Homes With Stories
Some homes stay with me, not for their size or design, but for the lives they’ve held within their walls. I’m fascinated by how a single room can hold laughter, love, and countless moments that linger softly long after time moves on.
Recent Posts
Codman Estate – Lincoln, Massachusetts
The Codman House in Lincoln, known as The Grange, stands as one of the most elegant and layered historic homes in Massachusetts, and is another home that we have visited often. There is something about returning to a place like this that deepens appreciation with each visit. Build around 1747, and later expanded, the house […]
Hamilton Grange – Bronx, New York
For those who have seen the musical Hamilton, do you remember the moment when the family “moves uptown? In the late 18th century, uptown meant leaving the crowded streets of lower Manhattan for open farmland to the north. This are would later become Harlem. That is where Alexander Hamilton built his country retreat, a house known […]
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site – Lindenwald, New York
An often-forgotten president, Martin van Buren, is remembered at his home, Lindenwald, in Kinderhook, New York. This site is now preserved as the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. I have visited this house a couple of times, and the house itself leaves an impression, especially with its distinctive French scenic wallpaper that wraps entire rooms in […]
Teddy Roosevelt Birthplace – New York, New York
Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, in a brownstone home on East 20th Street in Manhattan. Though the original house was demolished in 1916, it was reconstructed in the 1920s on the original site, using photographs, family memories and original furnishings to recreate the homes it would have appeared during his childhood. The house reflects the […]
Abraham Lincoln’s Home – Springfield, Illinois
I enjoy studying and exploring Presidential sites, and I have visited all of the Presidential libraries and many smaller historic locations. Of course, I am partial to some presidents more than others, and for me one that is most special is Abraham Lincoln. As a child, we celebrated his birthday in February each year, separately, […]
John F. Kennedy’s Birthplace – Brookline, Massachusetts
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts offers the opportunity to step into the earliest chapters of that life that would shape world history. Touring this modest home, you are greeted by the recorded voice of Rose Kennedy. She calmly recounts the rhythms and rituals of family life. Through her reflections, the house […]
John Muir Home – Martinez, California
John Muir’s home in California offers a intimate window into the life of one of America’s most influential conservationists. Located northeast of San Francisco, the site is preserved today as John Muir National Historic Site. Muir lived here from 1889 until his death in 1914. While many picture him wandering through Yosemite or Alaska’s glaciers, this […]
Wave Hill – Bronx, New York
Marty and I visited Wave Hill at the end of the autumn, when the Hudson shimmered below us. Perched high above the river in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, the former country estate felt worlds away from the bustle of the city with the sweeping views stretching toward the Palisades in New Jersey. Originally developed […]
First White House of the Confederacy – Montgomery, Alabama
While visiting Montgomery, Alabama, we visited the First White House of the Confederacy. What made the house striking to us was how early it entered the story of the Civil War. The Davis family moved into this Montgomery residence in February 1861, when the Confederate States of America had only just been formed. That same month, delegates from […]
Eugene O’Neill’s Monte Cristo Cottage – New London, Connecticut
Connecticut is not too far for a good road trip and on this day, it brought us to Eugene O’Neill’s home in New London. This house, known as the Monte Cristo Cottage, was the family’s summer home, and decades later it became immortalized as the setting for “Long Day’s Journey into Night”. This is one of […]
Edith Wharton’s Mount – Lenox, Massachusetts
Exploration through road trips was a big part of homeschooling in our household. Each spring, when historic homes reopened for the season, off we would go, ready to step into another life and another era. One such stop was Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, Massachusetts, a place we returned to more than once, always drawn back […]
Gropius House – Lincoln, Massachusetts
We have visited the Gropius House in Lincoln several times, and often the tours were international. More than once, we found ourselves alongside visitors from Europe, particularly Germany, drawn here because of the reputation of the man who designed and lived in this remarkable home. The house was built in 1938 by Walter Gropius, one of […]
