It’s coming. Fall. You can already feel it in the air. There is – I know but believe me – a crispness once the humidity falls back some. The light is changing too – not just getting darker earlier but the quality of the light.
This is one of my favorite views of the Mitchell House. Built in 1790, not much has changed about the view – except for the abutting 1908 Observatory with its 1922 Astronomical Study that replaced a house in 1906. The light has fallen the same across portions of this side of the House since Maria Mitchell lived there (1818-1836) and even before – and afterwards. You see this side of the House as you make your way east down Vestal Street. A large blank shingled wall – because who put windows in a stair hall back then? Not many – too expensive and it was utilitarian – getting you from the first floor to the second – you didn’t need a window! You had one at the bottom of the stair facing it – that was all the light you needed. Not many houses still have this – people keep adding in windows in such spaces believing they were once there – they were not. So take a look around as you walk, see if you can find more – it will alert you that there lies the stairway – and you can likely see it from the front window that helps to illuminate that front staircase from the foot of the stairs and the front of the house.
JNLF
Call Us: 508.228.9198
Email Us: info@mariamitchell.org