Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Bicentennial Fourth of July, Leete's Island

The family home, the Daniel and Charity Leete House, built in 1766. This photo was taken on July 4th, 1976. This is the house my mother and Hoohoo grew up in, having been in their family since the 1860s. We were only the third family to own it until 1985 when it was sold after Hoohoo's husband, my father's brother, committed suicide and secretly, and illegally, sold it out from under us. More on that later. Much later. Probably in my obituary, lol.

I just love this photo! The house is nestled on a hill, and had beautiful, mature plantings and gardens all around it. Hoohoo had it freshly painted dark brown in honor of the Bicentennial, and it never looked better. Notice the 13-star flag, the same one I hang on my porch every 4th of July. My mother and I never really got over the loss of this house. I always thought I would continue the family ownership. It was really difficult to come up with a new life plan after it was sold. I probably would never have gotten the job in Manhattan had things gone differently, and who knows how that would have changed my life. But things happen for a reason, although I am still not exactly sure what that reason is.

The house looks completely different today. All of the trees have been cut down, all of the original windows and doors have been replaced with a different style, the siding is new, the roof is new, and it has been painted bright white. To say it now sticks out of its hilly landscape like a sore thumb, instead of fitting in so elegantly as it does here, would be an understatement. It has been sold twice since my uncle unloaded it for next to nothing. The first 'new' person's last name that lived there was Casey. It was unbelievably ironic, and cruel, for my parents and I to drive by the old homestead and see Casey on the mailbox.

N O T E :  Ten bonus points to anyone that recognized the purpose the black 'ring' around the ancient tree in front of the house. In the early '70s, Gypsy Moth caterpillars invaded Connecticut and devastated the native trees. You could sit outside at night and actually hear them munching the leaves. They were EVERYWHERE! The year after the first infestation, a tar-like goop was sold everywhere around here. You painted it in a ring around the trunks of trees and the caterpillars couldn't climb up any further. You had to go out and scrape them off every few days and then burn them in a coffee can with a bit of gasoline or kerosene. They haven't really been back since. I wonder if anyone knows why their numbers exploded so much in the first place? The end of DDT or something?

9 comments:

  1. Oh that story strikes a "raw" house nerve, not the same.... for this was ME selling an old family home. I was advised not to, but I was Miss Smarty Pants and thought I knew best. Live and learn and regret. But that's life, even if it contains a BIG OUCH from time to time. At least the new house which replaced the torn down old home didn't bear the name Annie...

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  2. We had tin ring collars on the coconut palm trees in Hawaii, to keep the rats from climbing up the trees.

    Funny rat/mongoose story. Hawaii imported the mongoose to hunt/eat the rats. Slight problem, rats are nocturnal and the mongoose is not!!

    FYI: Hawaiian Plural of mongoose / PLENTY MONGOOSE

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  3. Love this house! Reminds me so much of my Dad's childhood home in the U.P. Great landscaping too. Too bad it was lost under those circumstances. If you could buy it back now after all the changes, would you still want it?

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  4. Annie: I think we all have so many shared experiences if we could all get over differences in our color, or size. or background, or financial situations, or education.... and by 'we' I mean all humans. That's what I've learned in the last several years anyway...

    PX: absolutely. I know it would 'know' me the second I walked into it. It was haunted, every generation that lived there heard, and saw, the same things. I once told my mother about a few experiences, and while she had never told me anything about hers, they exactly matched. If I could afford it I'd live there tomorrow. I could have it 'back in shape' in a few years. We have a family cemetery just off the property too, where most of my family is buried. I get there about once a year, in the spring.

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  5. I HEART YOU CASEY.
    I REALLY KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR HOME. AFTER MOM DIED AND MY OLDEST BROTHER SOLD THE PLACE,IT WAS NEVER THE SAME. IT TOOK ME A LONG, LONG, LONG TIME TO EVEN LOOK AT THE HOUSE WHEN I WOULD BE IN N.Y. TO VISIT OR STAY THE SUMMERS. THE CHURCH THAT I WAS RAISED IN ALL MY LIFE [PLUS MARRIED] WAS JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM THE HOUSE. LIFE GOES ON BUT YOU NEVER GET OVER YOUR YOUTH. THERE WERE GOOD DAYS AND BAD DAYS. I CHOOSE TO REMEMBER THE GOOD. WHEN MY SISTER DIED AT THE AGE OF SEVEN MY DAD WAS NEVER THE SAME. HE WAS A GOOD, HARD WORKING MAN BUT YOU COULD ALWAYS SEE HIS LOST. ANOTHER LONG STORY I WON'T SHARE.
    DID I SAY ABOVE THAT I WAS GOING TO BED AFTER WATCHING ROSS. WELL NOW JAYS' ON SO I'LL WATCH HIM FOR A FEW MINUTE THEN OFF TO LA LA LAND.
    TOMORROW.

    GRANNY

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  6. I thought Ross was going to be on Leno. What else is Ross on?

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  7. Casey, you are "quick on the draw!" I can't seem to get caught up! Haven't even updated my own blog in "for-EVER"!!
    This just stinks about your house...how's that for classy? Think it about covers it what happened though! It just plain STINKS! I can't imagine what it would be like to have a home that old, that large, with that much history on the land and house both PLUS other world "residents". Have you ever heard if the new owners felt a little haunted?? Also, if it's any of my business (and I feel certain it is NOT!) is the cemetery private or public property that sold with the house? I can only imagine what heartache that must have been and how hard it is to visit the cemetery. Have you taken any updated pictures of the house...I think it would be interesting to see the changes..altho, i certainly understand if it would be too hard for that.
    I agree with Granny, Casey, I heart you too!
    Good night everyone!!

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  8. Mare: the cemetery is on private property, but there is a right of way. it wasn't on our property, but just next to it. it was for the original inhabitants of the little area of Leete's Island, which isn't really an island, but it's right on the Sound. The cemetery goes back to the late 1600s. I"d say there about 100 stones and plots in it. My family was funy, no one that died before my grandmother wanted a stone or a coffin so they were all cremated and I guess just put inthe ground. There are about 20 people buried in our area and only my grandmother and hoohoo have stones. it sort of looks like there are plots still left but it's full. We were always odd I guess!

    I've found photos of the house online when it was sold the last time. I'll have to find 'em again. It looks like they took an "ell" off the back of it too.

    I'd never go see who lived there. It's a very snobby area now. I'd love to know if they've heard or seen anything though. Maybe that's why it's been sold 2-3 times in the past 25 years!

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  9. CHELESA IF I'M SPELLING HER NAME RIGHT. E CHANNEL 196 ON MY VERIZON FIOS. 11 OCLOCK P.M.. I'M NOT A FAN OF HER BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE THE DIRTY TALK BUT WHEN I KNOW ROSS IS ON HER SHOW AND I CAN STAY AWAKE I WATCH IT. ROSS IS A LITTLE OFF COLORED WITH HIS JOKING BUT NOT LIKE HER. I CAN TAKE A JOKE BUT I DON'T LIKE FILTH. SHE GOES WAY TO FAR. ROSS IS ON HER SHOW A COUPLE TIMES A MONTH.

    GRANNY

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