in the tour as one of 150who graciously open their gardens to visitors, as
“A couple years ago, I put in raspberry
well as the dozens of church members and friends
bushes, and they grew to be seven feet tall.
who sit in gardens, bake cookies, put up posters
They’re well-fertilized,” Gould says.
and do the many other tasks that bring the tour
In 2018, a South Church garden scout—
to life. This year, conveners Susan Peterson and
that’s someone affiliated with the tour—
Lauren Katz plan to add a new educational
happened to catch a glimpse of Gould’s lovely
component.
garden and approached her about participat-
Ellis, who sells tickets, always enjoys talking
ing in the tour. Ellis says scouts look for a
with visitors. “The garden tour in Portsmouth has
garden with good structure. Usually that means
become a destination,” she says. “Visitors show
hardscaping—the addition of a patio, water fea-
up from all over. They’re not critics—they’re just
ture, retaining wall or trellis that integrates the
really enthusiastic about gardening.”
NHH
garden with the house. Flowers actually tend to be a bonus. Gould loves roses and her back yard is an oasis
68 | New Hampshire Home
Resources
for them. “Tea roses need a lot more sun than
Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour facebook.com/PortsmouthPocketGardenTour
this property gets. But I’ve got a couple Grandi-
Rolling Green Nursery • (603) 436-2732 • rollinggreennursery.com
floras and Florabundas. I have some white ones—
Wentworth Gardens • (603) 743-4919 • wentworthgreenhouses.com may/june 2020
a showcase of
landscape designers
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
New Hampshire Home | 69
landscape designers’ showcase
Belknap landscape company
We turn Dreamscapes into lanDscapes
e
njoying life is about making the most of our time, and sharing it with those you love. A great outdoor space invites people to spend time and make memories together. The spaces which best serve this purpose are unique and beautiful as they comingle function and form. Patios, kitchens, firepits, and all other landscape features can provide great additions to your property. Make sure they are executed with vision and understanding. Your outdoor space should reflect you, your property, and what you value. Creativity mingled with functionality is what differentiates a landscape that was merely installed from one that is a focal point of your property. The best landscapes achieve this purpose with a vision. Property owners and designers work together to understand desired outcomes and create a relationship of cooperative inspiration. Your unique ideas are refined and solidified into a custom design ready for execution. Construction methods and expertise are pivotal in realizing a great design. When the vision is the dream and the design is the promise, construction is tasked with the payoff. It’s essential that as design becomes a reality, those tasked with creation have the skills and experience to deliver on that promise. A good construction firm will maintain relevant certifications and affiliations that will illustrate their ability to build your dream. At Belknap Landscape, relationships matter. That’s why all clients receive a professional design partner to see them through the entire process. From the first meeting to discuss outcomes and ideas until project completion, Belknap Landscape clients
70 | New Hampshire Home
have one person—a partner—who ensures the realization of their vision and exceptional quality of their landscape. With over 30 years of experience and maintaining several industry certifications, Belknap Landscape Company is uniquely qualified to build the outdoor space where you’ll love making memories. We are honored to have received several design awards, including two from New HampsHire Home magazine. Belknap Landscape Company can be trusted to realize your vision in beautiful, unique ways.
25 Country Club Road; Village West, Unit 101 Gilford, NH 03246 (603) 528-2798 • belknaplandscape.com may/june 2020
landscape designers’ showcase
Pellettieri AssociAtes, inc.
creating innovative environments
l
andscape architecture firm, Pellettieri Associates, Inc. (PAI), has been helping clients connect and integrate their home with the natural beauty of its surroundings for over thirty-five years. As a design-build firm, PAI handles a wide range of services under one roof. From landscape architecture and designs, to landscape construction and fine gardening, the firm prides itself on their ability to cover multiple facets within the industry. PAI works closely with each client to ensure every project is unique and customized to meet the needs of the client. Special attention is applied to the ways clients intend to use their property, and to ensure it functions optimally for them and their lifestyle. While much of the work involves hardscape and softscape design and installation, there is a depth of classic New Hampshire character that is embodied in our work. The PAI team works hard to bring all the elements together in a seamless fashion, which creates a highly functional space without disrupting the continuity of the natural environment. The project pictured here involved the creation and implementation of a master plan for a restored farmhouse and barn located in central New Hampshire. The design focused on integrating the outdoor living and entertaining area with the new covered porch and balcony of the house. The outdoor living space features a dimensional Chester Stone terrace, seating areas surrounding a central fire feature, and a backdrop of breathtaking mountain views. Chester Stone steppers with soft grass seams lead pedestrians through a colorful perennial garden. The end result is a transformed space that captures the essence of high-end living, SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
and creates a seamless flow between the indoor and outdoor living areas. Over the years, PAI has gained a reputation as one of the premier landscape architecture companies in the state that provides the classic character of a natural New Hampshire landscape combined with modern sustainable design practices. This approach helps ensure each client’s property is special, purposeful and a place where they feel at home for years to come.
