tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post6996340709711513301..comments2024-03-14T04:01:02.005-04:00Comments on THE DOWNEAST DILETTANTE: Elegance is RefusalThe Down East Dilettantehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13950254669198151850noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-89968218197131713092013-07-15T06:05:42.444-04:002013-07-15T06:05:42.444-04:00This is quite a late comment on this post but I th...This is quite a late comment on this post but I thought it might be of interest to anyone still reading that one of my family members purchased this farm. Growing up we spent some happy summers in Maine and the property is also very like the places we loved as kids. There are no plans that I know of to change the property in the way suggested- with a McMansion, bulldozers or otherwise. Indeed, the simplicity and charm of the property was one of the main selling points. I believe it needs some essential works to maintain it- for example, the roof- but nothing to alter the nature or character. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-30019978169719522602012-04-22T20:18:45.018-04:002012-04-22T20:18:45.018-04:00It is true about agricultural taxing. It must hel...It is true about agricultural taxing. It must help.<br /><br />I know nothing about taxes (Lordy!) But here in Santa Barbara some things are being saved from "mansionization " (I almost capitalized that!!! EEEEEK!!!!!)<br /><br />It all makes me sick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-55345005734764801352010-11-17T10:56:18.008-05:002010-11-17T10:56:18.008-05:00It is a pipe dream to think that anyone paying $1....It is a pipe dream to think that anyone paying $1.8 million for this property will leave it as is. North Haven Conservation Partners, the excellent local land trust, could play a role in helping protect this property - keeping it a farm and limiting changes to the historic cape. Please support their efforts by contactig them today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-42943977202304069522010-10-07T13:29:21.473-04:002010-10-07T13:29:21.473-04:00Tax reform on farmland would be a great start.Tax reform on farmland would be a great start.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-32524372481098141522010-10-06T20:03:53.227-04:002010-10-06T20:03:53.227-04:00'We are dangerously without culture and that i...'We are dangerously without culture and that is why we are in the mess we are in, because no one is thinking' Vivienne Westwood.<br /><br />Does make one ponder the question of just how did this all start, and most importantly how to minimize it?Authorhttp://www.adiscourseontheartsandsciences.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-23113194882342959912010-10-06T16:06:17.462-04:002010-10-06T16:06:17.462-04:00Difficult to post as my family is the seller, we l...Difficult to post as my family is the seller, we live in Scarsdale and my wife and I are trying like hell to save a piece of it for our kids. For all who read Dilettante's article and dreamed about what it must be like - it's even better than you may think. He did not exaggerate in evoking the land or the farmhouse and the only thing missing are the original watercolor paintings of Maine by the former owner hanging on the wallsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-23677012411143425612010-10-05T00:00:40.721-04:002010-10-05T00:00:40.721-04:00Janet, it is strange and alarming---all this is wh...Janet, it is strange and alarming---all this is what Maine and Nova Scotia was all about, and suddenly, after years of reverence, in less than a decade, all has changed, and all is in danger...it's very disquieting...The Down East Dilettantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13950254669198151850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-73504890079650562672010-10-04T17:32:56.928-04:002010-10-04T17:32:56.928-04:00I stopped breathing for a second when I saw this f...I stopped breathing for a second when I saw this farm - we are losing ours too here in Nova Scotia, but at a slightly slower rate and at somewhat lower prices. No consolation however. If it ain't broke dont fix it,indeed!<br />The capitol city of my province is losing it's scale and essence as a backwater 18th and 19th century colonial armed forces base, losing what is left of the two and three story Georgian and early victorian housing and commercial buildings to the god of real estate development.<br />Here I sit in my 1820's unpainted and only slightly "improved" shingled cape house - when I'm gone it will be bulldozed and a McMansion built unless my grandson hangs on to it.Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17643680000059427128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-61820870546729152912010-09-29T15:12:56.741-04:002010-09-29T15:12:56.741-04:00I agree with all above. This beautiful piece of si...I agree with all above. This beautiful piece of silent perfection should be worshiped. Suspect it will be bulldozed by the well meaning. Kinda' sums up my ideas of religion.home before darkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13272062955786414729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-43512958742761759132010-09-29T14:21:08.158-04:002010-09-29T14:21:08.158-04:00Those spare, elegant lines made all the more wonde...Those spare, elegant lines made all the more wonderful by that beautiful northern light. Sigh.Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04348849115235899670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-13800475378469054222010-09-28T17:38:47.923-04:002010-09-28T17:38:47.923-04:00I could not agree with you more on this one! Firs...I could not agree with you more on this one! First, that house is absolute perfection! Where's my trustfund when I need it?! (there's never going to be a trustfund) Like something from a Wyeth or Hopper painting.