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The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.

Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.

Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Roseland Cottage, Built 1846

Roseland Cottage
555 Route 169
Woodstock, Connecticut


Because this house was almost pink and quite pretty, I was anxious to see the summer cottage of Henry Chandler Bowen (1813-1896) and his wife, Lucy Maria Tappan.

In addition, I was anxious to see the garden and boxwood. Per the house's website"According to Henry Bowen’s detailed orders the garden comprised 600 yards of boxwood hedge which surrounded twenty-one beds of more than thirty-five varieties of perennials and thousands of annuals. Roseland Cottage’s formal parterre has been an important feature of the house and landscape ever since."


The Gothic-style house that was built in 1846 was quite dark in some rooms. The staircase was the first thing we saw.

Seating area.
A double parlor above. There is a sliding door to separate the two rooms. The front portion is shown below.

Photo of the Bowen's 10th child, deceased. Took this picture because of the wallpaper and fireplace.

Modern-style stained glass was installed when the house was built.

The wall-covering was quite unusual to me, called Lincrusta-Walton. Below, our guide is holding a sample of what the "paper" originally looked like compared to the silver tone now.

Dining Room with fancy fireplace.

An unusual item in the bathroom...an old safe! (If I hadn't asked what it was, it wouldn't have been shown.)
A few bedrooms.


The bowling alley is the oldest surviving indoor one in the United States. It was built when the house was, 1846.
From Wikipedia, I copied, "Starting in 1870, Bowen hosted large Fourth of July celebrations at Roseland Cottage. Four United States Presidents visited Bowen's summer home as his guests and speakers for these celebrations: Ulysses S. GrantBenjamin HarrisonRutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley. Other prominent visitors included Henry Ward BeecherJulia Ward HoweOliver Wendell Holmes, and John C. Fremont."


A tree-shaped rhododendron tree. Many years ago, the gardeners trimmed and trained this bush to grow this way.





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My reason is that from November 2017 to May 2018, I received no comments, but upon investigating I found that I had indeed received 167 legitimate ones and 1,000 were in the spam folder. Google Blogger had made some changes that I was unaware of. Please be aware that I do not know who reads my blog, I may know who subscribes, but that is all.