169 Kearsarge Mountain Road Warner, NH 03278 (888) 826-2275 • pellettieriassoc.com New Hampshire Home | 71
landscape designers’ desIgners’ showcase
james brewer garden design
Thouroughly English CounTry gArdEns
I
n 1995 I started my garden design and construction business in England, recalling the charming stone villages of the Cotswalds where I lived. As my gardens grew in size, the complexity and the scope of them increased, too. In 2006 the BBC asked if they could air a live broadcast of garden I was working on in Hambleton. This proved a fantastic springboard to bigger and better things. In 2014 I moved to New Hampshire, where I continued to design and create unique gardens. I’ve immersed myself in the rich diversity of materials, plants and stone found here. One of my signature projects has been Wolfe’henge, a stunning granite garden in the mountains of Wolfeboro. My clients had collected vast amounts of granite over the years, in order to design a garden that bridged the ligature of the aged granite with a charm and informal feel, so the garden would feel as though it had always been there and would be as familiar in England or France as it is in New England. I spent hours at the drawing board, hand drawing as I do with all my designs. The result was a charming English cottage courtyard-style garden with an abundance of perennials, all-season structural shrubs and a back drop of granite with meandering paths. Wolfe’henge continues to mature, and with each passing season grows closer to the vision in which it was imagined. While gardens can be designed and installed to a timeline, nature works at her own pace. The charm of gardens is that they get better with age. My gardens combine timeless elements of classical English design with our matchless plants and materials of stunning New England. 72 | New Hampshire Home
design ∙ Planning ∙ Creation From planning to permit then creation, I transform yards into unique gardens. I am proud to work with Controlled Irrigation— effortlessly preserving your investment and providing you with peace of mind. Irrigation solutions from concept to completion. English Country Gardens—they are what I do.
Suite 440, Lower Mill Rollinsford, NH, 03869 • (603) 970-0201 jamesbrewergardendesign.com jamesbrewergardens@icloud.com may/june 2020
landscape desIgners’ designers’ showcase
StephenS LandScaping profeSSionaLS design in the age of social distancing
s
tephens Landscaping Professionals (SLP) understands that the age of social distancing has dramatically affected social behaviors, norms and interactions. Stay-at-home advisories and school cancellations have many of us feeling confined to our home. Many people have left the city and have sought refuge at their lake home. With summer approaching, the pull of the lake and the desire to interact with the outdoors becomes even more immediate. Now is the time to think about your landscape on Lake Winnipesaukee and the role it will play in your life today and in the future. Creating meaningful outdoor spaces on your waterfront property takes coordinated planning between you and your landscape designer. Stephens Landscaping Professionals has twelve years of experience designing, permitting and implementing waterfront landscapes. The design and build process with Stephens Landscaping Professionals is the ideal way for you to work with a single entity to deliver your project SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
from the planning phase to completion. SLP is a local, reputable landscape contractor with specific knowledge of the Lakes Region, including Lake Winnipesaukee and Squam Lake. hens g t e pMoultonborough S62 Neck Road s c a,pLLin C L a n dsion als
Moultonborough, NH 03254 (603) 707-0630 • stephenslandscaping.com
Profes
New Hampshire Home | 73
landscape designers’ showcase
landshapes
lanDscape Design anD installation
l
andshapes has been designing and installing award-winning landscapes throughout New England for nearly thirty years. While we offer a full range of services—landscape design and installation, summer and winter property maintenance, and commercial construction—one of our specialty services is the design and installation of in-ground swimming pools. Landshapes has been installing fiberglass in ground pools and spas for fifteen years. It all started when projects were being held up waiting for pool contractors to complete their work. We decided to invest in the equipment and training necessary to complete pool installations in-house. Landshapes decided fiberglass pools were the best option—they are more durable than a vinyl liner pool and more affordable than a gunite (concrete) pool, while offering an extensive catalogue of shapes, sizes and finishes. Since then, Landshapes has installed two or three pool and spa projects per year. It starts with a design consultation with one of our designers where size, shape, layout and overall design is discussed. A concept plan and budgets are produced and then a final design is settled on to include patios, fire pits, landscaping, lighting and fencing. Landshapes takes care of all town zoning and building permitting, and will help you determine which safety features your homeowners insurance may require. Completing all tasks in-house has allowed us to streamline the construction process; a complete project only takes about one month. Construction starts with excavation of the pool location. Once the pool is delivered from the manufacturer, it is usually in the ground and operational within two days. We have had clients using the pool while the remaining hardscapes and landscape is being installed. 74 | New Hampshire Home
Pool equipment is an important aspect of the project and Landshapes uses only top-of-the-line Pentair equipment. High-efficiency gas heaters or heat pumps in combination with automatic pool covers help to keep energy costs to a minimum. We install smart automatic salt chlorine and chemical generation systems so that the homeowner doesn’t have to worry about testing water and adding chemicals. Landshapes pool designs are all unique to the homeowners and their site, and our designers strive to make sure customers are completely happy with the end result by keeping them informed throughout the process. Our quality craftsmanship insures a pool that will bring enjoyment for many years.
88 Rogers Lane Richmond, VT 05477 (802) 434-3500 • landshapes.net may/june 2020
landscape designers’ showcase
db landscaping
creating innovative anD engaging lanDscapes
w
hen you choose a New Hampshire vacation home, a certain caliber of automatic landscaping comes standard. Whether your property boasts leafy woodlands, sweeping vistas or a waterfront locale, Mother Nature’s landscapes are guaranteed to impress—and db Landscaping can help you bring that same natural wow factor to your man-made landscapes. Some companies opt for concrete and other industrial materials for their landscaping installations. Not so with db. The team at db works with you to select natural materials that blend in with your home’s surroundings. Gorgeous stone steps can complement the rocky shores behind your beach home, and the welcoming hearth of an outdoor fire pit can continue the woodsy feel of your lake house. Local materials also feature heavily in db’s work, so every element of your landscape design can reflect the natural resources of the Granite State. In addition to designing the outdoor living space of your dreams, db Landscaping will keep the details of permitting and regulations from turning your project into a nightmare. The team—led by trained landscape architect Dan Bruzga—has more than ten years of experience navigating the legal side of landscaping, from environmental regulations to zoning and historic preservation guidelines. With db Landscaping, you can leave the legal details to the professionals. Your role is simply to sit back and enjoy your new space. Whether you need landscape design at your new vacation home, help overhauling shoddy or outdated work from a previous landscaper, or even a fresh take on the landscaping at your full-time residence, db Landscaping is here to help. SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
3 Alpine Court., Suite #1 Sunapee, NH 03782 (603) 763-6423 • dblandscaping.com New Hampshire Home | 75
inspiration
Situated off the home’s main hallway, the McCarrons’ spacious kitchen anchors the first-floor living spaces.
