#historical homestead

[lochlander]

One of the things I really like about the Homestead Challenge is the rules about how the homesteads/architecture of each lot should be made of the same materials and look similar to each other. Partly because it makes sense--you ain't getting regular shipments of intricately-etched Victorian marble cornices to Kainai, Montana--and partly because one of the things that often keeps me from expanding my hoods is building fatigue. I have to be in the right mood to build and while I've certainly impressed myself before, I also have way less free time than I used to and it's nice to be able to overthink less.

Plus, I've inadvertently created an architectural style in Kainai that revolves entirely around that Swiss Winter siding by Lady Lama and I regret nothing.

[principiumindividuationis777]

[artemistorm]

Angsty story idea I just had:

Wild is feeling homesick for the home he had before the calamity and before he drew the Master Sword. All the other Links have their places of origin and he wants to know his own. He asks Flora but she doesn’t know where his home was. She only knew him at the castle. He prays to Hylia to show him his home.

Later, the Chain's in his Hyrule and they’re riding horses somewhere and Wild sees a ruined house out in the wilderness surrounded by blue nightshade (which is the symbolic flower of BotW/TotK Link). He realizes that this is his home and he ends up having a long memory of some of his life as a child living there.

He then finds something from that old time like a buried chest of valuables his family buried before the Calamity for safekeeping.

[resurrectionist3]

June 6th, 1755 - Happy Birthday Nathan Hale!!!

We are gonna pretend like this isn’t several days late.

And this post is about to be super long…

Disclaimer: for the entirety of the post, I’m recalling information that was told to me by the tour guide from the Nathan Hale Homestead. If anything I wrote here is incorrect or not complete information, feel free to KINDLY correct me in a comment or repost, I would appreciate that☺️

-

Back in May (05/18/24), I visited the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry, Connecticut with my sister!!

I always drive by it when I go home from school and I finally got to visit for a tour! They also have a farmers market on grounds in the summertime as well as a couple other events throughout the year. I do hope i get to attend their Halloween ghost stories.

One thing i learned that i guess i didn’t ever realise was that Nathan never actually lived in this house. After his mother passed, Nathan’s father, Deacon Richard Hale and all 9(?) of his children lived together in a very, very small house. It wasnt until after Richard was remarried, that this newer and larger house was built. By this point, i believe Nathan had already moved away to be a teacher in New London.

Here are photos of their medicine cabinet and their fireplace✨

Photos of their piano forte in the sitting room and a drawn family tree.

And this was Deacon Richard Hale’s writing desk. If I remember correctly, he was a deacon in the church and a magistrate. He dealt with small court disputes in their house which I found very silly (and the wax stamp had an H on it idk why that made me die😭)

And here, in one of the upstairs rooms, they displayed artist renditions of what we think Nathan Hale and his brothers looked like. I think Nathan had 9 (?) biological siblings that survived to adulthood, one of which being his sister Johanna. And then i believe he had 3 step siblings after his father remarried (im trying to recall everything the tour guide said).

Johanna isnt depictied in these drawings, its only the brothers, but her room was on display for the tour and it had a lot of windows. The tour guide said it was because she apparently loved to read, so they made sure her room had the most windows for the most light??😭😭🥹🥹

Anyways, all of Nathan’s brothers went to war except for the youngest one. Also, if you look at the years of their deaths, Samuel Hale (the oldest sibling) actually outlived them all?? Which makes me want to scream???? Samuel also didn’t inherit the family farm, it actually went to his brother John.

Joseph Hale- (damn he can get it lowkey..🥵) while in the war was captured by the British and was on a prison ship until he was exchanged and honestly I’ve been thinking about it too much. So glad he didn’t die of dysentery or something. But he did pass of consumption at only 34 which I can’t even handle.

Enoch, went to Yale along with Nathan and they were in the same graduating class which i think is so cutesy. The tour guide also said that one of the pewter steins in one of the sitting rooms (i don’t actually have a photo unfortunately) belonged to Enoch and I wanted to scream, like was it ACTUALLY his???

They had a display of several items they found on the property like coins, buttons, ect. but I didn’t take a photo of that either. It was in the same room as these images of the brothers.

I think we all know Nathan, and quite honestly i didn’t even realise he had so many siblings until this tour. I suppose one could assume given the time period - everyone had like 5+ children. But of all the times i was taught about Nathan Hale (and that was kind of a lot, being a Connecticut resident for my entire life) no one ever mentioned his family or his siblings. There was a portrait of Deacon Richard Hale in the downstairs area- I didn’t realise this in the moment, my sister mentioned it later, but (based on the artist’s rendition) Nathan looked just like his father. I found it really funny when i realised it.

This was Nathan’s hunting rifle as well, another thing that apparently belonged to one of the members of the Hale family that made me want to scream (more on that in my final thoughts).

And last photo (the Turn: Washington’s Spies baddies are gonna LOVE this one)

This is a list of the Yale University (back then, it was just Yale College) honours graduating class of 1773. On it, is Nathan and Enoch Hale of course. But also, Nathan’s friend and “roommate” 👀 (and our favourite spymaster) Benjamin Tallmadge!!!!! I had to keep my mouth shut when the tour guide mentioned that he was on this list, but I was screaming internally and my sister and i made goofy ahh eye contact.

