Saturday we drove 4 miles up the road to Paris Hill. It is a beautiful village that we always recommend that visitors drive through on the way to our house (you can avoid it, but who would want to?) because it is a beautiful old neighborhood filled with antique and well-maintained homes. Paris Hill was the county seat in the early days of Oxford County, so there is a lot of history there. There is even a famous son - Hannibal Hamlin, vice-president of President Abraham Lincoln. Pictured here is his boyhood home/mansion. It features an incredible view of the White Mountains, although it was too hazy to enjoy during this visit. Currently is is the vacation home of our local billionaire, and the home of his world renowned classic car collection. The collection is open for viewing on this one day each year, and people from all over the country travel here to see it - maybe you will want to next year! Mark your calendar!! Over the next few days I will be showing you some of my favorites, but first I had to show the horses that were giving wagon tours around the village....if I didn't start with the horses, you might think there was something wrong with me, wouldn't you? Hee hee!
The best part of the day is following the caretaker (not the owner) of all these vehicles around and listening to him tell about the cars. They are his pride and joy and he is meticulous about restoring them to their original condition, and in some cases, maintaining them in their original condition. He has loads of stories to tell - some of which I will be sharing with you during the coming days...
On a more personal note, when we first met him a few years ago, we discovered that we had purchased our home out from under him, without realizing he was the other buyer interested in the property. The reason being that our home came with a 7-bay garage, plus there were 8 more garage bays in our basement (which has since been renovated into an in-law apartment.). He, of course, wanted all that garage space for his personal car collection. We, of course, use it for our horses. When he learned that, I thought he was going to cry. To each, his own, I guess... ;-)
