The Skinny House, Boston

The Skinny House sits on Copp's Hill in North End. The house is across a very old cemetery established in 1659. This skinny structure is said to be built around 1870. It measures 10ft (3m) width, hence the name "skinny", and the narrowest of the interior is mere 6ft (180cm).

A tombstone in Copp's Hill Burying Ground 

Since the house is on the Freedom Trail and in a bustling Little Italy neighborhood, the street is filled with tourists on a summer weekend. But not so many of them seem to notice this quirky house. Is it way too thin to be noticed?

Why is the house so skinny? Good question. Was the land so scarce in this densely populated neighborhood? Maybe.

I learn new words and terms everyday. This house is oddly skinny because it's a "spite house". The spite house is a kind of structure that is built for the purpose of showing your opposition towards surrounding residents and/or certain interest parties.

A land dispute is the common cause of the action, but not limited to. In the case of the Skinny House, the origin is in a mythical level. It could be a dispute between brothers or neighbors; no one knows for sure.

Locate Skinny House @ Google Map 

Here's the interior of the house: http://www.vrbo.com/247506#photos

The Vaughn house, Dana

Dana is one of the lost towns of the Quabbin Reservoir. Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott were impounded in 1938 upon the completion of the reservoir. Today, the 39 mi² (100 km²) Quabbin Reservoir is still in use and the largest body of fresh water in Massachusetts.

After two-hour drive from Boston, I finally had a chance to witness the lost town of Dana. Incorporated in 1801, this little town had some 400 residents when it was planned to be submerged by the Quabbin Reservoir.

Did the entire town sink in the water? Not quite. The center of the town, Dana Common is still approachable by foot. But no one's living there anymore. Only the remain of cellar holes, crumbling walls, and a stone marker give you some clues about the lost town. 

The common is about two-mile from the trail parking lot. But oh boy, I won't recommend you to visit Dana during summer. TOO MANY FLIES!! When I saw a brown cloud of flies was chasing after B. on a bike, I remembered a story from a Quebecoise about a suicidal moose. Flies do drive a moose insane. Amazing.

Chased after by the swarm after swarm, retreat was the only way. So I introduce only a little piece of Dana: the remain of the Vaughn residence.

The Edger Vaughn's residence is in the heart of the common. Collected from the nearby stream, the distinctive stone retaining wall is  the only remain left to tell the story of the house.

The "Potato wall"; that was the first impression when I saw the retaining wall. To be specific, this is more like the "Russet Potato wall" rather than the "Golden Yukon wall". I have to tell you this is the single incidence of the decoration in the town; this could be a whim of Mr. Vaughn.

If Dana wasn't deserted, the Potato wall might have caught on among the Massachusetts vernacular architecture.

This is an uncompleted investigation. If you want to see more about the town, please refer to the following sources. There is a handful of strange stories related to the town, too.

Locate Dana @ Google Map

<General Information>
Quabin Reservoir, Mass dcr: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/quabbin.htm

<Maps>
1889 map of Dana, Mytopo Historical Map: http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.asp?fname=bare89nw.jpg&state=MA
The road less traveled, skinut: http://www.skinut.net/dana.htm
Towns buried under the Quabbin Reservoir, Menotomy Maps: http://menotomymaps.com/quab_1.html

<Photos, stories, etc.>
Dana Massachusetts: http://www.westfordcomp.com/quabbin/dana.html
THE STRANGE TALE OF ASA SNOW: http://www.westfordcomp.com/quabbin/snow.htm
Quabbin Gate 40: Dana Town Common, Exploring Western Massachusetts: http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2007/04/quabbin-gate-40-dana-town-common.html

Music Hall, Waltham

I named this extraordinary architecture as the Pyramid Head Building. Because I could see the building on the main street of a fictional ghost town, and the three embellishments on top remind me pyramids. But this building exists not in Silent Hill but in Waltham, Massachusetts.

To tell the truth, these pyramid things gave me a slight chill because I remembered the Pyramid Head I had seen an empty park in a small Midwestern city. It was a Halloween but I thought he spent too much time on painting his huge knife with blood, and I'm sure nobody wanted to get close to him. "Give me a treat or I'm gonna butcher you" was the message he managed to convey.

