37 SUNSET LAKE RD (The Brownie)

Essay by Betty and Bob Selling, Summer, 2009

William Rice Caldwell purchased a lot with 100 feet of lake front footage on Sunset Lake in Greenfield on August 25, 1926  from Lura M. Hopkins.  While negotiations were underway Ernest White also expressed interest in a lot as did another friend Dwight Dart.  Finally Ernest purchased a 75 lake front foot lot next door and Dwight Dart, 75 feet next to White’s at the same time.  The price of the Caldwell lot was $1 per lake front foot or $100 for the lot. 

There was a large pine tree that had fallen across the front of the Caldwell lot.  Since the times did not provide a simple inexpensive method of removal, the solution used was to cut the tree up into as small pieces as possible and cover it with soil.  The chain saw not having been invented, this was accomplished with a large hand saw.   Rice then dug out the bank at the side of the dirt road in order to provide an off road parking area and transported the soil by wheelbarrow down to the lake edge to cover the pine logs.   Since the shoreline was now elevated because of the fill from the logs and soil, it was necessary to construct a stone wall at the edge of the lake.  The solution was to ask all guests who came to swim to bring out a rock from the lake to construct the stone wall.  This also cleared the swimming area of both large and small rocks.  The wall still exists and requires occasional repair.  Several of the large rocks in the wall must have required rather heroic efforts by several “guests”.

The camp was constructed by Rice with help from friends.  He and Ernest built the first fireplace and chimney.  Like most camps at the time it was named, and because it was painted brown it was named Brownie,  A friend made a sign with the figure of a brownie as a gift and it is still displayed on the front of the building.  Harry Wright of Peterborough, an employee of Public Service, did the wiring consisting of a single 15 amp circuit. The original cottage consisted of one large room and a porch.  There was no interior plumbing.  An addition containing a kitchen and bedroom was added in the early 1930’s, another addition with a bathroom in 1962 along with new foundations and a new fireplace.   A new entry was added in 1972 when the fireplace was removed. Interior renovations have been made over the years.

In 1961 the deed was turned over to Robert and Betty (Caldwell) Selling.  In 2001, additional land in back was purchased from Hilda Parrott in order to construct a new septic system. The total size of the lot is somewhat less than an acre.  

 The camp has a great attraction.  Four generations have spent much time there, and enjoyed the lake.  During the 1930’s Rice frequently had jobs that required him to travel away from home during the week.  For several years his wife Mary and daughter Betty stayed at the lake alone.    For many years after Betty was married and living in New York with her family they spent most weekends at the camp despite the nearly six hour drive it required. 

Boats have included 4 rowboats, 3 sailboats and 2 canoes.  Family members include sons Alan and Brian, Alan’s wife, Maryanne and sons, Jonathan and Michael and Brian’s wife, Teresa and son Jason. The story of the shed across the road is below.

A SHORT HISTORY of “THE SHED”

The shed, which formerly rested by the side of the road across from 37 Sunset Lake Road, was built circa 1930 by William Rice Caldwell as a refreshment stand which he operated on the Town Beach located at the western end of Sunset Lake in Greenfield, NH.  Mr. Caldwell, at that time was proprietor of a “Red and White” grocery and meat market in nearby Peterborough.  He also owned the summer “camp” on Sunset Lake which he had built in 1927.  On weekends he sold candy and soft drinks from the stand and probably also sold hot dogs.  The shed showed traces of this activity as the front was built in such a way that the upper half was separate so that it could be raised to make an opening.  The remnants of a counter and even a small shelf below the counter for a cash box remained.  During the 1930’s the shed continued in use as a candy stand, operated occasionally by Mrs. Caldwell, who stayed at the lake alone with her daughter, Betty, during the summer, while Mr. Caldwell, who no longer owned the store, was working  at a number of occupations that required travel away from home. 

By the time of the Second World War, with the wartime restrictions on travel because of gasoline rationing, and because Mr. Caldwell was working in the defense industry in Rhode Island, the shed was no longer used for any purpose and sat unused for a number of years.  In 1950 the shed was moved to the Caldwell lake property.  This was made necessary by the demise of an outhouse that had been in use for many years at the Caldwell’s camp.  The shed was an obvious choice as a replacement.  Since the shed was still in good condition it was simple matter to set it on a pair of 2 X 6’s, and drag it the few hundred yards down the dirt road to the camp behind a friend’s pickup truck.  A used cedar telephone pole which had been abandoned by the power company was sawed in half and used as a foundation.   In the southeast corner a privy was installed.  The balance of the shed was used for tools and storage. 

When the property was given to the Caldwell’s daughter and son-in-law in 1961 a bathroom was installed in the camp. Despite this, the privy in the shed continued to be used frequently.  The shed also was necessary as a storage area for tools and other supplies.  By the 1980’s it began to show signs of deterioration.  The roof had to be patched frequently and the siding boards became rotted near the base of the shed.  During the 1990’s the floor collapsed and had to be braced.  Several roof rafters split and sagged and additional bracing for them was installed.  By 2000 so many holes had appeared in the siding that it was impractical to repair them.  In 2004 the owners, Bob and Betty Selling, reluctantly decided that the structure was beyond repair.  It was decided to construct a new shed, sans privy, in a different location.  Following the erection of the new shed a shed razing was held.  In less than two hours the shed was flattened, sawed into pieces, loaded onto a truck and removed to the Greenfield trash facility.  The only remaining piece of the structure is the privy seat which was preserved at the request of Brian Selling.

List of the deconstruction participants: Alan Selling, Bob Selling, Brian Selling, Jonathan Selling,
Spectators and advisors: Betty Selling, Maryanne Selling, Michael Selling and Mrs. Sylvia Robbins.

Sylvia’s recollections:

In 1930 the public beach was only about 50 feet wide.  There were two ice houses and a driveway on the left of the ice houses.  George Shea ran the two ice houses, but he did not own the land.  They were torn down in the early 1960s (?).  

Mrs. Rice Caldwell ran a candy store shed at the public beach.  She came each morning in a rowboat from her cottage. She sold TASTE YEAST BUDS