The Romance of Stone Walls

Linda Merrill British pub basement design Stone Walls

What is it about stone wall? I don’t know if it was fictitious Rosehill Cottage in The Holiday that started a revived love of these natural beauties, but they certainly are gorgeous and quite popular. The English cottage, Rosehill, was built on site for the movie and the sets were shot in a studio. It … Read more

Sexy Building In The City

There’s a strong trend these days for folks – from millennials to empty nesters – to want to experience urban city living environments. There’s a lot of building in the city going on – especially here in Boston. Millennials are looking to avoid what they see as their parents heavy burdens of the big house … Read more

The Salem Witch House – Replicas and Modern Living

33 Tarragon Dr Sandwich MA Salem Witch House replica exterior front

Here in New England we have a lot of historic homes and one of the oldest and most historic – and infamous – is the Jonathan Corwin House in Salem, MA. This house is also known as the Salem Witch House. It’s infamous because the house is the only structure still standing in Salem with … Read more

Versailles and other Grand Designs

Versailles Grand Design header

Versailles: A Private Invitation with Text by Guillaume Picon and Photos by Francis Hammond The new book from Flammarion called VERSAILLES: A Private Invitation by Guillaume Picon with photos by Francis Hammond is a gorgeous, beautiful and wonderful tome all about Versailles. I really can’t come up with enough adjectives. It’s spectacular. And huge  It’s … Read more

Hold The Doors!

Carved wood door of woods and bears

  I saw this image on Pinterest and kind of fell in love with the magical woodland nature of its carvings and stained glass. It kind of reminded me of fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia. I also reminded me of: Game of Thrones character Hodor (née Wylis) who … Read more

2016 Newburyport Holiday House Tour

I made my annual pilgrimage to the 2016 Newburyport Holiday House tour on Saturday and this year, we were treated to some amazing homes and lovely, though not ostentatious, holiday decorating. The House Tour is put on and benefits the Custom House Maritime Museum of Newburyport. The first house I visited was the 1774 Lowell-Tracy-Johnson … Read more

Massachusetts’s Oldest House Just Sold – and it’s adorable.

Cape Cod Home

This adorable house in Sandwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod sold in 2016 and was considered the oldest house currently on the market. From the real estate listing:  Meticulously maintained 1600’s English style cottage on Shawme Pond. Launch your kayak or fish from your private dock. Perfect for a second home, weekend getaway, or year-round living … Read more

2015 Newburyport Holiday House Tour

This past Saturday was a lovely one to take in the 2015 Newburyport Holiday House Tour which benefits the Custom House Maritime Museum. As I’ve written many times here, Newburyport is my favorite place in the world – I lived there for about five years and still miss it. Unfortunately, everyone in my life is … Read more

Sights of Paris!

Linda Merrill Sights of Paris 2008 Paris Rooftops from Printemps through window

I’m back from Maison et Objet  with lots of photos of the sights of Paris to share (and a whopper of a cold that has laid me out flat since I returned on Tuesday evening!) So, I thought I’d share my Sights of Paris travel pics first and then will delve into the show as … Read more