Issues → March/April 2009 → Home & Garden →
House for Sale: Harrisville, NH
New England's Most-Photographed Village
by The Moseyer
Quite a few readers have written or e-mailed us over the past few months as a result of Yankee's article in last year's fall issue on New Hampshire's Monadnock region. "What sorts of properties are available in that area right now?" they ask.
So we've spent a little time moseying around the 40 towns and villages that surround Mount Monadnock and found plenty of homes for sale--in all price ranges. But if we had to pick our absolute favorite and, in our opinion, the best value, it would be a certain beautifully restored 1840 four-bedroom Colonial known in local history books as the Lovell Harris House.
It's on eight gorgeous acres in the center of the most-painted and most-photographed village in all of New England. Hey, maybe all of America! Have you guessed the town's name? Another hint: It's located a few miles north of Mount Monadnock, spread along the banks of two ponds and a tumbling connecting stream that for more than a century powered a textile factory known as Cheshire Mills. Yes, we're referring to famous and historic Harrisville, New Hampshire.
Back in 1970, when Cheshire Mills had to close its doors, thus putting much of the town out of work, one of our "House for Sale" features (March 1971) was titled "Town for Sale!" It included as available not only the plant itself but also many of the surrounding brick homes and apartments that had been leased to the millworkers. In effect, the town really was for sale, and the future extremely uncertain.
Then a wonderful story began to unfold. Thanks to the John Colony family, who'd owned the mill since the 1850s, and thanks to many others (our "House for Sale" feature didn't hurt, either), an organization of generous, historically minded people known as Historic Harrisville Inc. bought most of the buildings in the center of the village and then resold or rented them. The mill was taken over by a New Jersey company that manufactured industrial water coolers and filters. Harrisville was named a National Historic Landmark and eventually became known throughout the world (we're not exaggerating) as the best example of a pristine restoration of a working New England mill town.
Today, Harrisville looks pretty much as it did 150 years ago. It's not simply a tourist mecca for artists and photographers, though; it's still a working town. There's the well-known weaving and wool enterprise known as Harrisville Designs, for instance. And the mill complex, no longer occupied by the New Jersey water-cooler company, is now home to myriad interesting tenants, including Lifesaving Resources (a rescue-training outfit), a photography studio, a sheet-metal fabrication business, and Alberene Royal Mail (which imports stuff from the British Isles). Even Walter Siegl, the world-class motorcycle maker, is in there. One of his bikes recently went to a high official in Kosovo; Angelina Jolie gave one as a Christmas present to Brad Pitt. In other words, Harrisville is thriving.
Now, the particular 1840 Colonial known as the Lovell Harris House, with its eight acres of privacy in the heart of the village--now available for $625,000--is not and never was part of the Cheshire Mills complex. But it's right there next to it all. The general store where we bought fresh blueberry muffins, with nuts, the morning of our visit is a three-minute walk up the hill, as are the post office, church, Harrisville Designs, and so forth. A bit farther is the public beach on Harrisville Pond.
Reader Comments
Comment from Chris Wentworth on March 5, 2009
Makes me wish I'd won Powerball and could have a home in NH again. I'd still spend winters here in Tennessee.
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