Lolly Willows

Cows

2011-11-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

Cows dance at Lolly Willows (no cows were harmed during the making of this video)

Fall Equinox Sept 23, 2011

2011-10-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Some views from Lolly Willows, where autumnal leaf color is peaking right this moment!

The first grass has grown in after construction.....

Reading and snoozing on the screen porch bed: a full time occupation

Path to Moose Poop Point

Yes, I do sew! these psychedelic chintz pillows *pop* the pupils and lift the spirits

more nooks for reading /napping / swooning

another stinky hippie levitating on the veranda

A black bear on the driveway at 7a.m.

No need to get out of bed for receiving visitors; M holds forth on topics such as mushroom identification or favorite brands of gin.

"I never drink water. Fish f*ck in it." ...W.C. Fields

Sappho is doing well after her summer surgical procedure; when not nursing a hangover, she's entirely focused on swimming and fetching.

Lolly just steps to completion

2011-08-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

The cabin (as played by Marilyn) now lacks only porch steps to be fully complete for The Misfits.

New Photos August 3, 2011

2011-08-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Progress! A sturdy new screen porch door custom made by Brad K.; it's a beauty and a marvel--now we can sleep outdoors all night long.

The cabin is getting some earth-shaping to soften it around the edges. It sits on a stone ledge, so topsoil and river stones are being brought in. We'll plant native meadow seed and wildflower mix and let the grass and ferns grow mostly wild.

A cedar indoor shower; we have HOT WATER SHOWERS NOW, thank you Brad K and Colin!!!!!!

We have cosy furniture inside the house now, too, but I don't have photos because my i-phone was run over by a car (many times) near the dairy farm in West Glover and I lost alot of pics...truly. --S.

Sappho had her big event--a parathyroid operation--and is now back to swimming and fetching sticks like a crazed fanatical drooling varmint.

June 20, 2011 Photos

2011-06-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

Some new photos from past weekend. Carpenter Brad K. did this cleverly integrated new work including doors, table, screened porch knee-wall and water collection system. Maybe it will all be finished by late July (?)...but is it ever finished? And the final details are worth the wait. Spent the weekend barbecuing and hauling out brush and wood debris, making paths through the woods; put up the old tent, and waxed the canoe.

New doors and amazing table with built-in benches

Screened porch almost finished; close-up of gutters to water collection system

Solar power panels and propane tank / battery / generator shed

Solar battery array / water collection tank / water pressure tank / on-demand water heater

The old tent is back up; gonna put a real bed in there for swooning

Print of Vermont-like logging industry, see timeline

Wild orchids called Pink Lady's Slipper outside cabin, see more

Crazy abundance of lichens and mosses cover everything

Porch and pooch

nesting vid

2011-04-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

After living in a tent on this same spot for five years, this is a major change

The Landing

2011-04-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

thrift store painting modified with Katamari space ball and astronauts

April 9th 2011

2011-04-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

We spent our first real weekend of 2011 in the cabin and it is coming together beautifully. We are very thankful to Keone, Keith, Will, Colin and our neighbors who helped make it happen. It has been a year since construction began, but worth the wait. The kitchen counters and windows are in, and the finished exterior doors are coming soon. The snow is just starting to melt and mud season has begun... We spent last weekend trimming the windows and settling in, but work will continue for a month or two... The porch will be screened-in by the time the May flies come!

How to get there...

2011-04-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

REFRIGERATION with Solar Power

2011-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

The whole camp runs on SOLAR POWER (with a large battery system and propane generator back-up) that means no standard refrigerator. "Sunfrost" refrigerators use 1/5 the power--they have about 4 inches of insulation and run with no fans. See Sunfrost Refrigeratators at http://www.sunfrost.com/

This fridge is custom built by clever elves in Arcata, California... just ordered one today.

Halloween at Lolly Willows!

2010-11-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

Construction continues on the cabin... It's looking just as imagined but better, very bright inside with all the windows. The shell is complete and most of the roof is on. By Thanksgiving it will have heat and be habitable, but work will continue through winter. ( Click to enlarge photos)

Not completely dressed yet: Lolly is waiting for her hip roof on the west side and a stained glass diamond-shaped window under the eave.

