Anthony J. Marolda

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Annisquam has many historic buildings, some dating back centuries. In the oil painting above, I focused on a granite wall with a gate, found on River Road. The urn with the flowers is actually found on the other side of the wall, but I liked the way it looked, so I included it in the composition. The actual house on the other side of the wall was less than 100 years old, so I replaced it with the 18th century, Langsford homestead located on Washington Street in Lanesville. Finally, to give life to the painting, I added two boys reminiscent of those painted by Winslow Homer.

The oil painting on the right is of our Adams Hill house, Cherrycroft, named by the first owners for the black cherry trees on the property. It was designed for Edwin Mellen by the Boston firm, Hartwell and Richardson. They also designed Edwin's Cambridge house and his father's shingle style at 33 Washington Avenue in Cambridge. The view is from an 1895 glass plate negative taken by the first owner, Edwin Mellen, son-in-law of Isaac Adams. The house looks very much the same today, except for many more trees surrounding the property. The top of the hill, 270 degree view, with ocean on three sides, is, unfortunately, a mere shadow of its former self. The house faces west overlooking Ipswich Bay. Occasionally, the clouds are just right to get spectacular sunsets that can be enjoyed from the back porch. Watching sunsets over the ocean is a rare treat for East Coast locations.