Legacy Remains – Of The Brattleboro House Collection
The fragments fell in long strips as if to fight their depart from the walls. It hadn’t been a vicious fight, but just enough wrestling to grasp my attention.
The faded and thinned papers had more than five depths and the backing of several of these were gilded. The warm glow once again caught its original luster when exposed to the interior light.
Amazing. The covered parts of these layers were full of as equal a beauty as the former exposed parts.
The first laid designs were of particular intricacy.
Happily illustrated bubbles of red, yellow, and blue floating along a cobblestone pattern. This network of lines with the weathering endured by the paper, appeared now more like the strong scales of a fish or animal skin.
These walls had grown layers of strength by the years of new faces that had been applied. There is something divine about these layers of strength. Something distinguished. Imagine growing a thicker skin while keeping a warm and cozy interior. Is the reality of this dichotomy truly possible? Can the interior be tranquil whilst the exterior is strong, firm and unshaken by the outer forces of years and trying weather?
Do the thickened walls truly need to keep out those from finding the tranquil interior?
Or can there be some beautiful peace that besets the whole (inner, outer and surroundings) wherewith the house has been strengthened to endure the earth’s quakings?
“Most certainly. It is the solidity of the lower level’s structure; upon which the Brattleboro House rests. And are not these structures made of solid gold?”
And thus, I was told by the Brattleboro House.
~ Louise A. Grady