<br /><br />Second, I'm sure you can agree with me, but it drives me absolutely bonkers when people from out of state build these heinous monstrosities with 4 turrets and a yard of boueys, then go back to Jersey and leave them for us to glare at for the rest of the year! AGGHHH!! Where's a hurricane when you need it!?DMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15435206223622005832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-49152530955915252222010-09-28T17:34:13.400-04:002010-09-28T17:34:13.400-04:00Although my personal motto is "too much is ne...Although my personal motto is "too much is never enough" your words and pictures were truly inspiring (as usual).<br /><br />This particular scene brings to mind another of my mottos, which is quite appropriate here - "less is more, nothing being most"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-19634001206388754462010-09-28T13:06:24.959-04:002010-09-28T13:06:24.959-04:00Raina, nothing like the smell of roses by the sea ...Raina, nothing like the smell of roses by the sea on a breezy summer day<br /><br />Columnist, thanks for the tip<br /><br />Toby, Nail on the Head. Bravo<br /><br />Reggie, how opposite my goals and aesthetic from the majority never fails to flabbergast me<br /><br />24 Corners--it defies imagination, doesn't it, the desire to dominate the landscape?<br /><br />Ancient, LoL, you wise ass. Add a nice little wing---one in scale with appropriate fenestration--turn the fourth bedroom into a bath....just don't build a big silly house...<br /><br />Suitability and comfort are not mutually exclusive goals...The Down East Dilettantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13950254669198151850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-1550680059185620712010-09-28T11:10:56.297-04:002010-09-28T11:10:56.297-04:00Mister, you're a better man than I ...
Becaus...<i>Mister, you're a better man than I ...</i><br /><br />Because I am not going downstairs in the morning to the single shower in a four bedroom house.<br /><br />(Call it "The Elegance of Recusal.")The Ancientnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-90197622054016948802010-09-28T01:18:48.447-04:002010-09-28T01:18:48.447-04:00We live near Seattle in a neighborhood called Lake...We live near Seattle in a neighborhood called Lake Forest Park, there's a beautiful lake and a FOREST...we're surrounded by glorious trees, that's why we live here. Our neightbors have one tree left on their lot...a magnificent, at least 90 year old, taller than a three story house, oak tree...all the rest have been terminated, along with the beautiful old rhodies, cherry trees and other flowering green gifts from God that used to be there. The oak is to be next, we're just sick about it. <br />Scarsdale is alive and well in the Pacific Northwest too (right next door)...it's a coast to coast disease! =[<br /><br />(I won't even begin to tell you about the house...)24 Cornershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13630767883910250689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-77191301514442877252010-09-28T00:42:10.719-04:002010-09-28T00:42:10.719-04:00The simple and plain mid-nineteenth century farmho...The simple and plain mid-nineteenth century farmhouse with curtainless windows and painted floors that my family once owned sat alone, save for barns and outbuildings, on 40 acres an hour and a half outside of Washington D.C. That is, until my parents sold it to a man who then sold it to a developer who turned it in to a townhome (that's right, townhome) development for commuters to nearby Hagerstown, MD.<br /><br />And I believe Columnist is right as to how to upload photos, which I am able to do following a similar path.Reggie Darlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04044215790585354363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-20976350909435849542010-09-27T11:24:58.145-04:002010-09-27T11:24:58.145-04:00It goes beyond a disregard for "simple things...It goes beyond a disregard for "simple things". What's really lost is a sense of "place"~the gradual disappearance of buildings and landscapes indigenous<br />to location. Most big houses look the same nowadays,<br />variations on a theme of watered down grandeur. The<br />sameness is mind numbing, yet that is what's desired<br />by the majority, or so it would seem.Toby Worthingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887066048372484464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-41857972929864021712010-09-27T01:08:42.051-04:002010-09-27T01:08:42.051-04:00So true - the runination of simplicity. There are ...So true - the runination of simplicity. There are basically too many of us on the planet now!<br /><br />Regarding the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" maxim, this could easily apply to the changes Blogger has made to uploading photos. But just click on "Choose Files". They take a while (longer) to load IMO, and sometimes the picture appears before the grey "loading" button has completed along the bottom of the picture. But once it's framed in blue it's good to go.columnisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03764365428633038329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185045903146972312.post-84514308125483197682010-09-26T20:53:17.113-04:002010-09-26T20:53:17.113-04:00Mmm...I can almost smell the salt air.Mmm...I can almost smell the salt air.Raina Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01095323923070587294noreply@blogger.com