Summer at Calef Farm
Sanbornton, NH

Dr. Ralph Meader and his wife, Olive Root Meader, bought the Calef farm in 1938. The property included about 100 acres of land on a hilltop, the large main house, built by 1792, several attached buildings of uncertain vintage, and a 75-ft barn built in the early 19th century. In 1946, Dr. & Mrs. Root bought the property across the crossroad, about 7 acres of land straddling Calef Road. The Root House, as we still call it, was built by 1763 and has a large upstairs room that was obviously used as a meeting place at some time in the past. It also has a 3-bay barn with attached woodshed and tool shed. Today, the great elm tree in the bottom picture is no longer there, and Burleigh Hill Road was widened and paved in the early 1960's -- but Calef Road is still gravel and dirt, and the houses at the crossroad look much the same as they did long ago.