Summer 2005
Summer of 2004
December 2002 (John and Margaret are 4 and 7)
The current abode, built in 1829, modified extensively at the turn of the century and
further modified at the height of the 1960's
Whether you love
or merely tolerate your old house, it is well to approach the building with one truth
firmly in mind. Human life is short. The life of a house is potentially limitless. Even in
the youthful US, we have houses that have been sheltering families for three hundred years
or more. “Barring disaster or imprudent neglect, your house is destined to outlive
you. You are but one in a long line of custodians of the property—a line that extends
backward through the decades or centuries and forward to an indefinite future.
“That being the case, let the changes you make to your property be additive rather
than subtractive in nature. If you need a new kitchen or bathroom or furnace, install it.
But wherever possible, install it in such a way as to preserve original features or fabric
. . . Try to make your work add to the legacy of the past so that you can pass a dwelling
of even greater value and comfort to the future. Remember that the number of old houses is
finite, and diminishes each year. It is a privilege and responsibility to own a piece of
the past.”
From the inside flap of:
A Building History of Northern New England
by James L. Garvin
View of our house from across the river -- the Stillwater river -- a branch of the
Penobscot
Before the present house we lived in a different location in Orono and prior
to that in Fort Collins Colorado
Mary Jane, John and Margaret, Summer 1999, Orono, ME in front of our old house in Orono
and a sketch of a previous house in Fort Collins, Colorado
Sustainable transportation and old habits
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