A series of entries designed to capture the ongoing adventures of NINA! See how we came to be where we are today, and follow along as we enter the new century of social media!
Page: 54And the walls come down -- well, some of them, anyway.
It's never fun to take down a mature tree, especially one as old and grand as the tree in front of 94-96 Ashley Street, but in this case we had no choice. We'd been advised that the tree was unhealthy, possibly dying, but as it turned out it had actually become a danger. When we started to remove it, we discovered that the tree was entirely hollow: the whole of the interior of the tree had rotted away, and it was only a matter of time before it came down. We're guessing the tree was planted in front of the house after it was built, which would have put it at close to 120 years old. We'll never know for sure, though, since the majority of the tree rings were gone.
Just liked the picture, plus it gave me the opportunity to say "cathedral's apse."
The open house is tomorrow. The mums are a nice touch.
The house was ready for its close-up, so here it is, all done and on the market.
A group of Trinity College freshmen volunteered with us today as part of their freshman orientation program. We assigned them just what 18-year-olds love to do: demolition! The red Xs, incidentally, mean that “it’s got to go.”
Don Poland did us a huge solid and led the tour again this week. He took our group around the Nook Farm section of Asylum Hill, which is about as far as we’ve gone on one of our tours. He highlighted the major residents of Nook Farm (including someone named Sam and another someone named Harriet, but I didn’t quite follow him here) as well as the changes that have occurred here in the last 50 to 75 years.
Don, by the way, is the one holding his head on.
A few words on the sunflower plaque:
It was created and executed by local artist Jackie McKinney, who is a longtime Asylum Hill resident.
It’s based on the plaque next door at 181 Collins Street, further uniting the two houses in common design elements.
We believe, read air quotes here, believe that the sunflower was a particularly favorite motif of local architect George Keller, which lends credence to our theory that he designed 181 Collins Street.
And you’d almost think we picked the colors for the house to match the plaque!
Don Poland took this week’s group around Bushnell Park, highlighting the park’s history and how it relates to the surrounding architecture and environment.
Intrepid Mike McGarry came out and decorated the front yard of 54 Huntington Street for Hartford Blooms.
