 |
|
| Lakes Region
Community News Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Former Red Hill cabins 'reborn' as shops
| |
| When college life at UNH ended in the early 1970s, Sally Ball
and her friend Lynn rented one of the Red Hill Cottages on Route
25. The small octagon-shaped building with a divider wall, a
small kitchenette in the back, and a few couches and beds was
their home as they worked in local bars and restaurants. "We left UNH and headed for life in the real world and this is where we ended up," Ball said. "We listened to the Cosmic Muffin on WBLM, we partied, we enjoyed our lives as young ladies."  Ball, who now lives in Keene, returned to that cottage Friday afternoon after spending Thanksgiving with her mother in Sandwich. The partition is gone as is the ceiling, now revealing a high ceiling showing the octagonal roof. The place where she lived after cottage is now filled with wreathes, bunches of dried plants, and wooden ornaments made from birch bark as the end cottage now one of the four newly opened Shoppes at Red Hill Cottages. The Red Hill Cottages have stood on their wide spot on Whittier Highway since the 1920s and were rented by the day or by the week. At one point, the owners would arrange transportation from the train station in Center Harbor to the cottages. Red Hill's website tells of its past history as a vacation spot though its more recent advertisements have been as available real estate. The cottages caught the interest of Janice Cutler and Bill Page of Massachusetts, who purchased them in July. Cutler, a professional floral designer, and Page, who worked in construction, have been part-time residents of the Lakes Region for many years after first buying a house on Newfound Lake and eight years ago buying a property at Balmoral in Moultonborough which they used on the weekends. "It became harder and harder to come home on Sunday nights," Cutler said. As both turned 60 this year, they made the decision to move from Massachusetts and buy a property to turn into shops. "Janet wanted to have her own shop," Page said, "(she is a) very artistic person, very creative." Page said another property in Plymouth was also optioned, though the Red Hill Cottages became a more promising area given "its location to a very good restaurant, Grille 25, by Casual Cape. We believe that people like variety, this is a nice little cluster, there's ample parking." The owners of their neighboring businesses, Grille 25 and The Casual Cape gift shop, have been "very encouraging." When they bought the cottages, Page evaluated their structure and did all renovations himself with his knowledge of construction. "It was reasonable for me to attack it. I suspect it would not be as easy for someone to buy the services." Four of the seven cottages are fully renovated and house Cutler's floral gift store Garden Treasures in the octagonal cabin and three other businesses that all opened during October and November. Among those businesses is Rhinestone Cowgirl owned by Chuck and Carol Guilbeault. "I've had many retail lives," Chuck Guilbeault said. A resident of Meredith, he has worked in retail for 43 years from malls around New England and New York to selling real estate in North Conway until recently. His dream, however, was to be a traditional shopkeeper, a position he has now. Rhinestone Cowgirl sells vintage costume jewelry from the 1920s through the 1950s as well as fine china and vases from brands like Nippon and Limoges, artwork, and "wearable art" such as a fine furs and one leather jacket created for a Bon Jovi video. Items are kept at low cost after Chuck Guilbeault purchased them at auction and other dealers. "What this is all about is 'bling,'" Chuck Guilbeault said, "vintage jewelry and one-of-a-kind pretty things." Mary Feliciotti is also running an antique shop at Red Hill after working at Concord Antique Gallery for 10 years. On Friday, the furniture was selling at a steady pace. Diane Nyren is the fourth shop owner, selling hand-painted furniture, flower cans, and other forms bearing her colorful flowers as well as hand-knit scarves. A native of Natick, Mass., Nyren worked for the Navy Department for 34 years and painted as a hobby. She now lives in Gilmanton and "this is all I want to do." "I like to take old things, bring them back and make them something new again," she said. Page is still in the process of renovating more of the cottages in hopes of creating a community of villages shops linked by a pathway. Nyren will seen be moving her business to another cottage next to Garden Treasures. Those who are now part of the Shoppes at Red Hill congregate in front of their respective stores and chat in between visiting customers, part of the village community Page and Cutler are striving for. "It gives you the chance to really be able to see the creativity of everybody else," Nyren said. |
Erin Plummer/Staff Photo
THIS
DISPLAY of snowshoes and skates is one of the
arrangements for sale at Garden of Treasures, one of the
new stores at the Shoppes at Red Hill Cottages.
Erin Plummer/Staff Photo
THIS
OCTAGONAL CABIN was once rented by area visitors. Now it
is a craft store as part of the Shoppes at Red Hill
Cottages that turned the old tourist accommodations into
a series of shops.