Ichabod House

I returned to Rhode Island to supervise some students a couple weeks ago, and while I was there I found something interesting. The Chamber of Commerce in East Greenwich, RI, offers an online guide for a walking tour that features the historic houses and distinctive architecture of the town. Many are large houses of typical New England styles, but others represent unique or unusual styles that are not common in East Greenwich or elsewhere.

If you scroll down 80% of the way, to the part of the tour well after you've stopped for lunch at the Post Office Cafe and a round of Americanos at Main Street Coffee, there are a couple sentences describing Ichabod Northup house, an 1847 (not 1874) colonial with a mansard roof. It is one of just a few houses that do not warrant a picture on the tour page. Or in this blog.

On the tour, one might stand outside the house, with its unusual roof and a name that was not popular in any century, and wonder at the sort of people who might live there. The tour page adds to the mystery by adding that the origin of the name Ichabod is unknown. Are the residents descendants of this unusually named character? Do they sit behind the louvered door and collect dust at the same rate as their collection of doilies? Do the neighborhood children fear them, like modern day Radleys?

As casual passers-by, we would wonder the same things. But we are not casual passers-by, because as of today we are under contract to buy Ichabod House. We were not hurrying to buy something, but the right house came along at the right price for us to make it work, and we're quite excited.

The house has 4 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. The Master and kitchen are in a 1930s addition off the back of the house. The original house is in pretty good shape for its age, with good-looking walls and floors. There's a living room with a fireplace taking up the right half of the downstairs, connecting to a dining room that will make a great entertaining space. The real highlight is the back patio, which is old brick raised 18 inches off the yard, and under the shade of an enormous old tree. The patio overlooks a yard, surrounded by hedges, that is large enough for a serious game of croquet. Many fine evenings will be spent in the yard.

Want some tension to add to the excitement of a new place? Only I have seen it. Apparently Kirsten trusts me enough to initiate the largest purchase of our lives (by a lot) to approve this based on my word alone. Let's hope she's right!