Here you see a connected house on Back Road basking in yesterday’s sun. The house is known locally as (you guessed it) “The Red House.” The carpenter’s details on its main structures and the gothic top window are superb.
Red was a favorite color for Maine farmhouses and barns in the old days. The story is that good paint was relatively scarce and expensive, so many frugal farmers here made their own paint by digging red iron oxide from the ground and mixing it with skimmed milk and lime. The resulting rusty-red color resisted snow and sleet longer than the commercial paint of the time and perked up drab winter days. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 24, 2023.)