TIADNOCK
There is a famous picture of Mark Twain in a rocking chair with stogie on the porch of Tiadnock, or Lone Tree Hill. Tiadnock should be equally famous as it is extraordinarily well sited – looking out to the long 180 degree valley view, while off to the side, as if an afterthought is the immediate presence of Mount Monadnock. In a region almost myopic about orientation to Monadnock, this is relaxed and non-obsessive, almost ironic relationship, that can also be found in some of the work of Charles Platt in Cornish in its relationship with Mount Ascutney.
Our renovations to Tiadnock linked the interior to new exterior gardens, added a classical pergola facing the long view, and clarified the entry sequence. The house was painted entirely in white, a very aggressively in your face color which dominated any landscape plantings. To be an appropriately recessive back drop for the extensive new gardens and plantings, we painted the building a dark brown, with only the pergola columns in white.