Amongst the Walpoleans in October

Ryan and Megan and Etta Bea and Miles having removed from California to New Hampshire over the  past summer, we decided that it was our parental duty to go and pester them, bringing plenty of dogs along of course. This is a photo essay of that visit so that family and friends can get some little idea of what their new home is like.

The town of Walpole (village really, current population 3,734) originated in 1736 as 'Number 4', the fourth fort on the Connecticut River intended to protect against Indian attacks. In 1761 it was incorporated and renamed Walpole in honor of Sir Robert Walpole, first Prime Minister of Great Britain. The first bridge across the Connecticut River was constructed there in 1785, an engineering marvel for the time and place.

When we first drove in we were immediately struck by the lack of modernity in appearance of the village. All the buildings, universally well kept, were simply as they had been for over a hundred years. And most of the  buildings were of a type unfamiliar to me: much more massive than anything I would have expected and seeming to be actually several structures interconnected front-to-back.

eg:

And it turns out that is almost the case. They functioned as homes with living space that could be adjusted to the season, with barn attached and room for hay, grain, and silage storage between the human and livestock quarters. The livestock included chickens for eggs and meat, milk cows for fresh milk and butter, and underneath the final part of the barn, pigs. The barns in the examples above have been adapted into garages as you would expect, but many original examples are common. This is the dominant structure in the county, and provided a workable (and to me elegant) solution to the significant winter weather.

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The house the Harrisons bought is much younger. It was built as a traditional Cape Cod saltbox in 1940, and then fairly recently added on to with an extension to the rear that provides space for a large and comfortable family room and a master bedroom suite. There are three bedrooms upstairs in the original part of the house, and a large office above the garage which, like the family room, looks out onto the farm fields behind the house. Trees on the grounds include numerous  sugar maples and a large and productive apple tree. The house is solid, square, and snug.

This is the view from the family room out to the patio:

And this is the view from the patio

                                       

And this from the short walk to the top of the hill behind the house, looking across the Connecticut River valley into Vermont.

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The village itself is very pleasant, with a small market  which sells necessaries including locally made sausage and chocolates, and a very good restaurant. There are lots of interesting old buildings including a Unitarian Church dated to 1761 (John Adams, 2nd president, was considered a founding Unitarian in New England), a very old Congregationalist Church, and a very nice commons that has an area that is flooded in the winter for use as an ice skating rink.

This building for the last 30 years has been an editing studio for Ken Burn's Florentine Films, which has always been based in Walpole. His residence is a typically beautiful farm not far from town.

And of course an iconic cemetery

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A school sponsored 5k run was held on Saturday. Here is Miles, who truly was born to run, leading the pack.

 And Etta Bea with Ryan in trail...

And Keefe of course.

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Firewood deserves a mention. It's important, especially in the even of a power outage, Mixed hardwood is delivered debarked, cut, split, and kiln dried. It is priced to be equivalent to fuel oil on a per BTU basis. And the house has a fuel oil boiler that feeds radiators in addition to the Jotul wood stove in the family room.

I liked Ryan's clever wood racks. And Ollie approves of a wood stove.

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The school bus arrives over the hill at exactly 8:05 after its run through the country. Etta and Miles are the last two passengers and have a very short trip to school. Then Keefe steps up to her office and Ryan makes the ten minute drive to his design studio/shop. The chance of getting stuck in traffic is zero %.

The bus driver is a very popular guy. The other kids call him  "Santa Driver" but EB and Miles refer to him as "Santa Minton" after our dear friend in Half Moon Bay.

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The 'hood. These photos taken within a mile or so of the house:

Where to go for milk, wish we could get it here. Comes in glass bottles of course, and is a delicious meal in a glass. 2 % ain't in for me anymore. The red building is a sugar house, where maple syrup is made in the early spring. Below is the adjacent farmhouse wherein lives the family that is the latest in the line that has been farming here for about 250 years..

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Louisa May Alcott ("Little Women") lived and worked here for a time, details unclear.

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These photos below from a few more miles away. The first across the Connecticut River from Vermont looking back into New Hampshire. The second a few miles to the southeast; the Park Hill Meeting House, circa. 1760, bell cast by Paul Revere foundry.

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I guess we should have some pictures of people also, so:

Thanks for looking at all this!

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