Monday, October 8, 2012

Tour Guide

I've lived near Standish for the last 35 years and, until Saturday morning, never set foot in the Marrett House, which is located on Route 25 at Standish Corner . We stopped by to take in the "Art at the Marrett" show. The art  show in the big barn was nice, but the real artistry was found walking room to room in the historic home of the Marrett family, with local historian and tour guide Charles. It was a 45 minute trip back in time, hearing wonderful stories of three generations of family life, viewing the inner architecture and glancing at the treasured heirlooms throughout the rooms. I love old buildings that share a character and a history with us. The Marrett House is one of these structures that has quite a narration to share with us with the help of a gifted historian like Charles. He was certainly "Charles In Charge" on Saturday morning!

http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/marrett-house/marrett-house

22 comments:

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    1. I lived in Standish for 28 years, and taught in Standish for 22 years, and I, too, have never been inside the Marrett House (only to the gardens!). Now I'm motivated to go - I'm sure that Charles was wonderful. I have been on a tour of The Old Red Church - have you? It once used to house Standish High School.

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    2. I, too, love old houses. In fact, our own house is nearly 200 years old!

      Charles was a wonderful guide and it was all so fascinating. Loved looking out the old wavy glass windows on the second floor to see Standish from a new viewpoint never experienced before.

      Don't get any ideas, Birdman. Tours of our house will not start anytime soon.

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    4. No shoes inside. Quite amazing really. The house lies as it the family left it yesterday.

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    5. Yeah, our house lies as if the family left it yesterday, too.

      Not always a good thing....

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  2. ca devait etre sympa (je vois Halloween se prépare ;) )

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  3. Your walk through the Standish house was a good, though a woefully short, read as I was hooked and wanted to read more. I wished it could have gone on forever. It was also inspirational because we have gone to Asheville, North Carolina, several times, and gone through the lavish Biltmore House and Gardens. Biltmore House and Gardens The price per visit is now $49.50 and when we started it was a whopping $26.00 and we thought it outrageous enough back then. Good post. I once followed you and have again. My old popslinc blog was hacked and I pretty much lost everything so I am starting over trying to find the people I once visited on a regular basis.

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  4. Preservation of historic homes is a good thing and gives an interesting contrasts to our modern life. Thanks for the link; I always appreciate information on posts of this kind since I always spend time checking it myself if there is none.

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  5. I like the way you have the pumpkin, the boots and.. whatever he has on his feet, lined up

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  6. God bless the good guides of the world. How would we learn without them.

    Now what's all this about your own old house . . . ?

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  7. These center entrance colonial homes have a classic beauty. Good to know this one is being preserved and is open for tours. Charles looks welcoming in the doorway.

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  8. I too love to wander through old houses and learn their history. Love the doorway! -- barbara

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  9. pretty interesting about the shoes. :)

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  10. 45 minutes well spent by the sound of it Birdman, so when were the tours of your house starting again..? haha!

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  11. Elenka's making me laugh.

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  12. I'm always impressed by the people who conduct these tours - they are so committed and enthusiastic!
    I don't think there is any significance to the patterns in that carving - just beauty.

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  13. Nice to see something "new" in town then i guess.

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  14. Sounds like your were truly inspired by this tour which makes it a good recommendation for anyone visiting that area.

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  15. Your photo framing him in the doorway, hands in his pockets, fits the story very well.

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