The family’s decision to build a home within the City of Concord, the capital of the state of New Hampshire, was based on the conviction that more rural sections of the city’s perimeter acreage could still be developed with sound environmental stewardship.  The fact that the site was only 1.5 miles from the major north-south highway in the state and only four miles from the heart of the city’s vibrant downtown offered the possibility of both a tranquil, farm-like setting, and life within a tightly knit city community with city services.  Home to the First-in-the-Nation presidential primary every four years, Concord has seen a renaissance of downtown building activity for the past two decades, which continues today.  A new downtown streetscape project is underway, a new community center is planned, and the city just completed the construction of three new elementary schools to replace aging facilities.  New office and commercial spaces are underway downtown and cultural hubs like the independent Red River Theatre and Capital Center for the Performing Arts are flourishing.

This project occupies a piece of land that was previously used as the “boneyard” of historic farmlands that were vibrant over the past two hundred years.  The open space green “pasture” land to the south is now preserved as an agricultural conservation area by this project.  The actual project structures sit on what once was the rocky, sloping woodland to the north.  Crumbling stone walls have been rebuilt and the abundant wildlife is still able to feed and move about the property as they did before.  Wild turkeys, hawks, owls, ducks, geese, herons, kingfishers, deer, bobcats, fox, bear and the occasional migrating bald eagle have all been observed.  The public parking and boat launch facility across the pond is regularly used by fisherman and kayakers throughout three seasons, and by ice fisherman and skaters during the winter.  A bonus is the occupants’ ability to make only a 2.5 mile bike ride or walk to work.