celebrity homes

Sunday was the perfect day to drive through the Squam Lake area. Touring around the Lakes Region in Spring is especially enchanting. The leaves have not yet grown in to block some of the spectacular views that will be shrouded by green leaves during the summer. Now the clear sunshine makes the yellow-lime pastels on the ground and in the trees shine through.Two things are noticeable.The Holderness...

This column by Joe Kock, Sr., was written several years ago, but it's a fitting reminder of what makes life in the Lakes Region so charming.    I was born in rural Pennsylvania, where, in early June, young boys shed their shoes at one end and their hair at the other, the former thereafter to be worn only to church and the latter to be regrown in time for school daze in the fall, and where...

The Spring continues to play games with the mind in the Lakes Region.Today it's mostly sunny but when the sun hides behind a cloud the temperature seems to drop about ten degrees. The air is warm, almost Summerlike for a few moments, then it snaps with an Autumn feeling.And life is as unpredictable as the weather. There's a kind of lovely nervous energy this time of year, watching shopkeepers...

Great Waters is making Great Offer: Be among the first to buy tickets for this season's program and get a free Peter Ferber poster!Great Waters Music Festi...

WIth all the discourse generated by our March 28 post (http://lakesregionofnewhampshire.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-04-07T19:51:00-04:00&max-results=7&start=7&by-date=false) - which also ran in the Laconia Daily Sun as a column, and initiated a lengthy response from a local cafe - the question has arisen:What is/was the best place to enjoy a cup of coffee in downtown Laconia?...

The famous expression of Mark Twain ("If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a minute") is being proven today: sun, then clouds, then showers,... temperatures bouncing between the low to high fifties... Amazing, charming... Life in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.On good second-hand authority, we hear that Michael Jordan is having a new home built in the Bear Lakes area of West...

Three years ago next month, our book "The Lakes Region of New Hampshire: Four Seasons, Countless Memories" was released. The first photo/essay book about our lovely region was well accepted - and now we've added a new retail outlet in Winnisquam.If you've not yet visited Mountain View Manna's stores in Winnisquam (or the one in Plymouth), get ready for the kind of special treat that could have...

Yesterday the sun was shining, the sky was a bright blue and temperatures were in the high seventies.Today, it's raining - and the forecast is for up to three inches of the wet stuff in the next 24 hours. With the view out the window so grey, it's a good day to look at some wonderful Springtime images of the Lakes Region. (Most of these, caught by the talented Ernest Gault of Gilford, did not make...

OK, I confess to being slightly obsessed with Groucho Marx's humor lately but I can't resist passing on a couple of his pearls.One, you may have heard because it was in Woody Allen's 1977 movie "Annie Hall": "I'd never want to be a member of any club that would have me as a member."... In a related remark, he said he would "join a club so I can hit you over the head with it."And, finally there's this...

Earlier tonight, on a beautiful Summer-like Spring evening, in an historic building besides the Winnipesaukee River, some of Laconia's prominent well-known business folks gathered for a little “social networking” (which, as near as I can figure, is a 21st century way of saying "schmoozing"). They were on the top floor of the beautiful Belknap Mill. And if you've never been inside this marvelous...

There's a certain seasonal rhythm to life in the Lakes Region.Yes, it exists everywhere to some extent. But it's different when you live in a place like this.In most places, it goes something like this. Fall: new school and new starts. Winter: Christmas season, then snow. Spring: flowers, ball games, golf and gardening. Summer: long, warm days, comfortable nights - time to slow down and enjoy...

The air today was delicious.It was warm in the Lakes Region  – hot even, with temperatures around the area in the mid-to-upper 80s.But it wasn’t "summertime" hot. It wasn’t sticky. It wasn't "wet". You had to be working outside around if you wanted to work up a sweat.It was "nice" – with a soft wind. A good day to be on the lake.It wasn’t like that week in March, the week when, as JP says,...

Larry Frates, the Lakes Region's famous artist-performer-musician-puppeteer-arts teacher, etc. - who operates the "Frates Creates" popular business on Canal Street in Laconia, has just announced that he and his family are headed to Atlanta next month to participate in the taping of the "Family Feud" TV game show. Check it out on his Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150658780651636&set=a.128875281635.116192.548411635&type=1&permPage=1Best...

Just wanted to supplement the April 10 posting about Frank Ferrante's great presentation of his one-man Groucho Marx show in the Lakes Region this past winter: The talented Ferrnate has been "playing" Groucho for some time now, working on his endeavors with Groucho's son Arthur. (My favorite joke from the show was about when Groucho and his family visited a hotel where the pool was "restricted",...

Since the last two posts were somewhat tarnished with some less-than-perfect photos (i.e., ones I took on my cell phone camera), and since great images are an important part of our blog, we had the thought that it would be a good idea to treat you to some great Lakes Region pictures today.West Alton Doorway by Ernest GaultIn the Spring section of "The Lakes Region of New Hampshire: Four Seasons, Countless...

This week the baseball season began. The Red Sox have won just one of six games they've played. And former manager Terry Francona, the only person to ever lead the Sox to two championships, will not participate in a celebration of Fenway Park's 100th anniversary because he feels managment treated him somewhat disrespectfully on the way out last year.Too bad Francona didn't accept this offer when...

We’d love to think that “off-season” in the Lakes Region has its own unique charms.Bu to be honest - it’s not always so.In fact, the most interesting thing about the “off-season” here may be that things slow down enough for you to notice things.For instance:If the restaurant were “in-season”-busy, would we have noticed this scene at another nearby table? The picture is a little dark so here's...

"I made the earth and created man on it; it was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host." Happy Easter & Happy Passov...

Today, another sign of our Lakes Region spring... The "potado, potada" sound of Harley-Davidsons rose over the communi...

One of the great “food” surprises of the last year was the Tilton Farmers’ Market.It opened in the old Agway building on Rte. 3 in the fall and closed this past Saturday. Great food, neighborly vendors, a wonderful atmosphere... It’s the kind of community scene that gives the Lakes Region warm charm during the cold winter. And it was so popular, a police officer had to be on the state highway to unsnarl...

We're happy to present this column from Joe Kock Sr. A seasonal resident of the Squam Lake area, he enjoys spinning delightful tales on the passing scene, mostly from his living room window. "The Bear That Ate Like a Bird", one of Klock's story, was featured in our book, "The Lakes Region of New Hampshire: Four Seasons, Countless Memories."  (It's available at www.lakesregionnhbook.com and at...

Today is the first day of fishing season in the Lakes Region.Remember: "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you'll get rid of him for the weeken...