Linda and I moved from Magnolia, along the scenic and historic Massachusetts North Shore, from an apartment with a spectacular North Atlantic ocean view, to the wilds of Stowe, Vermont during mud season in 1978. We'd purchased five secluded acres in Stowe Hollow, high up on the Worcester Mountain Range, cleared the land ourselves the summer before and contracted with Green Mountain Builders to construct an 1,800 square foot saltbox. When we pulled up in our U-Haul rental truck, the house was complete (sans paint) from the outside, but when the front door opened it looked like a construction site. No interior walls; simply rough, plywood sub flooring, 2 X 6 wall studs and exposed plumbing and wiring. We had a lot of work to do and I remember Linda looking at me like I had two heads. We unloaded our few meager possessions, it didn't take long and then moved the truck away from the front door. Well, we moved it a few days later after the sun finally appeared, the mud dried out and the wheels found traction. Thus began our adventure into home ownership and our interest in antiques.
The Stowe house after moving our furniture in and getting the U-Haul stuck and a couple of years later after much, very enjoyable work.
Our view was magnificent though. We over looked Stowe Village upon Mt Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak and the famous Von Trapp Family Lodge. Deer, hawks, owls and other creatures that made noise during the night were abundant. Crystalline during the winter months with a coating of fresh snow nearly every night and ablaze during the autumn months with red, orange and yellow foliage that adorned massive, ancient maple trees. The Spring grass in Vermont is an emerald green, punctuated with small white flowers that flourish as the last of the winter snow recedes and announces the arrival of summer. It's a beautiful place.
You know however, what they say about life in northern Vermont. "Ten months of winter and two months of damn poor sleddin!"
Linda and Sam in our Stowe living room in 1980 and again a few years later when we visited the town to show Sam her roots. That's our front door in Stowe and the owners were gracious enough to invite us in and show us our old home.
Samantha was born here in September of 1979, but already, Linda and I were feeling the tug of family and decided to put our new home on the market and migrate south to New Hampshire. It was a good decision as it made my commute to work much easier and we enjoyed living a life closer to grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles nieces, nephews and cousins.
Our parents, mine to the left and Linda's to the right, who were pretty happy that we'd moved south with their new granddaughter.
It took nearly a year for the house in Stowe to sell and we used that time in search of property in Amherst, NH. Linda was a nurse, but since Sam's birth no longer worked. We'd made the decision a long time ago that one of us would be home full time as children appeared. The economy at the time was such that this was possible, but as a young airline pilot with a "commuter airline", my income alone forced us widen our search area and lower our sights from new construction to an older home. We were somewhat disappointed.
Six Old Amherst Road. Mont Vernon, NH
We purchased 6 Old Amherst the day it came on the market. In fact, we viewed the property with the realtors as they familiarized themselves with this new listing. It looked great from the outside but it was old, neglected, smelled and concealed much from view. But it looked like home to us and altered forever our thoughts about ever owning a new home.
And this is where the story begins!
