The Frost Place in Franconia NH
This is the third home that I have photographed in New England that Robert Frost owned or rented. You can find a link to the article on his home in Derry NH and a link to his summer cottage in Ripton Vermont on the Homer Nobel farm.
His poems have touched millions of people and like most photographers/artists, we are fond of quoting his “A Road Less Traveled”. Whether we truly understand his intent in this poem or not, it has guided many of us to simply try a new path and explore. (his meaning is really much deeper than that)
The things I read say his place is in Franconia. To me, it seems that it’s really closer to Sugar Hill New Hampshire. If you have taken any of my advice over the years, you have driven all over Route 116 (Easton Road), Sugar Hill Rd, Toad Hill Rd, Route 117 and Polly’s Pancake Parlor is just a hop, skip and a pancake away!. So you may have driven right past this. They have a small sign on Route 116 and once you turn off Route 116, you are looking for 158 Ridge Road in Franconia, NH.
Robert Frost and his family summered here for 19 years. Today it’s a nonprofit educational center for poetry and the arts. (No fall colors? This makes a great plan B location)Then they decided to move there full-time between 1915 to 1920.
As of April 2021, the house is closed, but you should be able to walk the property. Just check the signage for any rules. When they are open you can explore the house 🏠 and a barn in the back where they hold poetry workshops during the summer. You can check their website here for updates.
Just like the Frost Place in Derry New Hampshire (read about the Frost home in Derry), this Frost Place has trails out in the woods with signs at stops along the path. Each stop relates a Frost poem along your route.
Good Foliage travels my friends…
Jeff Foliage Folger
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Hi Jeff! I’ve been following your blog for some time. We own a small home on the shore of Goose Pond Lake in Canaan NH where I often (not often enough) escape to from my now primary home in Virginia Beach. (I grew up in Rhody and my parents purchased the house in the early 70’s). My favorite time to visit is of course October for the leaf season. Would love to see more pix from our area (of course) or invite you up to have you take some pix on the pond sometime. I will be at the house this October for 3 weeks. There are several small ponds nearby and a friend has a quaint house on George’s Pond in Enfield as well. An awesome backdrop for leaf peeping photos at sunset or rise. Kind Regards! Karin Lundgren
Hi Karin, That is a lovely area to visit. I drive by places like this all the time and I’m sad to say there are few places for people to get out and explore. Maybe there are some public hiking trails on the other side of the lake but on the east side that runs along the lake, there are no places to get out and explore. For much of that area, both sides of the road have either homes or lake frontage property belonging to the homes across the street.
I don’t think the people living there would want an old photographer parking in front of their home and walking along their beach. When I write about places I try to tell people about places they can actually come and visit and I don’t think your neighbors would like that much. I might come up to Canaan and see what it looks like from the air though.
Hi Jeff! I’ve been following your blog for some time. We own a small home on the shore of Goose Pond Lake in Canaan NH where I often (not often enough) escape to from my now primary home in Virginia Beach. (I grew up in Rhody and my parents purchased the house in the early 70’s). My favorite time to visit is of course October for the leaf season. Would love to see more pix from our area (of course) or invite you up to have you take some pix on the pond sometime. I will be at the house this October for 3 weeks. There are several small ponds nearby and a friend has a quaint house on George’s Pond in Enfield as well. An awesome backdrop for leaf peeping photos at sunset or rise. Kind Regards! Karin Lundgren
Hi Karin, That is a lovely area to visit. I drive by places like this all the time and I’m sad to say there are few places for people to get out and explore. Maybe there are some public hiking trails on the other side of the lake but on the east side that runs along the lake, there are no places to get out and explore. For much of that area, both sides of the road have either homes or lake frontage property belonging to the homes across the street.
I don’t think the people living there would want an old photographer parking in front of their home and walking along their beach. When I write about places I try to tell people about places they can actually come and visit and I don’t think your neighbors would like that much. I might come up to Canaan and see what it looks like from the air though.
Hi Jeff, I was to this place during my last trip to the Sugar Hill area. I love the walkway that has quotes from his poetry. Am I imagining things or is there another place associated with Frost in VT, within sight of Bennington? (I don’t go through there anymore now that they have the Bennington Bypass.) Thought I remembered something of the kind but that may have been 20 or more years ago.
There is a place near Bennington that I have read about but haven’t visited… yet. He lived there after he left the frost place in Franconia (1920-1929). The Bennington College has his stone house on the property and Robert Frost is buried there in Bennington. The house looks wonderful… Red trimmed over white stone. That is one of his best looking homes.
https://www.bennington.edu/robert-frost-stone-house-museum
Hi Jeff, I was to this place during my last trip to the Sugar Hill area. I love the walkway that has quotes from his poetry. Am I imagining things or is there another place associated with Frost in VT, within sight of Bennington? (I don’t go through there anymore now that they have the Bennington Bypass.) Thought I remembered something of the kind but that may have been 20 or more years ago.
There is a place near Bennington that I have read about but haven’t visited… yet. He lived there after he left the frost place in Franconia (1920-1929). The Bennington College has his stone house on the property and Robert Frost is buried there in Bennington. The house looks wonderful… Red trimmed over white stone. That is one of his best looking homes.
https://www.bennington.edu/robert-frost-stone-house-museum