I'm sure I'm the only one who got this unfortunate connection with this building.

This building was constructed around 1880 as a music hall. As you can see, the white part of the facade is decorated by some geometric patterns. I wonder if there are some symbolic meanings in the circles and diamonds (not to forget the pyramids), or just the architects' fancy. Since this is located within a stone's throw from the Boston Manufacturing Company, it must have been filled with mill girls...Only if they had any time to enjoy themselves.

Currently, a few shops occupy the ground floor and the rest seems to be rented out as apartments. I wonder which part of the building was a music hall. My guess is the ground floor as the hall and the above as a hotel. Well, that's one noisy hotel.

Locate Music Hall @ Google Map

http://mhc-macris.net/Details.aspx?MhcId=WLT.126

Wingaersheek Beach Mansion, Gloucester

I've never been to Wingaersheek Beach before. Well, it's an expensive beach during the season. We tend to go Plum Island instead. Finally I checked out the place during the off season. Well it's a good beach; it's shallow for a good distance from the shore, the sand is powder fine, and the water is clear. The waves are gentle and so quiet!

And there is a nice Spanish colonial, possibly Mission Style, red tile roof mansion on the shore.

the mansion of the right

The Mission Style architecture was in vogue during 1890 and 1920.  Like the railroad millionaire Benjamin P. Cheney Jr. built a summer home on Calf Island in 1902, there must have been a summer home boom in the early 20th century in North Shore and some Boston islands.

Annisquam Light

From the beach you can see Annisquam Light. The current lighthouse was built in 1897. A guidebook I have says I can walk to the lighthouse from the beach at a low tide. Well, it wasn't possible when I visited.

I decided to get as close as to the mansion. Leaving Brian at the beach entrance, I walked through tide pools and  rocks, thinking what is the current purpose of the building. Private residence, country club, hotel, etc. Either way, it must be belonging to the exclusive class.

After (relatively) close examination, my initial guess was a yacht club. It's off season and all the yachts was covered with fabric like Christo's installation art. Is anybody in the house?

The windows are partially boarded. Even such a gentle beach, the winter wind and wave aren't a polite thing. When the season comes, they'll be removed, right? But why aren't some rooms boarded? I guess some rooms are used by the seasonal maintenance personnel...Oh, this reminds me of the somewhat frozen, literally genius Jack Torrance.

I headed back to the entrance. I could see a long figure staring at me in a bored manner, shivering with cold.

"Hi, I'm back", I said.

"I was guessing you would come to me with 77 steps."

"......"

"But it was 80."

"......" 

Locate Wingaersheek Beach @ Google Map

Cabot Farms, Somerville

It's damn cold, cold, cold! Last year was the first Massachusetts winter for me, and I was thinking it's manageable. Ughhh, I was duped. My arms are swelling like Popeye from snow shoveling. I love my Bean Boots, but am getting bored with wearing the same pair day after day. I need somewhere to schmooze like a lethargic lizard to escape from the cold and snow...

Looking at this abandoned function hall, I was imagining myself as a stuffed reptile in the lounge room. It wasn't appealing. Instead, I changed my mind as a dapper drummer smokin' a cigar or pianist who occasionally wears a funny hut and orders a drink saying "Straight, No Chaser"...I confess, I would be quite trashed if I did that. At Cabot Farms, time has stopped sometimes around the mid 20th century.

This glass block clad place has been closed for at least 2o years. Abandoned places tend to draw our rich imagination, so does Cabot Farms. If you ask about the place to Somervillians, they'll tell you rumors something like a real life heist film. Huuum, Somerville.

