Steps

There's no shortage of steps around here. In order to enter the house through any of its four exterior doors, you have to climb. There are two doors on the front elevation, both of which have handsome granite steps leading up to them. This granite was mined in the neighbouring town of Roxbury, and dragged here by a team of oxen in the 1800's.

In the book Landmarks of Bridgewater, there is a chapter describing our house. "The front door, with its Colonial porch, has been copied many times, and from its Mine Hill granite steps, a panoramic view of the Housatonic Valley and the foothills of the Berkshires spreads before one." It is interesting to know that Roxbury's Mine Hill granite was also used in the construction of New York City's Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Terminal.

When we built the swimming pool, we wanted to incorporate granite in the landscape design, and so there are stone steps there too.