Issues → July/August 2009 → Home & Garden →
House For Sale: Fitchburg, MA
(page 2 of 2)
Once settled in comfortable chairs next to a cheery fire (there are a total of eight fireplaces--four on the first floor, four on the second), Bunny presented us with coffee and a platter of sugar donuts. We politely refused the latter. (Well, truth be told, we eventually had one.) Richard then showed us old photos of the house taken over the past 119 years, as well as a diary his grandfather kept, in which, in meticulously neat handwriting, he recorded every detail of the family's life here over a period of years. It constitutes a fascinating window into the daily goings-on back in the late 19th century.
At some point, we asked whether we might see a couple of the historic items that Richard had mentioned in his letter to us, things they'd come across in the house while sorting through family possessions after their mother had died: namely, pencils made by Henry David Thoreau and a penholder made from a rail split by Abraham Lincoln. Alas, Richard said, the family had recently decided to part with those things. "We might have been a little hasty," he added. Of course, even now the family hasn't been through everything.
Our tour of all 12 rooms (five of them bedrooms), on three floors (including four bathrooms and those eight fireplaces), followed. Richard loved showing us the original coal-fired steam boiler down in the expansive cellar, which contains complete laundry facilities, a small "water closet," and cleanouts for all the fireplaces. Don't worry, that old heating system, although still intact and usable, has recently been replaced by a separate high-efficiency gas/oil unit.
By the time we said our goodbyes to Richard and Bunny that morning, we were feeling a little sad that after all these years there'll no longer be Bullocks living in that grand old brick Victorian on Prospect Street. But if you happen to become the new owner this summer, might you consider inviting the family back for, well, how about Thanksgiving? It would be terribly nice of you. And you could count on hearing some fascinating stories about the old days ... and maybe about flying Learjets, too.
For details, contact Richard Bullock at 978-464-2706, or via e-mail: bullock@worldnet.att.net
Reader Comments
Comment from Robert staufenberg on August 2, 2009
would of liked to see a bathroom, the rest was nice of an old house, thank you
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