The premise had several functions: Cabot Farms was a function room catered for events like wedding receptions and group meetings. On Broadway Dance Club took over the place briefly in the 80's as a non-smoking club. A doorway in the middle is an entrance to the apartments upstairs which are still in use. Proudly air conditioned -- I experienced such a claim while I was traveling India-- Garden Room seems to be...no idea...the old folks' boozy-woozy hangout? Each clue on the facade encapsulates the owner's imagination and the time passed by. Let me show you some examples: 

The above is a window dressing for Garden Room. Actually, it does look like a makeshift board-ups...The decoration is comprised with the pictures depicting the history of office environment and technology. Don't see the connection between the Garden and office technology? I'll explain it to you:

My grandpa used to work as a typist.

However, the ruthless wave of technology alienated him.

Now he stays in the place called Garden Room all day long.

What caught my attention is the detail in the "future" office space.

Pen tablet = the future technology

At Cabot Farm/On Broadway part of the premise, the never ending Christmas show is going on. Look at the Christmas themed decorations like pine corns, red and silver decoration balls, and silver dust on the bottom of the window. And don't forget saying hello to the lovely Satchmo; even educated fleas do it.

I need a polarizing filter badly...

????

Sorry, but who is that dude? He's like James Bond look-a-like. I mean a Sean Connery type, but not as sharp as the Scotchman. I asked Brian: "Ahhhh, James Cagney? No, no, Al Jolson. Don't you think?"

Don't ask me. Maybe, Maybe not.

The result of an image search for Al Jolson made me very nervous; he made his career as a minstrel man in 1927 movie the Jazz singer. No wonder why I didn't know him. Wait, wait, why is he right next to Louis Armstrong!!??

Al Jolson paved the way for African-American performers like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, and Ethel Waters.It is remarkable that a Jewish mamma's boy from Lithuania could do so much to bridge the cultural gap between black and white America. --From Broadway: The American Musical by PBS

Okay, it can be interpreted like that, but I cannot help thinking it's a cynical display of American show biz.

Instead of getting worked up with photos, I decided to examine the wall. Some insists calling these glass blocks as "VFW bricks", because it helps diffusing the morning light for the old folks inside.What a brilliant interpretation.

I like the green facade, there's a nostalgic ring to it. But why....oh, it's the color of the 80's dial home phone when I was little. That faded lime green PVC body with ceramic like shine. I wonder whether kids now know how to use a dial phone. They are not going to push the hole instead of rotating it, are they?

So, who owns the place now? Are there any plans to convert the space? The answer is simple: it is still owned by the same family. The conversion plan is not on the board because there seems to be an inheritance issue. Oh, that reminds me another abandoned restaurant with similar trouble, Sahara Syrian Restaurant in South End. Instead of being gentrified, those restaurants stay put as an unintended private museum of Boston social life.

Locate Cabot Farms @ Google Map

Ghost Building Two:  Harrumph!
Remember Cabot Farms?: the Somerville News
30 to 35 yeas later and so much has changed: the Somerville News Blog
BROADWAY: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL: PBS

Round House, Somerville

This is a strange, ahem, unique house. Surrounded by typical three-story houses in Spring Hill, Somerville, this cylindrical oddity (oy!) has been under renovation since a local man purchased this abandoned house in 2007.

Originally, the Round House was owned by Enoch Robinson, who operated a prominent hardware manufacturing company. Built in 1856, this three story single family home contained an oval library and living room among with more conventional-shape kitchen and dining room on the 1st floor. 2nd and 3rd floor were consisted with bedroom and bathroom shaped like a divided piece of sliced pineapples in a tin. By the way, the diameter of the house -- how many times do I have an opportunity to say so -- is 40ft (13m).

A construction project is going on behind the Round House. I don't know it's the same operation as the renovation project, but they aren't going to raze the house, right? But look closely, the exterior of the 3rd floor, modillions, window heads, the order, etc.  have been refurbished.

Tinplates? It looks like air ducts jutting out with no apparent reason, no, I think they are battlements.

The current state of the interior is a big mystery to many. Originally, the interior was equipped with nice hardware due to the nature of Robinson's business. The roof was topped with a glass skylight, and the walls were decorated with "the French scenic wallpaper." (from Centers and Squares) It sounds like a house with full of fun.