A Home that Brings the Outside In See the beautiful, open-concept first floor on
the Music Hall’s Kitchen Tour,
rescheduled for September 27.
T
he focal point of Ann Marie and Bill
Featured on this year’s twenty-ninth
McCarron’s light-filled, first-floor
annual Kitchen Tour, presented by the Music
living area is hard to miss: a spectacular
Hall in Portsmouth (see sidebar on page 81),
waterfront view of several small, rocky islands
the McCarrons’ New Castle home was built
in the Piscataqua River separating New Castle
in 2012. The couple replaced the original
from Portsmouth. The house, which is the
small home on the property because zoning
Massachusetts couple’s summer home, is ori-
constraints and proximity to a tidal buffer
ented toward the water. “Our goal was to bring
made renovations to the existing structures
the outside in,” Ann Marie says. “The kitchen
difficult. The design by architect Jeff Demers,
flows into the dining and living spaces, and
of Jeff Demers Design in Portsmouth, accom-
the back of the house is all glass.”
modates the home’s narrow, linear lot by
By Debbie Kane | Photography by John W. Hession 76 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
organizing downstairs living spaces
living spaces, Demers designed features
off a central hallway, accentuated by
including a spacious, walk-in pantry
a vaulted, barrel ceiling; the hallway
directly off the kitchen as well as a
extends from a front foyer to double
wet bar and small office just across the
doors leading out to the back yard.
hallway. The family-friendly banquette,
“Visitors come in the front entry,
built around a circular walnut table,
then turn right and see the water,”
provides comfortable seating just steps
Demers says. “You change elevation
from the kitchen. “I like designing a
from the entry to the first-floor living
banquette for a kitchen area because
spaces. It is a procession dictated by the
that’s where people hang out,” Demers
linear lot, and allowed us to get as close
says. “It’s a softer option for seating and
to grade and the water as possible.”
gets used a lot.”
The progression also creates higher
The casual dining area is a favorite
ceilings, opening up the space.
of the McCarrons and their twin sons.
Elements of Demers’s design were
“It’s a great area to eat breakfast,” Ann
inspired by historical Portsmouth land-
Marie says. “We can seat at least six.”
marks: the barrel ceiling, evoking the
Mari Woods, of Mari Woods Kitchen
wooden hull of a boat, is similar to one
Bath Home in Portsmouth, and Don
at the nearby Wentworth by the Sea
Cook, of D.D. Cook Builders, Inc. in
Hotel; the arches framing the kitchen
Greenland, rounded out the McCarrons’
and banquette areas are a nod to the
design and construction team. Woods
historic John Paul Jones House, an
created the kitchen’s classic look. “They
eighteenth-century Portsmouth
wanted a comfortable space that took
landmark.
advantage of being close to the water,”
Focusing on the kitchen’s function as “command central” of the first-floor
she says. Understated elegance was key—as was integrating the color white,
Homeowners Ann Marie and Bill McCarron designed their New Castle summer home to enjoy views of the water. nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 77
inspiration
Ann Marie’s preference (the kitchen walls, Farrow & Ball’s Borrowed Light, are a soft blue). “They have beautiful water views and unique artwork,” Woods says. “They’ve introduced a beach theme that dresses the spaces up without too much visual clutter.”
An open concept that encourages cooking and conversation Woods and Demers collaborated on the open-concept kitchen; its U-shape
Above: Inspired by architecture from the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel, a barrel ceiling runs the length of the house, from the front foyer to double doors leading out into the back yard. Left: A comfortable banquette, just off the kitchen, provides cozy seating. Even Buddy, the McCarrons’s pug, loves hanging out here.
encourages cooking and conversation across the first-floor spaces. A peninsula on the far side of the room, containing the cooktop and stove hood, faces the water and overlooks an adjacent, formal dining room (the dining-room side of the peninsula contains shelving and extra storage). The kitchen is built for convenience. A large, walnut-topped island— constructed by Traditional Wood Works of Berwick, Maine—anchors the space 78 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
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(a division LLC) www . P o r of t sStandard m o u of t hNew B aEngland thCo .com (a division of Standard of New England, LLC)
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nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 79
inspiration
Above: The formal dining room adds an element of drama to the space. Storage along the wall is built into the backside of kitchen cabinetry. Left: Bill and Ann Marie McCarron (second from the right and right) chose a design team that included architect Jeff Demers (left), of Jeff Demers Design in Portsmouth, and kitchen/bath designer Mari Woods (seated), of Mari Woods Kitchen Bath Home in Portsmouth. Also pictured is Ashleigh Tucker Pollock (center), the Music Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s special events manager.
with seating for four. The island also maximizes storage, containing two
cleaning. Statuario marble counter-
beverage drawers as well as a micro-
tops ring the space, adding visual
wave, recycling bins and shelves with
contrast. Appliances, including the
handy, pull-out baskets for storing
Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer, are
vegetables or kitchen necessities.
tucked behind the built-in custom
Across from the island, a porcelain apron-front farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sink is positioned to easily access the dishwasher
80 | New Hampshire Home
built with removable dowels for easy
cabinetry by Levant Kitchen Furniture, in Millersburg, Ohio. On the same wall as the refrigerator
and counter prep areas. An open,
and two wall ovens, an elegant glass
plate rack to the left of the stove is
door leads into a spacious pantry. may/june 2020
Twenty-Ninth Annual Kitchen Tour Sunday, September 27, 10 a.m. The twenty-ninth annual Kitchen Tour, presented by the Music Hall, takes visitors on a tour through nine kitchens in historic New Castle. The selfguided, walkable tour offers a glimpse into a wide range of culinary gems. “This year, there’s lots of variety in the homes we’re featuring,” says Ashleigh Tucker Pollock, special events manager for the Music Hall. “They range from 1660 to 2012, with kitchens that are cozy charmers, ultra-modern showstoppers and everything in between.” The architects, designers, craftsmen and artisans who’ve created the spaces will be at each location to answer questions. Tickets and more information are available at (603) 436-2400 or themusichall.org.
