cabin

Chadwick Cottage // 1891

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One of the many summer cottages tucked away in the trees in the Chocorua Colony in Tamworth, New Hampshire, the Chadwick Cottage was built in 1890 for prominent gynecologist, Dr. James Read Chadwick (1844-1905). Dr. Chadwick was introduced to Chocorua during his summer visits to the White Mountains, where he and his family stayed at local hotels as early as 1876. He purchased seventeen acres of forest nearby Chocorua Lake in 1890 on which he erected this house and its outbuildings the following year. The design of the buildings is attributed to Boston architect, Clarence Howard Walker, who was affiliated with the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts and designed this rustic cottage to fit within the forest, enhancing the landscape surrounding it. Dr. James Chadwick was a professor at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer nationally in the field of gynecology, where he played a key role in organizing the American Gynecological Society. In 1905, while vacationing at his Tamworth cottage, Dr. Chadwick died following a fall from a piazza roof. The Chadwick Cottage was sold a year later to Lillian and William G. Farlow, a world-renowned authority on fungi and other non-flowering plants, likely a friend of the late Dr. Chadwick. The cottage and its associated out buildings are lovingly preserved over a century later and exemplify the best of summer cottages in New Hampshire.

Chinook Kennels // c.1920

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The Chinook Kennels in Tamworth, stand today as a lasting vestige of a lesser-known dog breed and the State Dog of New Hampshire, the Chinook. The Chinook owes its existence to one man: Arthur Treadwell Walden, who lived in the Wonalancet village of Tamworth, operating a farm and inn with his wife, Katherine Sleeper Walden. The breed derives principally from one male ancestor born in 1917, named “Chinook”, who was Walden’s lead dog, bred with Huskies, mastiff, and shepards to create the iconic breed today. As Arthur Walden developed the breed, he built kennels on the grounds of the Wonalancet Farm, this structure which is a log cabin of sorts. Walden brought his dog, Chinook, then 12-years-old, with him on the Byrd Expedition to the Antarctic, and he went missing while hauling supplies miles overland from ship to shore, and was presumed to have died there. When he returned home, Arthur sold the kennels and the core of his breeding stock to Milton and Eva B. ‘Short’ Seeley, who moved the kennel building down the road to its present site. The old building has been converted to a home and remains a private, single-family residence today.

Highways Cottage // 1902

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One of the more unique and enchanting historic summer “cottages” I have seen in my travels is this early 20th century rustic example in the Onteora Park colony. Built in 1902 for John S. Stanton Sr. (1837-1933), this residence was later the summer home of Dr. Edward Ahrens and his wife, Gertrude, who founded the Mountaintop Arboretum nearby. The house stands 3 1/2-stories tall and features horizontal log siding on the ground floor and cedar shingle siding above. The facade is dominated by the broad gable end roof that extends downwards to the first floor at flared eaves on the sides and over the windows.

Cosy Cabin // 1887

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Tucked away in the town of Hunter in the Catskill Mountains of New York, the summer colony of Twilight Park has stood as an exclusive and private resort community established in the late 19th century. Twilight Park was born out of the Twilight Club, a Manhattan social club in the late-19th century and brought to life by founder, Charles F. Wingate. Mr. Wingate traveled to the mountaintop in 1887, and became enamored by its natural beauty. He arranged for the purchase of a former sheep’s meadow and led the construction of the first cluster of cottages in what would become a large community of over 100 summer homes. Cottages were laid out on roughly parallel roads at different elevations and on old connecting paths that later became roads with all lots built on ledges overlooking the Catskills. The first six cottages were log cabins, with this example, likely in the first batch. From maps and a report on the area, this early cottage appears to have been named “Cosy Cabin” and was first occupied by Mr. Wingate, the founder of the Twilight Club and Twilight Park. The cottage is unique for its vertically laid logs still containing their bark, and the rustic porch balustrade and detailing.