Woodstock is a small rural village located in central Vermont. As you drive into town the Ottauquechee river meanders alongside as large rolling fields dotted with spectacular farm houses reach out into the distance. My first thought as I awe struck by the landscape, “Beautiful.” My second, “Who the heck lives here?” The views are so stunning, the houses so well kept and elaborate, it almost feels like a storybook version of New England.

First settled in 1768 the historic downtown boasts stately homes around a village green. Ornate detailing above the windows and doors caught my eye. The homes looked Georgian (1690-1830) and Federal (1780-1840) but different then anything I have ever seen in New England. The ornamentation above the windows and columns were intricate and elaborate. I snapped a few photos of my favorites below. Sorry if the photos are little shaky it was 6 degrees out at 9 in the morning. My right hand felt like it was going to fall off as I ran up and down the street snapping photos.

p.s. could someone buy me this house in Woodstock?

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Historic Huguenot Street features seven unique stone houses dating to the early 1700s built by French Huguenot settlers. Huguenots from Northern France and modern day Belgium purchased 40,000 acres of land in the Mid-Hudson Valley from the Esopus Indians in the late 17th century. Small communities developed and thrived in the valley including New Paltz.

I went to college in New Paltz and would walk by these houses just about everyday. I was fascinated by the history and architecture of the buildings. The windows and shutters feel Dutch and different from anything I had ever seen in New England. Check out the green painted window frames in the room above. I wonder the real history of painting wood green? I’ll have to investigate…

Historic Huguenot Street
18 Broadhead Avenue
New Paltz, NY
huguenotstreet.org

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Portsmouth, NH: Historic Strawberry Banke
Andrew Wyeth & Olsen House in Cushing, Maine

Greg and I spent a long weekend up in Maine. My favorite stop, The Olsen House in Cushing, Maine. The Olsen House was made famous by painter Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World, a beautiful painting depicting a young Christina Olson crawling in the front field of the home. Wyeth created many works at the Olson house. The house is magical. A big center hall colonial sits high up on a rolling grassy hill that meanders it’s way down to the cold Maine ocean.

Wyeth painted in almost every room of the house. Simple images of the paintings are framed in the rooms to give visitors an idea of what Wyeth saw. The gorgeous light in the house is transcendental. Soft rays of summer sunshine flow through the wavy old panes of the windows. Each corner of the house is a perfect still life waiting to be painted. Below are a several photos I took of the house showcasing the beautiful light.

At the very bottom are photos of the field that meanders it’s way down to the ocean. Andrew Wyeth is buried at the base of the hill in a cemetery overlooking the ocean. A truly special place to visit.

The Olson House
Hathorne Point Road
Cushing, Maine
farnsworthmuseum.org

I’ve taken a lot of photos of beautiful front doors in Boston. This front door is just down right bizarre. The house located on Dwight Street in the South End stops you in your tracks as you walk by. Feels a bit Spanish like something you would see in Barcelona, but not. Does anyone know anything about the history of this crazy place?

p.s. thanks elisabeth for showing me around the south end!

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I love old churches in New England. I don’t really like going to church but I can still enjoy the architecture and history of these sacred spaces. Here are a just few that are within a few blocks of my new house. My favorite is the Unitarian Universalist Church above. All summer long the church hosts a summer jazz series on Saturday nights. The music pours out of the chapel and echoes up the street into our house. Our first few weekends in the house were spent listening to the concerts from the comfort our living room. The images below are from the Old North Church and Grace Community Church.

One of my favorite books I acquired while working at House & Garden was “House of Worship: Sacred Spaces in America“. The book chronicles all types of churches, temples, and mosques around the country. My favorite is the All Saints’ summer church on Orr Island in Maine. A great book if you want to investigate more on religious based architecture.

We found this postcard of the house in an old baseball card shop over the weekend. We assume the postcard is from around the early 1900’s. I love the fence around the side of the house and the shutters on all the windows. The original door is shown in this photo. We learned that a drunk driver hit the house in the 80’s and completely took out the corner of the house. Total bummer because the windows above the door look like old bull’s eye windows.

So I think we maybe homeowners in the next couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed and if nothing crazy happens I will have my house by mid-July. I can’t sleep at night because I’m so excited for all the fun projects we get to do. One of first projects I want to get done before winter is cleaning up the outside of the house. The roof needs work, chimney is caving in, put in a brick driveway, and the house needs to be re-painted. I was thinking maybe something creamish toward brownish color? My boyfriend thinks the color is a little to blah. I think it would be amazing with big green variegated hostas and hints of pink bushes and shrubs. Here are few photos I took of cream colored houses in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Marblehead, MA over the past few weeks. What do you guys think?

I was up Portsmouth, New Hampshire over the weekend getting inspiration at Strawberry Banke. I was there checking out 18th century architecture similar to my potential new house. Strawberry Banke has a walking museum tour that allows you to tour restored homes dating back to 1740. I was surprised how much colorful wallpaper appeared in all of the historic homes. The wallpapers are reproductions of French and English papers that were typical during the time period. To check out more of the tour click on any image to view my flickr photostream page. Enjoy!

After house hunting just north of the city in Marblehead I head into “town” to catch my train. (Local Twang: never say your going “to the city” in New England it’s “into town.”) I took a few shots in my favorite neighborhood, Beacon Hill. The brick brownstones are astonishling beautiful. The air was heaven scented with a deep purfume of sweet cherry blossoms and wisteria. Check out more photos by clicking on any image to the right.

I was in Marblehead yesterday doing a little house hunting. I’m a first time home buyer so finding a house I can afford is quite difficult. I would be totally game for a big renovation project but I have to admit I did get a little gun shy why I saw what I could afford. I will share more shots from the 257 year old house a little later. Check out a few shots I snapped walking around Marblehead yesterday afternoon. You can see more by clicking on any image to the right on any flickr image.