“The door is integral to the cabinetry and disappears into a pocket behind the refrigerator,” Woods says. “It took a lot of skill for the crew from D.D. Cook to dovetail the cabinetry and pocket door hardware this way.” Hanging from the ceiling, just off the kitchen is a recent addition to the McCarrons’ growing art collection: an ethereal, stainless-steel sculpture called “Peter Pan” by Rainer Lagemann. Representing a figure diving, the sculpture is positioned toward the water, another reminder of what makes the home so special. Bill says the family “virtually lives” in the kitchen. “From anywhere on the first floor, you can see out to the water,” he says. “That’s what we enjoy the most.”
NHH
Resources
D.D. Cook Builders, Inc. • (603) 431-1960 ddcookbuilders.com
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Farrow & Ball • farrow-ball.com Jeff Demers Design • (603) 502-8074 jeffdemersdesign.com Rainer Lagemann • rainerlagemann.com Levant Kitchen Furniture • (330) 674-9646 levantkitchenfurniture.com Mari Woods Kitchen Bath Home (603) 319-8910 • mariwoods.com Sub-Zero • subzero-wolf.com Traditional Wood Works • (207) 676-9668 tww-inc.com nhhomemagazine.com
MONDAY-FRIDAY: 8:00AM TO 4:00PM | SATURDAY: 9:00AM - 3:00
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C E D A R C R E S T C A B I N E T R Y. C O M
C E D A R C R E S T C A B I N E T R Y. C O M New Hampshire Home | 81
Garden Rx Rhododendron ‘Catawba Album’ is native to the eastern United States and extremely hardy, thriving in moist acidic soil. Its pale lavender buds open to clusters of pure white flowers.
Spring Gems Six landscape professionals share their picks for flowering shrubs and trees. Spring has sprung, and the garden centers
Emma Erler, education center program coordinator at UNH Cooperative Extension, suggests these spring bloomers.
are packed with plants. If you’d like to add some new spring-flowering shrubs or a small tree or two to your landscape, how do you decide? We asked some garden and landscape professionals for their favorites.
By Robin Sweetser Photography by Michael Nerrie
❦ 82 | New Hampshire Home
Enkianthus (Enkianthus campanulatus). “I think this is an underused shrub that has beautiful fall color, ranging from true gold to bright red,” Erler says. “In the spring, this plant has lovely clusters of pink to white bell-shaped flowers, which are the real reason I like it so much.” Enkianthus is related to rhododendrons, prefers acid soils, is a slow grower and a good choice for smaller landscapes.
Witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia). “I love many of the witch hazel hybrids for their colorful, late-winter/early spring blooms. The fragrant flowers with their strap-like, four-petaled flowers are one of the earliest signs of spring,” Erler says. ‘Arnold Promise’ has bright-yellow, highly fragrant flowers. ‘Jelena’ is another fragrant cultivar that has coppery-colored flowers and a horizontal growth habit. Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii or Fothergilla major). “Fothergilla is another great, underused shrub. It has excellent fall color, usually in shades of orange and red. It also has fragrant, white bottlebrush flowers in spring, and a dense rounded form,” Erler says. “I love landscape plants that have more than one season of interest— spring blooms and excellent fall color.” may/june 2020
Smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens). “An East Coast native, this is definitely the best pollinator shrub we have in the garden. Every type of pollinating insect you can think of will visit it when it blooms. ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea is the same genus and species, but is a cultivar that attracts very few pollinators. This is a great example of the ecosystem advantage of a species plant over a cultivar,” Michael points out.
Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata). “This has interesting winter buds and drop-dead gorgeous flowers during late April and early May,” he says.
Michael Nerrie, of Distant Hill Gardens in Walpole, calls himself the CEO of the garden: chief environmental observer. He and his wife, Kathy, have opened their spectacular fifty-eight-acre property to the public as a center for environmental and horticultural education. These are some of Michael’s favorite spring shrubs and small trees.
Lily-of-the-valley bush (Pieris japonica). “My favorite for year-round interest is ‘Avalanche’. It is beautiful in all seasons,” he says.
Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternafolia). “This is one of my favorite natives. It offers interesting branching in winter, is beautiful in bloom and nothing is better than its winter berries for attracting birds,” Michael says. nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 83
Azalea ‘White Lights’ (Rhododendron ‘White Lights’). This is an award-winning, hybrid, deciduous azalea from the Northern Lights Series. Pale pink buds open to large fragrant white flowers. “This azalea works well in a mixed-shrub border and is very hardy for our New Hampshire climate,” James says.
istock.com
Paul James, of Landscape Matters in Hampton, has a degree in landscape architecture and environmental design. During his fifty-year career in the landscape industry, he worked with the National Park Service at the White House before returning to New Hampshire.
istock.com
Garden Rx
Beauty bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis). “Profuse, pale-pink bell-shaped flowers and multiple-arching branches make this shrub a stunner in a shrub border or stand alone in the landscape,” he says. This vase-shaped plant grows between eight- and ten-feet tall and wide, and does well in dry, sandy soil.
