Twelve snowy inches and more to come. Thanks to Lindsey for this shot of one of the driveway gateposts, lovely portrait of a New England winter eve.
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A few weeks ago, Donald was working by the wood stove in the kitchen when he heard a tremendous crash. He looked out to see that an old spruce in our backyard had fallen over, for no apparent reason. We were glad to have already taken down trees near the house. Spruce isn't good firewood, so Larry will chop it and give it to a guy who taps spruce for sap. We were awed by stunning transformations made possible by Kyle and Lindsey's vision and hard work. We are grateful to them, and their handy friends and relatives, too. Thanks to Lindsey for these wonderful shots that artfully capture the distance from beginning to end of their journey. We hope they'll be very happy in their new home. Turns out that writing on windows was something they did at the Gatehouse, too. Thanks to Lindsey for waiting for just the right light to capture this shot from their dining room window.
We are grateful to newlyweds Kyle and Lindsey McEvoy for taking on the project of renovating the Gatehouse prior to their moving into it. We think the Gatehouse dates from the late 1850s, a few years after the big house was built. Kyle is conversant with the secrets of old houses, having worked with Ron Carpenter to restore hundreds of vintage fixtures at Holleywood including the glass octagonal lantern in the turret. Here are Kyle and Lindsey a couple of weeks into the job--still together and smiling!
We are sorry to say goodbye to Troy Tatsapaugh whose family has been in residence in the Gatehouse for many years. Sadly, Troy's mother Cappy (Catherine) Tatsapaugh passed away in June and Troy is moving into her house in North Canaan. Before Troy moved out last weekend, he passed along to us this portrait of Governor Holley that Jay Rudd had entrusted to him before the tag sale. We thank Jay and Karly for this gift to us, and thank Troy for keeping it in his good care. Hello, Governor. Welcome home.
The last family residents of Holleywood were Jay Rudd and his wife Karly who delighted us with a visit from Michigan this weekend. They came bearing old photos and wonderful tales. We learned that the stately maple in the center of the front yard is a memorial tree for Jay's mother, Virginia (Jinny) Rudd who passed away in 1985. The tree was sent by a relative in the South who wanted to honor Jinny's memory with something more permanent than flowers. Jay's father John planted the tree when it was just a few feet tall. He placed it in the center of the lawn, where it would be visible from every front window. Almost thirty years later, it brings daily pleasure not only to us, but to passersby--and I'll never again look at it without thinking of Jay's mom, though we never met.
We were delighted to receive a visit today from Wade Warner and his sister Laurie who had lived off and on in the house as children. Their grandmother, Beatrice Sexton, was a longtime companion to Emma Rudd, mother of John Rudd, the last family member who lived in the house.
Laurie lived in Holleywood with her grandmother Beatrice for her first two years of high school. "I remember the toast she made in the Glenwood," Laurie recalled. "I'd be running out to catch the bus and she'd hand me toast from the warmer bin on the top of the stove. I've never had toast as good as that again." Both Laurie and Wade remember avoiding the basement, terrified by the gravestone down there. Laurie lives here in town. Wade drove up to celebrate her birthday, from Washington DC where he works for Homeland Security. He fantasizes, he says, about retiring here, in the town he fondly recalls from his childhood. Yes, we have groundhogs like everyone else around here, but happily they haven't (yet) figured out how to get past the 2 feet of fencing we buried underground.
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who we areWe are a couple of Upper West Siders from NYC who never set out to buy an old mansion in Connecticut. But the moment we walked through its massive front door, we were smitten. The info on this site is earnestly cobbled from a variety of sources, including the web. Please let us know if we've gotten something wrong, or if there's a story about Holleywood you'd like to share. forewords
December 2021
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