Reports from Historian – James L. Garvin
click on links below to view or download full report
Ownership
The red farmhouse was the home where our beloved Bunny Michael, who lived to age 105, raised her family with her husband Monroe “Mike” Michael. It was the home of James and Ida Rogers who contributed so much to this town in the 1910s to the 40s. It was owned by selectman, JR Coolidge, manager of West Side Chapel, Sandwich Fair, Red Cross and the WWll civil defense.
Structure
This modest former farmhouse and its associated additions and outbuildings are evocative examples of the kind of vernacular architecture that gives character to rural New Hampshire. Such buildings and their lands are especially characteristic of the Lakes Region. Sadly, they are likewise especially vulnerable in an area of New Hampshire that is changing rapidly under the influence of powerful economic forces. It is heartening that the setting of the Michael House will be protected and added to much larger nearby tracts of conserved lands. When a property is acquired principally for conservation, it is easy to overlook the other environmental attributes of that land. We live in a time when every place on Earth has been affected and changed by the human presence. No tract of conservation land in New Hampshire, or anywhere else, is devoid of the mark of humanity. In assessing the value of conserved land, it is important to recognize, protect, and interpret the human component of the landscape as well as its treasure of plants, animals, air, and water. The recognition that the mark of the human hand is now integral to the identity of nature has been called “the new environmentalism.” It is the recognition that the environment that we must understand and protect is composed of both the natural element and the cultural or humanmade element. The two are now inseparable. Each component relates to the other and speaks to the other as parts of the nature in which all creatures live. The people of Squam have recognized his duality of nature with unique understanding. In 2012, the State Historical Resources Council, on which I serve, was exhilarated to learn that a group of dedicated individuals, supported by the Squam Lakes Conservation Society, was working to develop what is called a multiple property nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The entire Squam watershed, an area of 40,000 acres and innumerable cultural resources in five separate towns and three counties, is now listed in the National Register. This is the largest watershed-wide listing in New Hampshire and one of the largest in the United States. This National Register effort was born in the spirit of New Hampshire’s acclaimed Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), which funds the preservation of both land and cultural properties. The purpose of the Squam project was to begin to identify and document the watershed’s historical resources and thus to raise awareness of the interconnectivity of the natural and cultural landscapes, ultimately leading to the preservation of the total environment. The project received widespread community support and brought together traditional land conservationists and historic preservationists, all working toward one common goal—New Hampshire’s best expression of the “new environmentalism.” Now standing with an uncertain future, the Michael House has the potential to become a perfect realization of the purpose of this unprecedented initiative of the people of the watershed. Now is the moment to…… keep the dwelling and its extensions standing as familiar and character-defining landmarks, telling their part of the human story of Sandwich and of Squam. Success in this task could transform the practice of environmental stewardship across New Hampshire. Sincerely, James L. Garvin