Deutzia x ‘Yuki Cherry Blossom’. “This is a hybrid cross between D. gracilis and D. rosea hardy to zone 5. Compact and bushy, this shrub matures at between one- and two-feet tall with a two- to threefoot spread. “This low grower is great for the front of a shrub border or along a walkway,” James says. Royal azalea (Rhododendron schlippenbachii). “Blooming in early to mid-May with its large pink flowers, the royal azalea is another spring, flowering shrub in my landscape. The fall leaf color is bright and beautiful, adding another ‘blooming’ season of interest,” he says.
84 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
MGa Marcus Gleysteen Architects 129 Kingston Street Boston MA 02111 | 617.542.6060 | mgaarchitects.com
For Sale
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59 Runnells Bridge Rd., Hollis NH
4-bedroom antique home perfectly suited for your family and in-home business Hollis country living at its finest! Built in 1762 by Ebenezer Jaquith, a first responder of the Battle of Lexington. This riverfront antique colonial has potential to be turned into a two family home or use the 1300 sq. ft. of office space for your in-home business. This four bedroom, one and ¾ bath home has been meticulously maintained and renovated over the years. It has gorgeous wide pine floors, custom built-ins, original wood beams, six fireplaces, granite hearths, an updated kitchen to cook in while gazing at the spectacular view of the river. You’ll fall in love with the beautiful landscaping, assorted flowering bushes, plants and shrubs. Centrally located; about one hour from Boston, the beach and mountain region. Only minutes from highway. Listed at $669,000
Schedule a showing today! Call Tina Lingley: (603) 320-2372 nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 85
Garden Rx Korean spice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii). “The fragrance of these big, white flowers is their best attribute,” he says. “Plant it near an entrance or kitchen window to enjoy the fragrance. They have nice fall color, too.”
Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa). “The foliage comes out first, then the white flowers blossom on top of the leaves and persist for about six weeks. The trees can be slow to leaf out in the spring, but they will be in bloom long after the other spring bloomers are done,” Bruzga says. He admires the dogwood’s other attributes, including disease resistance, red fruits, bright red fall color, and exfoliating bark in shades of gray and brown that give it winter interest. “It rocks for most of the year!” he says.
istock.com
Dan Bruzga is a landscape architect and owner of db Landscaping, a design/ build business in Sunapee. Bruzga also holds a degree in horticulture and specializes in the extensive permitting needed for waterfront projects. He has two plants that are his absolute favorites.
istock.com
A landscaper for twenty-five years, Beth Stavru fell in love with landscaping when she worked for Pellettieri Associates of Warner. Eventually, she went out on her own and formed Stone Blossom Landscape and Design, a design/build company in Bedford. Here are a few of her favorites for spring.
Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas). “This is another early spring bloomer that is really more like a small tree,” Stavru says. “It produces edible fruit that can be used for preserves. Birds also love the fruit, so it is a great option for bird lovers. As the tree matures, the bark exfoliates, providing four season interest.” Clusters of yellow, star-like flowers appear in April before the leaves emerge.
Lilacs (Syringa). “These are classic spring bloomers, very hardy and easy to grow. There are lots to choose from in a range of colors; some stay small while other grow up to fifteen feet tall,” Stavru says. 86 | New Hampshire Home
Forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia). “For people who love birds, forsythia is great planted along the woodland edges where it offers birds protection,” she says. may/june 2020
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New Hampshire Home | 87
Garden Rx
Rob Farquhar has been the nursery and garden center manager at Brochu Nursery and Landscaping in Concord for fourteen years. He works with many local landscapers and offers these suggestions.
Rhododendrons. “Small-leaved PJM types like ‘Olga Mezitt’ and ‘Bubblegum’ are extremely hardy and foolproof,” Farquhar says. Both have showy, pink flowers early in spring and can be grown in shady locations. “The straight species of Rhododendron PJM has a lavender flower and gets to be between six-and eight-feet tall. ‘Olga’ and ‘Bubblegum’ stay smaller, reaching three to four feet at maturity. The smaller size makes them very useful planted around the home,” he says. Crabapple (Malus). “Many people shy away from crabapples since the fruit can be messy,” Farquhar says. He recommends the variety ‘Spring Snow’, which has large, white flowers but does not form fruit.
Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis). “This small tree really signifies spring,” Farquhar says. “It is native, beautiful and hardy. The flowers are beneficial to bees, and the tree has June berries for the birds.” ‘Robin Hill’ or ‘Autumn Brilliance’ grows to be about twenty-five-feet tall. No room for a tree? Farquhar recommends a six- to eight-foot-tall shrub form, such as Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Regent’.
Azalea ‘Cornell Pink’ (Rhododendron mucronulatum). “This is my favorite, since it is the first to bloom in the spring with a nice pink flower,” he says. “It doesn’t get too big, usually between three- and four-feet high.” He often recommends azaleas for shaded sites. 88 | New Hampshire Home
Magnolias. “They are gaining popularity,” Farquhar says. “There are the good, old star types (Magnolia stellata) and saucers (M. x soulangiana) with their big blossoms.” For small gardens, Farquhar suggests The Little Girl Series magnolias, developed at the National Arboretum. They all have girls’ names—‘Ann’, ‘Jane’, ‘Betty’, ‘Judy’ and ‘Susan’. As small, hardy trees, they grow only between eight- and sixteen-feet tall, but still offer large, showy blossoms.
may/june 2020
A Growers Guide to Small Trees and Shrubs As a grower of high-quality plant material, Farquhar emphasizes the importance of purchasing plants that have been grown in our climate. “They have had time to acclimate to our winters, are much tougher and adapt easily after transplanting,” he says.
istock.com
For more information on selecting, planting, mulching and maintaining small trees and shrubs, be sure to check out the UNH Cooperative Extension’s webpage at extension.unh.edu/ tags/planting-and-maintenance-trees-andshrubs, or look for the book published by the NH Plant Growers’ Association and UNH Cooperative Extension called The Best Plants for New Hampshire Gardens and Landscapes.
Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii). Farquhar agrees with Erler, calling this a “sleeper plant” that deserves to be used more in home landscapes. He recommends the hybrid ‘Blue Shadow’ for its blue-green foliage and dwarf ‘Mount Airy’. Both do well in full-sun to part-shade. Resources Brochu Nursery and Landscaping brochunursery.com db Landscaping • (603) 763-6423 dblandscaping.com Distant Hill Gardens • (603) 756-4179 distanthillgardens.org Landscape Matters • (603) 235-2894 landscapematters.com Stone Blossom Landscape and Design (603) 361-8492 • stoneblossom.net
(603) 269-3206 tonyfallon.com tony@tonyfallon.com
Buildings are the clothing we all share, and we are blessed with a rich fabric. My style is a reflection of my customers. Together, we can create a beautifully composed space full of possibilities. Let’s start a conversation!
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE GARDENS OF STRAWBERY BANKE MUSEUM WITH “LISTEN TO THE LANDSCAPE” And take advantage of online learning from the Horticulture Learning Center: StrawberyBanke.org/virtual-tour.cfm For more information: StrawberyBanke.org Reopening this summer! 14 Hancock Street, Portsmouth NH 03801
UNH Cooperative Extension (877) 398-4769 • extension.unh.edu nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 89 NHHomeMayJun2020StrawberyBanke.indd 1
3/30/2020 6:15:51 PM
Remodeling Kitchens And Baths For Over 25 Years
41 South River Rd, Bedford • notjustkitchensnh.com • 603-623-6650 LF_NH.HOME HP 7x4.8 (H).qxp_Layout 1 5/30/18 10:21 AM Page 1
Design
Form
Function 90 | New Hampshire Home
A Landscape Architects Collaborative
97 Dow Road • Bow, NH 03304 603.228.2858 • Fax 603.228.2859 Peter Schiess ASLA • landformsltd@aol.com www.landformsltd.com may/june 2020
resources
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Castle in the Clouds
Since 1988, 3W design, inc. has taken clients’ dreams and made them real without the stress and anxiety homeowners often face alone. We listen to ideas, ask questions, offer choices, design your new spaces—then we build them! From a new kitchen or a redesign, upgraded master bath or complete integrated design of your new home or a remodel—our experience is the remarkable difference in delivering beautiful spaces that are uniquely yours. 7 Henniker Street in Concord • (603) 226-3399 • 3wdesigninc.com
Once called Lucknow by its original owners, this stunning estate was built in 1914 on a mountaintop overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee. Today, visitors of all ages enjoy tours of the historic Arts and Crafts mansion; dining on the lake-view terrace; hiking the estate’s trail system; and exploring woodlands, waterfalls, and lake and mountain vistas. 455 Old Mountain Road, Route 171 in Moultonborough, NH 03254 (603) 476-5900 • castleintheclouds.org
K i t c h e n a n d b at h a c c e s s o r i e s
Runtal Radiators
Runtal Announces SecondGeneration Electric Omnipanel Towel Radiator The Runtal Omnipanel II is the second generation of the popular Runtal flagship towel radiator line which was introduced in 1985. The Omnipanel II offers an even larger warming surface area and is available in three heights, a choice of voltages (120, 208 and 240) and 100 colors. 187 Neck Road in Ward Hill, Haverhill, Massachusetts (800) 526-2621 runtalnorthamerica.com SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
a s m a rt m a r K e ti n g i n v e stm e nt
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Ready to advertise with us? For advertising opportunities, contact Jessica Schooley at jschooley@mcleancommunications.com (603) 413-5143 • (603) 345-2752 • nnhomemagazine.com New Hampshire Home | 91
mark your calendar! Please note this section was produced months prior to publication. We encourage everyone to make socially responsible decisions and check with event organizers for details about any planned events.
may May 10
Crafting Through the Wheel of the Year
May 16
Nashua Garden Club Annual Plant Sale A variety of annual and perennial plants, houseplants, vegetables, shrubs and trees will be available along with a raffle of themed gift baskets, a garden-oriented yard sale and selection of enticing baked goods. All proceeds support the Nashua Garden Club’s community educational and beautification projects. Rain or shine. 8 a.m.–noon. Nashua Historical Society • 5 Abbott Street in Nashua • (603) 888-5064 • nashuanhgardenclub.org May 16–17
Rug Hooking Learn this traditional New England fiber art that beautifully combines artist expression and function. In this course, students will learn the core skills of rug hooking, and make a sixteen-inch-by-sixteen-inch piece. With these skills, students can progress in the future to pieces involving more complex designs and color shading. 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Admission is $200. Sanborn Mills Farm • 7097 Sanborn Road in Loudon (603) 435-7314 • sanbornmills.org
Bedrock Gardens in Lee hopes to open to the public May 2.
