Bookshelf A Simpler Way Of Life: Old Farmhouses of New York & New England
A Simpler Way Of Life: Old Farmhouses of New York & New England
By William Morgan (North Country Books, 2013)Colonial farmhouses were built not by architects, but by stonemasons, carpenters, and other craftsmen—sometimes by the farmers themselves. These vernacular structures utilize such richly textured materials as wideboard planks, hand-hewn beams, and brick and fieldstone hearths. Current owners have filled their dream houses with authentic decor: hooked rugs, vintage crockery, delicious antique stoves. Deep-toned and lit like Vermeers, Tondro’s photographs have a cinematic richness. “These are not fancy houses, and none are museums,” Morgan writes of the 19 historic farmhouses he profiles. “Beauty is not ignored, nor is it accidental, but arrives through necessity.”
—Nina Shengold