Now (on the right is ex-Carr elementary school)

Then: vintage post card from Centers & Squares

This month, I've been covering 1850's octagon-themed buildings. The Round House is a derivation of them, and I'll take it further next time: I'll cover possibly the first octagon cage ring built in the mid 19th century which hosted a match between Chuck Norris and the dude with star-spangled bad boy pants. I've heard about it few years ago and just found it's in my neighborhood. (Oy, can't you wait for 4 1/2 months?) Ah, I love Massachusetts!

Locate Round House @ Google Map
For the original floor plans, etc.: Centers & Squares

High Rock Tower and Stone Cottage, Lynn

Added on May 17, 2011: Decision looms for Lynn's High Rock Stone Cottage.
The stone cottage is in a dire need to be rehabilitated or the worst could happen!

First, he chose a perfect location for his experiments. In Lynn, Massachusetts, there is an elevated piece of land believed to have special spiritual properties. Today, we might call it a “power center.”  -- from Passing Strange

High Rock Tower of 1905 and Stone Cottage

Lynn is a curious place; rock (the mineral one) seems to be the part of residents’ everyday life. Stacked rock wall there may be regarded as something equivalent to front yard lawn. Abundance probably is the reason, but there is some spiritual tone in those stacked rocks...

The King of Lynn Rock: Dungeon Rock

Wait, please keep reading. I’m not the only one obsessing about Lynn. The 19th century Spiritualists acclaimed the place as “nature’s warehouse of infinite magnetic force.” And the epicenter of this peculiar force is so-called High Rock section of the town. I learned about the place from a book “Passing Strange” by Joseph A. Cirto, and believe me,  this is one of the most bizarre stories I have ever heard…



Story:
John Murray Spear was a passionate, progressive, and talented Universalist minister.Heavily influenced by the Spiritualism Movement, he began obsessing about creating a new form of life, a machine one! He believed his creation would improve human life.

The blueprint was created during a séance session. In 1853, he and his cooperators began constructing the machine (he called it "Electrical Infant") at Jesse Hutchinson property at High Rock. Spiritualists believed they had seen angels at Hutchinson’s Stone Cottage (yes, this place is charged.) Rev. Spear believed the force of nature abundant in High Rock would aid infusing life into his creation.

Circa 1864, Hutchinson's original tower and Stone Cottage on far right

The description of the machine exceeds my imagination. I picture it would be like the creation of Moholy Nagy, but I don’t guarantee. Nine month later in 1854, the machine was complete awaiting for the final step: infusing life. Needless to say, a woman was chosen as a catalyst. A rather short ceremony began by Rev. Spear holding her hand. The result is curiously obscure and somewhat grotesque:

Already a mother by more traditional means, Mrs. Newton no doubt recognized a familiar indications right away. She began experiencing the symptoms of actual gestation accompanied with “some very singular characteristics,” which, perhaps happily, history fails to record. -- from Passing Strange

And, then...the spectators saw the thing moved! Next few weeks, Mrs. Newton diligently took care of the machine like her own baby...Wait, did “the thing” really move? Citro describes that even the most skeptical one admitted it moved, but “most attributed it to magnetic forces, oxidation, and wind.”

Looking from the tower

The tower sits of a huge porphyry rock

 So what eventually happened? The end was sudden and tragic; one day, a mob of angry men destroyed Spear’s creation. He would never attempt to create his "Electrical Infant" again...

*********
The current tower with an observatory on the hill was built in 1905. The Stone Cottage is still there, but seems to be unwilling to draw history goers' attention. And yes, I have to admit the hill was a dizzily surreal space. It was not creepy or unwelcoming, but once you step into the hill you feel this is a special place that not to be treated lightly.



After writing this and uploading pictures, it occurred to me that my faithful Nikon was acting up when I was taking pictures around the tower: bracketing didn’t work, autofocus seemed to have lost its concentration, help guidance pop up like an overbearing mother telling something irrelevant…Well, if the observatory, which needs delicate instruments, is on top of the tower, it must be me thinking too much, right?

Locate High Rock Tower @ Google Map

Passing Strange by Joseph A. Citro
Hi Rock, Location, History, and Legends
High Rock Park, Tower and Observatory