Events at Bedrock Gardens Bedrock Gardens is an emerging public garden that integrates unusual botanical specimens and unique sculpture into an inspiring landscape journey. This thirty-seven-acre site is transitioning from a historic farm and private garden to a public oasis of art, horticulture and inspiration. For more information, see page 38. • May 2: Grand Re-Opening Day for the public • May 30: Gala Farm to Table celebration • June 6: Plant Something NH and Pollinator Fair Check their website for details. Bedrock Gardens • 45 High Road in Lee • (603) 659-2993 • bedrockgardens.org May 21
Creating an Edible Garden Edible landscaping is the newest gardening trend that answers the old question of how to utilize your limited garden space so it can be productive and beautiful at the same time. Chef and gardener Liz Barbour has been including edible plants throughout her small cottage garden from the very beginning of its design. Join her for a slideshow tour through her edible gardens, and learn how she has introduced vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, edible shrubs and herbs to blend beautifully and deliciously with decorative plants in her garden. Enjoy a cooking demonstration of two seasonal recipes with samples for everyone. Registration required. 6:30–8 p.m. $5 donation to the Friends of the Library is asked. Meredith Public Library • 91 Main Street in Meredith (603) 279-4303 • meredithlibrary.org
june June 3
Learn to Manage Poison Ivy Helaine Hughes, founder of the Poison Ivy Removal Company, will share tips on how to get rid of poison ivy from your yard, clothes or skin. Hughes discovered her passion, and an underserved market to educate New Englanders about poison ivy and provide a chemical-free service to remove this scourge that prevents so many people from fully enjoying their yards. Light refreshments will be served. Rain or shine. 7 p.m. Admission is $5; garden club members admitted free of charge. First Baptist Church • 121 Manchester Street in Nashua • nashuanhgardenclub.org June 5–7
Evergreen Garden Opens
Photography by John W. Hession
Evergreen—a one-acre woodland garden with more than 400 mature rhododendrons—opens to the public. This is the weekend when the garden’s 220 Catawba rhododendrons are at peak bloom. Evergreen was created by landscape designer Robert Gillmore. Because plants along the paths can be easily damaged, pets and children younger than twelve years old are not admitted. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Free. 42 Summer Street in Goffstown • (603) 497-8020 evergreenfoundation.org
Liz Barbour plans to share tips for creating an edible garden at the Meredith Public Library on May 21. 92 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
Photography by Morgan Karanasios
In this four-part seminar, Sara M. Woods Kender, clinical herbalist and wild food forager, explores the plant world through the seasons. Being aware of these shifts helps us become aware that our bodies require different nutrients for different times of the year. Learn the plants that grow around you, and how to use them for food and nourishment, whether we use them on the inside or outside. 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Admission is $40. Sanborn Mills Farm • 7097 Sanborn Road in Loudon (603) 435-7314 • sanbornmills.org
www.loewenvtnh.com
RESCHEDULED FROM June 7: NEW DATE TO BE DETERMINED
Annual Kitchen Tour
The Palace Theatre’s sixteenth annual kitchen tour will be v an opportunity to explore some of the finest kitchen designs in Bedford. All proceeds benefit programs at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, which includes professional shows and many youth programs. Tour tickets are $55 and available online. palacetheatre.org RESCHEDULED FROM June 19–20 TO SEPTEMBER 11—12
Annual Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth Tour
Nastasi Architects | David Hartz Photography
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT
LOEWEN.C
LO E W E N W I N D OW C E N T E R o f Ve r m o n t & N e w H a m p s h i re
Phone: 802.295.6555 Phone: 800.505.1892 info@loewenvtnh.com
Photography by Morgan Karanasios
The thirty-first year’s tour features gardens in the Victorian neighborhood bordered by Miller Avenue, South Street and Middle Street. The ticket brochure contains all the information tour-goers need: a list of the garden addresses, a detailed tour map and suggested places to park. The event is held rain or shine. Tickets are available in South Church offices at 73 Court Street in Portsmouth through 2 p.m. Friday, September 11, or online at southchurch-uu-org. Tickets can also be purchased at Wentworth Greenhouses in Rollinsford and Rolling Green Nursery in Greenland. The tour is presented by South Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Friday, 5–8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 day-of. facebook.com/PortsmouthPocketGardenTour
Take the Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth tour June 19 and 20. nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 93
mark your calendar! Garden Conservancy Open Garden Days
• June 6: Evergreen. Digger Deeper event: Beauty All Around You: Lush, Low-Maintenance Gardens at Any Scale with Robert Gillmore. 42 Summer Street in Goffstown • June 13: Rogerland in East Arlington, Vermont • June 13: Turkey Hill Farm at 55 Turkey Hill Road in Randolph Center, Vermont • June 13: A Cook’s Garden in Manchester Village, Vermont Photography by bill noble
(888) 842-2442 • opendaysprogram.org
ongoing June 21
Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden For thirty years, Bill Noble has worked as a garden designer and professional in garden preservation. As director of preservation for the Garden Conservancy, he was instrumental in the preservation and restoration of dozens of gardens throughout the United States. The insights gained from the gardens and gardeners Noble has worked with are reflected in his own garden in Norwich, Vermont (see page 32 for more information). Noble will give a presentation about his garden and also sign copies of his just-published book. Refreshments provided. 2 p.m. Admission is free. Tracy Memorial Library • 304 Main Street in New London • (603) 526-4656 • tracylibrary.org
This exhibition and sale of modernist twentieth- and twenty-first-century paintings is juxtaposed alongside a collection of Oceanic and African hand-carved masks and figural carvings. The paintings include works by New Hampshire Cubist painter Fannie Hillsmith, contemporary Monadnock region artist Christopher Myott, Peterborough-based artist Nora Spicer Unwin, and Mazhar Akyut, Timothy Sanchez, Richard Lytle, Stephen Trefonides, as well as works from the school of Jackson Pollock. Tribal masks and objects featured in the exhibition include works from the Baule, Pende, Senufo and Dan African tribes, as well as war and canoe prow shields from Papua New Guinea. Making masks required artistic skill as well as knowledge of the spiritual world. Masks were believed to represent the spirits of animals or ancestors, and the individual who wore the mask transformed into the spirit. On view through May 31. New Hampshire Antique Co-op • 323 Elm Street in Milford • (603) 673-8499 • nhantiquecoop.com
June 28
In 1999, Liz and Ted Barbour moved into Hollis’s oldest house located on the curve of a busy village street. Now, tucked into one-third of an acre, the Barbours’ edible gardens have been featured on New Hampshire Chronicle as well as in New Hampshire Magazine and New Hampshire Home magazine. Liz is a working chef and cooking instructor who shares her edible gardens in her lectures and prepares recipes in her cooking classes. Glean some ideas about how you can incorporate edible flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruits into your gardens to create a sustainable, edible landscape at your home. Rain or shine. Noon–4 p.m. Free. 5 Broad Street in Hollis • (603) 321-5011 thecreativefeast.com 94 | New Hampshire Home
Photography courtesy of Nhantiquecoop.com
Liz’s Open Garden Tour and Cookbook Signing
This Igbo tribal helmet mask from Nigeria is hand carved from wood and on exhibit at the New Hampshire Antique Co-op.