Click to enlarge the winter wonderland view... Jay Peak is already ski-able.

Haunted?

The old campsite needs to be dismantled before the avalanche comes
Miniatures for strength.

Pine flooring to go in last. The wood stove is ready to be fired up.

Pesky blood sucking gobblins

Pumpkin at the Pine Crest Motel.

Taxidermy human head

Jay Peak is waiting...bunny slopes?

Unorthodox Taxidermy, 1930s sculpture by Dr.Seuss

2010-10-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Lolly Willows cottage is coming along through blizzards

Photos from Aug 28 to 29...

2010-08-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

Some interior shots with the ceiling now in. Soon the windows and porches will be built!

PHOTOS of the Frame Raising

2010-08-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

The construction method of Lolly Willows is unusual. It is a modified version of a traditional French Canadian method known as "pièces sur pièces" or "pièces sur pièces avec poteaux à coulisse." Unlike the more familiar style of log cabin which was brought from Sweden, the logs are hewn square, and the weight is carried by vertical posts. It was long favored in Quebec and throughout the fur trade. For more about "pièces sur pièces," see: http://www.log-world.com/article_piece_en_piece.php or see PDF file

Here (photo below) is a surviving example built in 1888 as a fur warehouse at Fort St. James, Canada:

Photos from "frame raising day" with friends, neighbors and the crew of Old School Builders. Hidden beyond the green mountains, its sturdy cedar timber frame rose silhouetted against the August sky: Lolly Willows.

Frame Raising Weekend SCHEDULE

2010-08-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

Frame Raising Schedule and Events:
Lolly Willows Weekend
--see Driving Directions

Saturday, Aug 14th @ Lolly Willows land
9am to all day--Frame raising begins, walls start to rise; by the end of the day all rafters and roof beams will be in place. There is one big tent and grassy areas for camping, and some of you are staying at the Pine Crest Motel.

Sunday, Aug 15
Morning--Old Stone House Day, Brownington. This is an amazing 1834 intact group of houses and school, with museum and garden, not touristy, a tiny local village fair. See info.

Afternoon--Bread & Puppet presents: The Decapitalization Circus & Nothing is Not Ready Pageant. Free outdoor community theater, cocktails on the grass. See info.

Points of interest:
Red Sky Trading Company, Glover Vermont. This small business features home-made snacks, coffee, jams, furniture, and vintage objects in the barn at Cheri & Doug Safford's house. Opens 9am on Sat and Sunday, get there when the donuts come out of the fryer.

Pine Crest Motel, some of you are staying here.

Parker Pie Company at the Lake Parker General Store. The only real lunch and dinner spot in town, plus it's fun.

Parson's Corner Diner, in the center of Barton at the old parsonage, great for breakfast, try the corned beef hash.

Currier's General Store, Glover Vermont. They have everything from groceries to fishing rods and an enormous and bizarre taxidermy collection and photos of hunters on the walls.

Lake Willoughby, 5 miles from Lolly Willows. Surely the most beautiful glacial lake in Vermont. Ask about the hidden cove with sandy beach at one end.

Old School Builders, custom timber frame builders in Glover, Vermont. This is the team building Lolly Willows.

Lolly Willows Frame Raising Day! Coming AUGUST 14TH

2010-07-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

Lolly Willows Frame Raising Day is set for Saturday, AUGUST 14TH!

View location on MAP or get Driving Directions

Keith S., fully recovered and back on the project!

2010-07-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

After a 3 month delay, our Vermont neighbor (and sawyer) Keith S. is now completely recovered from his car accident and now construction can resume with Keith's carpentry.

Animated Sketch of Lolly Willows cabin

2010-04-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Architect: Keone Maher Music: Feuillets Inedits by Messiaen for the ondes Martenot, a favorite instrument of Jonny Greenwood

Directions to Lolly Willows in Barton, Vermont

2010-04-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

Lolly Willows is situated on 55 acres overlooking Crystal Lake in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, about 15 minutes south of the Canadian border.

