No one has lived in this house for the nearly twenty years I have been paying attention to its decline and fall. Some years ago, its roof collapsed and this year its front wall separated from the rest of the house. Just a few weeks ago, a window glass on the front broke, making it easier for the heaviest winds to get inside. A winter storm may bring it down altogether.

A neighbour whose father grew up in the house used to say he would like to salvage some of the good wood inside. There was a nice hardwood handrail on the stairs, and a couple of the main floor beams were spars from a wrecked schooner a hundred years ago. But even the time of salvaging wood for other uses has passed.