Photography courtesy of pem.org
Abstract Paintings and Tribal Masks Bill Noble talks about his own garden and signs copies of his new book on June 21.
Photography courtesy of Judy Santos
Photography courtesy of Liz Moseley
No reservations are required, and the gardens will be open rain or shine. Admission is $7 per garden; children age twelve and younger are admitted free of charge.
Made It: The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion This exhibit showcases more than one hundred works, spanning 250 years, recognizing women’s oftenoverlooked contributions to the fashion and design industry. From Mary Todd Lincoln’s seamstress to Elsa Schiaparelli and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, to experimental labels like Chromat, women designers have transcended genres and revolutionized ideas of identity. The exhibit features show-stopping ensembles, street fashion, ready-to-wear and haute couture that illuminate issues of representation, creativity, consumption, transculturation and distinctiveness that impact the fashion industry. On view May 16 through September 7. The Peabody Essex Museum • East India Square (161 Essex Street) in Salem, Massachusetts (978) 745-9500 • pem.org
Submitting Events
New Hampshire Home is always on the lookout for events that may interest our readers. If you have one to submit for consideration, send details to editor@nhhomemagazine.com. Please note that calendar production occurs two months before each issue is published. Calendar events can be self-posted on our website at any time by using the Submit an Event link at nhhomemagazine.com. may/june 2020
Your Garden Oasis is Here
Annuals • Perennials • Trees • Shrubs • Outdoor Furniture • Pottery • Statuary • Garden Accents Bedford Fields | 331 Rte. 101, Bedford, NH | 472-8880 | bedfordfields.com nhhomemagazine.com
New Hampshire Home | 95
at home in new hampshire
Heaven on Earth My husband calls them New Hampshire potatoes,
Today, only the Church Family buildings are standing,
the hundreds of rocks we pick from our garden every spring,
except, that is, for our 1826 house. Once the Trustees’ Building
heaved to the surface by winter’s churn of frost and thaw.
of the North Family, our house is constructed of bricks made
We’ve been planting here for twenty-five years. My in-laws
from local clay—a metaphorical material, someone once told
turned over the same spot for fifty years before that. And
me, a kind of Shaker joke: “In this building made of earth, we
before my in-laws, the Canterbury Shakers tilled this soil for a hundred years. You’d think the last
do business with people of the world.” Maybe all that brick was just too hard to pull down when the rest of the North
New Hampshire potato would have been harvested by now. But no.
Family was demolished. For that, I
Our rocky garden tips south-
am grateful, because I dearly love this house, this place. Living
west on what some people still call “Queer Hill.” The
here, walking this land, work-
word “queer” in is used in
ing on it, I feel I am in a
the old-fashioned sense—
conversation with someone
meaning peculiar, eccen-
I never met but know well.
tric—and pronounced, in
Someone I admire and re-
these parts, “kaweah.”
spect. A kind of ancestor.
When and how the ridge
My world has a parti-
where Canterbury Shaker
cular shape, built by people with a grand vision, and I am
Village sits came by this nickname
isn’t
thankful every day for all of
recorded.
it. For the miles of stone walls
My guess is it goes back to
that line the fields. For the road
1782, when most of the Baptists
winding past our house out to the
in Canterbury quit the church and switched over to The United Society of
millponds and dams created with pure will and muscle. For the finished granite fence and
Believers (USB), a.k.a., The Shakers. That year, Benjamin Witcher donated his farm just down
gate posts. For the apple and pear trees—some so old, they
the hill from where I live now to the USB and set up a utopian
have wide holes in their trunks that we can see right through.
commune. Members handed over their children to be raised
For the Apothecary and Eglantine roses that scent our yard.
by the group, became celibate, espoused pacifism and equality
For the granite path that leads from the granite steps at our
of the sexes, eschewed personal property.
back door, and climbs the hill to nothing now but foundation
What earned them the name “Shakers” was their offering
stones covered by grass and a fine place to watch the sunset.
to God—religious dancing. Joyful, uninhibited, gripped by
I am not a religious person. But in the evening, some-
the spirit until you fall down kind of dancing. To the dance-
times, my husband and I dance in the kitchen. Maybe not
phobic Baptists, peculiar and eccentric, indeed.
gripped-by-the-spirit kind of dancing. More like crank-up-the-
The Shakers believed they could literally build heaven
Prince kind of dancing. Definitely joyful and uninhibited. An
on earth. Hundreds of people left behind the hard life of the
offering to those long-ago dancers. Our way of saying thank
average person in nineteenth-century New Hampshire to join
you, Shakers, for leaving us your heaven on earth. This lovely,
up. Pretty soon, there were three bustling, beautiful Shaker
beloved Queer Hill.
NHH
Villages right next to one another—the Church Family in the south, then the Middle Family and then the North Family.
For more information about Canterbury Shaker Village, visit shakers.org.
By Hillary Nelson | Illustration by Carolyn Vibbert 96 | New Hampshire Home
may/june 2020
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