We recently turned the side-entrance at our Weston store from a single to double door. We had some old doors stored away and found one that was a match – almost – to the existing single door. No, the handles and locks are not lined up, but who cares? Most of us in Vermont are not exactly “lined up” either, so it doesn’t bother us.
Vermont farm architecture was born of adding on, extending the house to a shed, to another shed, to a grain bin, to the barn so you could get from house to barn without going out into a winter blizzard.
And when someone put an addition onto the house, up against the gable end, it usually meant covering a second-floor bedroom window. The solution was to cut a new window along the roof pitch of the new addition. The result was a window at about a 45 degree angle, a bit odd – but better than no window. Now folks love finding those examples of add-ons and think the slanted windows are charming!
Next time you visit our stores, pay attention to our unintentional architecture of making do with what you have, because most times, it’s “good enough” to do the job.
Lyman Orton, Proprietor
