Seen in the greater town of Rockingham, Vermont: an absolutely beautiful, seemingly abandoned house. I don’t know anything about this house, but I couldn’t stop staring at it, even from a distance. It’s breathtaking.
Beautifully isolated. The windows are right under the cornice, which dates the house back about 200 years. Amazing.
The front door.
Front door knob.
Note the wood storm windows still hanging, missing the glass panes.
Storm window, wood clapboards, brick foundation.
Rusted farm equipment surrounding the house.
Side of the house, with a view of the rear wing.
A rear window is 12/12, whereas most of the others are 6/6.
View from the rear of the house.
A view into the house through a window; someone cared enough to work on it fairly recently.
This is one of the houses that I truly love for its beauty and intrigue. It ranks as one of my favorites.
Preservation in Pink 
I can see why it ranks so highly. What a great place. I would be willing to bet that the 12/12 window you pictured is one of the original windows to the house (which would go hand in hand with your assessment of construction period). I’ve seen that countless times where later window upgrades displace some of the original windows to secondary locations such as back wing additions or outbuildings. I wonder if originally the house had two chimneys located on the interior walls, left and right of the center hall. That would explain why the window fenestration is not perfectly symmetrical on the front facade. I think I would be asking permission from somebody for a walk-through. Really cool place.
The 12/12 as original windows – just what I was thinking! And it seems like two chimneys would make sense. The house was gutted on the inside from what I could tell, but I wonder if it had ever been updated to the “modern era” or if some hearty Vermonters always lived there.
The house was ambitiously gutted from the looks of it. Somebody had big plans for this place at one time and they still might. I like to think that some of those plans include the re-installation of interior materials; that somewhere in an outbuilding are stacks of carefully cataloged flooring and moldings along with perhaps some mantelpieces and a couple great built in cupboards. I am allowed to dream, right?
NICE
very nice house. it’s a shame that it is abandoned.
Gorgeous house and photos. In some ways it reminds me of my family’s farmhouse in Upstate New York. Thanks for sharing!
I can´t stand to look at places like this – its heartbreaking. There´s a great coffee-table book called Ruins (or Ruin ??). It chronicles many old houses in ruin along the eastern seaboard. I too thought this house dated from the early 1800´s…..its massing is a helpful indicator.
Hey Caitlin, I´m sure you´re familiar w/ the round church in Richmond….well, did you know there are only two round colonial (wood-framed) churches in North America ? The other is in Halifax, NS. It sits just down the street from the Richmond section of Halifax. If you google ¨round church halifax¨ you´ll see it.
It is heartbreaking, indeed; yet, I can’t look away. I feel as though gazing at this house (and others like this) and loving it again offer some last rights of respect or perhaps some hope. I hadn’t seen the book, but I’ll look it up. And yes, I’ve seen the round church in Richmond – I’ll look up the one in Halifax. thanks!
Sorry for the “C” !!
The book is Ruin by Brian Vander Brink
Good pic of the Hfx. round church here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitebeard/3411071817/
I´m always been conscious of the relationship between structures and landscape, and how they meld together to form something greater than their parts. there´s a couple pics of the house you´ve shown that are impressive….e.g.: the side view of house, with the long driveway, and the hills in the background. I had a strong feeling of the house really belonging there, just as it has for the last 200 years.
Hi Kaitlin,
Where is this house? I thought I knew Rockingham like the back of my hand but I guess not! 🙂
Paula Sagerman
Hi Paula,
I’ll send you an email to give you the location. I choose not to add the specific address or location on these posts because I do not want to encourage trespassing, etc. (Of course, preservationists do no harm!)
This homestead is truly a snapshot back in time. Thanks for sharing! It needs a major fundraiser! 😉
I love this one, too! It is one of my favorite.
Kaitlin-
You must see the article in the May issue of Dwell magazine entitled “Hope Floats.” Super article about a revival of a delapidated rural manor house in the Catskills where ” a successful marriage of vernacular design and modern design” fills the pages. Inspiring!
Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to read it.
that house was owned by one of ted wlliams’ wives. the second one i think. it is being slowly fixed up.
HI Kaitlin! Love your posts! would you be able to e-mail the location of this and some of the other places you’ve been? Greatly appreciated!! : D
perhaps whoever left the paint brush in the window to the right of the doorway will someday return to complete the work.
This property is abandoned it’s next to where my grandpa’s junkyard was That house is been there since my mom was little and that would’ve been 74 years ago The house is been perceived to be haunted it once originally belong to a little old lady that had multiple cats who went into the hospital and had passed away about 60 years ago I had originally thought that at one point Ted Williams had bought the property and was going to re-renovate it but I don’t know if there’s truth behind that or not
Thank you for sharing! I haven’t seen this house in a number of years; hopefully it’s still in salvageable condition.
What a gorgeous historical house! Have spent quite some time in Rockingham and Parker hill rd and have never seen this property! even though I have been almost everywhere! Where is this beauty located?
Regards,
Donna B.