Directions
also see on Google Maps

Take 91 North to exit 25 (Barton) in Vermont.  At the end of the ramp
go right on 16 East.  You will come to a T intersection in the middle
of Barton.  To stay on 16 East you bend right and go up the hill on
Main Street (also 5 South).  At the top of the hill turn left and
cross the train tracks to stay on 16 East (also called Eastern Avenue
and then Willoughby Lake Road).  From this point, go 1.3 miles and
just after a brown house on the right you will see a
dirt road marked May Pond Road.  Go right on May Pond Road.  After
about .6 miles, you will see the sign “Watch for Children Ahead” and
a log house on the right.  On the far side of the lawn is a driveway
lined with boulders.  Turn right onto that drive, go through the
gate, and up a small hill.  A spur of the driveway goes off to your
left and you can park there; or continue to the next fork of the
driveway and go left, where you will see the house.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree

2010-04-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Keone Maher, the architect/builder of Lolly Willows, is in China on a "framespotting" tour from April 5th - 17th with the Timber Framers Guild. See details about the trip.

"Pa, maybe brother Hanson would like to hear some music."

2010-04-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

Appalachian folk song "Pretty Saro." The singer Sam Amidon lives in New York and was born in Brattleboro, Vermont. Also see his Lonesome Cowboy video.

Web Links, lights / fixtures

2010-03-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

Super-energy efficient LED light bulbs see link

Stuff needed, new, salvaged or improvised

Spokane Wood Stove: 72,400 BTU 1,200 to 2,000 SF
http://www.avalonfirestyles.com/product_guide/detail.aspx?id=248#Specs
where to buy: see map VT

2 Reading Chairs

2 overhead lights / Saucer bubble

Kitchen / porch lights 25.75" diameter x 18.25" H / PB

Kitchen / porch lights

E Faucets above: http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=7692000.020
22" x 18"

Efaucets.com below: http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=9061193.020
30" x 22"

E faucets below: http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=BFF3KIT%20WH#
23" x 18"

Pro rinse: efaucet.com below: http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=VG02001CH

Below: http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=CS520

Soapstone Countertop http://vermontsoapstone.com/

camp kitchen, light by http://www.barnlightelectric.com/

pendant lamps, rejuvenation.com

Garage chandelier prototype

Plywood chandelier prototype

Barn Light Electric
http://www.barnlightelectric.com/
Vintage Pendant and Barn Lighting, great outdoors, possible indoors

Steal this Look: CAMP KITCHEN from remodelista.com
http://remodelista.com/posts/steal-this-look-instant-camp-style-kitchen

Enamel Kitchen Sinks
http://www.efaucets.com/

Triple Bubble Modernica
http://modernica.net/index.php?target=products&product_id=18

DIY Chandelier—cool make-your-own chandelier
http://www.the-brick-house.com/2009/12/chandelier.html

Sunfrost Refrigertators for Solar Homes

see http://www.sunfrost.com/

Taking the Mystery out of the Outhouse

2010-03-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

This video is from Action Island, a private island in Ontario's Georgian Bay, see the blog.

Lolly Willowes by Silvia Townsend Warner

2010-02-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

The name Lolly Willows comes from the 1926 novel Lolly Willowes: Or the Loving Huntsman about a gentle eccentric spinster named Laura Willowes who leaves London for a cottage in the country, where she takes long walks, naps in ditches, gathers herbs for her "brews," and becomes familiar with Pan and the woodland faeries. Lolly Willows is that imaginary place where one goes to escape the constraints of the city.

Sylvia Townsend Warner, author of Lolly Willowes, pictured in 1968 with her cat Pericles. She lived in a cottage in Chaldon Village with her partner Valentine Ackland from 1930 to 1969. See: The Sylvia Townsend Warner Society. She wrote eight novels, was a Communist, a lesbian, and a scholar of Tudor Church Music. The novel Lolly Willowes was a best-seller and the first ever selection of the Book of the Month Club in 1926.

Lolly Willows TV

2010-02-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

Animal Collective: Brothersport

Careful, 1992 trailer for the film by by Guy Madden

The Icecaps are Melting: Tiny Tim