One of my favorite hobbies/timekillers is stalking historic houses for sale online. My “territory” used to be exclusively local (so I could hang on to the notion that I was actually searching for a house that I might possibly buy, I suppose) but now my real-estalking knows no bounds. The National Trust for Historic Preservation runs a property sale site that I check in with periodically; yesterday I popped on there and quickly spotted Santarella for sale! Santarella is the ultimate east-coast storybook house, built by the English sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson in the 1920s in the western Massachusetts town of Tyringham. I posted about it a couple of years ago on my way out west. At that time, I hadn’t realized the size of the Santarella compound, which includes not only the storied main house, but several romantic silo structures, a c. 1750 farmhouse, and an absolutely charming English shingle cottage, all on four acres and for $2,590.000. A bargain, I say: if I could make the mortgage (and the commute), I’d snap it right up.
Santarella for sale: the main house in snow and summer, the colonial homestead, and the English cottage.
Even farther from home, several other houses appealed to me particularly on the National Trust site–actually all did, but this post cannot go on forever! My highlights: the 1763 “Arch House” in Waterford, Virginia (I love 18th century rowhouses, and this one looks unique), “Eagles Nest”, a restored 17th century manor house in a beautiful Virginia setting, a Greek Revival in upstate New York (for under $200,000–in a really charming town), a brick Maryland Federal, and a stunning 1828 brick house in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania which features one of the most beautiful hallways I have ever seen. Obviously I could go on and on: you can check out plantations, churches, rectories, banks, taverns, hotels, a “whiskey bonding barn”, the site of Edgar Allen Poe’s honeymoon “suite”, and save an imperiled Connecticut saltbox/gambrel from pending demolition.
From top: the Arch House in Waterford, Virginia; “Eagles Nest” exterior and front hallway/staircase; Cambridge, New York Greek Revival; the Davis House in Clarksburg, Maryland: exterior and architectural detail; front hall of the 1828 Harriet Lane House in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. All listings at the National Trust; another site to check out for Mid-Atlantic historic homes is the Historic Homes Network. For New England: Antique Homes Magazine.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:10 am
Real estate “shopping” is one of my favorite diversions too. I tend to stick with looking in Salem these days but I might have to venture out a little bit again 😉
January 11th, 2014 at 10:25 am
Well, I find that it’s cheaper than OTHER forms of online “shopping”, Michele! I’m so envious of your backyard skating rink….
January 11th, 2014 at 10:30 am
It sure is and just as much fun! The rink is under water today. We’re just waiting for the cold weather to come back later in the week, but the kids have had a blast.
January 11th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
Reblogged this on Hay Market Antiques Society and commented:
Architecture, great houses, Historic Preservation, Interiors, stalking historic houses for sale online
January 11th, 2014 at 9:25 pm
Oh yes, a wonderful hobby!
Did you see this? For all Georgette Heyer fans: Beau Brummell’s house has just gone on sale in London – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2537120/Palatial-Mayfair-house-rare-double-blue-plaque-status-goes-market-cool-8-5-million-boasting-former-prime-minister-18th-century-dandy-previous-residents.html
But my favourite dream was a house I saw advertised in the New Forest, designed by Edward Lutyens, with its own badger hide!
January 11th, 2014 at 9:33 pm
Wow thanks–I went right there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a double blue plaque before, but I must say I don’t really care for the interior now. I bet it looked much better when Beau lived there! Now looking for the New Forest house….