The French Countryside Arrives in Concord BY BARBARA RHINES
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Discover CONCORD
| Spring 2022
All photos courtesy of the author
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At the end of a pastoral road in Concord, past crisp Colonials and a few mid-century modern Deck houses, there is an enchanting French Norman-style cottage. With leaded glass windows, a romantic, ivy-covered tower, and fascinating ancient brickwork patterns, the house evokes the European countryside. Surprisingly, this unique and seemingly antique home was built in 1965. The house was commissioned by an interior designer and her husband who fell in love with the traditional architecture of Normandy during their travels in Europe. The French Norman style is characterized by steep roofs, brick or stone construction, and often has a central tower, which in medieval times would have served as an attached farm structure to the main house. The original owner brought a studied eye to the building process and oversaw every detail of the construction. She hired highly skilled masons from Quebec to create the intricate patterns of brickwork. The story goes that this original owner would watch the masons at work and personally move individual bricks out of position before the mortar set to increase the romantic whimsy that she was after.