Their names are towards the top, Enoch and Nathan are listed in the third small column while Benjamin is in the sixth one all the way to the right.

Things that i saw/were talked about that i didn’t take a photo of was a shadow drawing of Nathan’s side profile. At some point, Nathan stood in front of a door in the house while someone traced the outline of his shadow onto it. I don’t quite know why that was done..? Perhaps it was for a genuine reason or maybe the Hale siblings were just messing around. But it’s a pretty big deal considering there are actually no true portraits of Nathan or his siblings. Just statues and drawings that are artist renditions based on historical accounts. There was a historian who wrote about Nathan Hale and came in contact with a member of the Hale family (Rebecca Hale, I believe). She told him about the shadow drawing and it was a long and interesting story that I unfortunately don’t remember all the parts to. A piece about the portrait is typed on a paper in the photo of Nathan’s rifle, if you can zoom in, you can read a little more on it.

Their gift shop was also small and cutesy and I spent a lot of money there on books. On display there, they had an old piece of wood from the original house. I got a published copy of Reverend John Hale’s, A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft.

If anyone wasn’t aware, Reverend John Hale (Nathan Hale’s great grandfather) was called to Salem, Massachusetts from Beverly to assist in the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. He was partially responsible for the persecution of several innocent people however, nearing the end of the trials, he began to disagree with the accusations. He published this firsthand account to condemn the actions of those involved with the trials and I’ve always thought it was so interesting. I’ve wanted to read this since I read The Crucible back in high school and i was very excited to see it at the gift shop.

You can also visit the Hale Farm in Beverly, MA where Rev. John Hale used to live and I want to someday. I’ve only ever been outside of it, I’ve never properly visited for a tour. (Cutesy fact as well: Rev. John’s Hale’s birthday is June 3rd, which is only 3 days before Nathan’s).

Final Thoughts:

The Hale Family was absolutely MASSIVE. Our tour guide mentioned being a descendant of the Hale Family and im sure a number of “born and raised��� New England residents are as well somewhere in their ancestry. Based on the drawn family tree, most of the members had probably 4 kids minimum and then those kids all had a ton of kids. It’s also very funny to me how there are probably several Hale’s who are decently significant figures in history and it’s just wild that it’s all one family. I know it’s the same for royal families and such but it feels different somehow.

According to our tour guide, one theory about how Nathan Hale was captured was by Robert Rogers. That Rogers invited him to dinner and convinced Nathan that he was also part of the Continental Army. Nathan then confided his mission in Rogers and was lured into a false sense of security that lead to him being captured. Which is another one for the Turn baddies that almost made me die when I heard it. Especially since I don’t believe I’ve heard that theory before.

Something I did really enjoy about this tour was how it didn’t completely focus on Nathan. Of course that would have been fine and equally as interesting, but it was mainly a lesson on his family and some of his descendants. After being taught about Nathan Hale so many times, I had no idea about his entire family and his siblings.

It also never TRULY occurred to me that there aren’t any real portraits of Nathan Hale. They’ve all been artist renditions as paintings or statues based on historical descriptions of him and something about that is extremely wild to me. It makes me somewhat grateful for our easy access to camera and video in our modern world. There are so many faces and stories that have been completely lost to time - even some very significant historical figures have little to no surviving images. Like, we know who they are and that they were here at some point - we have their belongings and things that they used. Thats why seeing Nathan’s rifle in the bedroom or Enoch’s stein in the sitting room cause me to have such visceral reactions. This was theirs once. This was used by someone probably everyday. And now its almost like a ghost or memory of them. The land around the property is heavily wooded as well, lots of trees and stones. My sister and I took a short walk around the property before leaving and it really made me think: how many of these stones did they touch? How many of these large trees did they lean on? It drives me so insane honestly.

One last thing that hadn’t occurred to me before this trip was how the Hale family learned of Nathan’s hanging. According to the tour guide, Enoch and a couple his brothers had heard of a Hale being found guilty of espionage and being hanged. And after looking into it more, Enoch did confirm that it was Nathan and sent word to the rest of the family. It’s said that before being hanged, Nathan only asked for a few things: A priest (which he did not get), parchment, quill and ink for writing. He wrote a letter to his commanding officer and one to his family. According to the guide, i believe neither one was sent. Perhaps the one to the officer was sent, however he never received it because he was killed in battle before he had the chance. And allegedly, the one written to the Hale family was seized by the British and was likely used as a written confession rather than being sent home to Nathan’s family. I honestly can’t imagine how upsetting that must’ve been for all of them. Especially with each of the Hale brothers being in the war and likely all in different places, there wasn’t really any other way for them to find out that their own brother was hanged aside from the way everyone else learned of it - through the newspaper or by word of mouth. No other Hale brother died in the war either, they all survived and had relatively high rankings by the time the war was over.

~~~

So that was my trip, it was fun and informative and I would really love to visit again sometime. I highly recommend anyone who is a fan of history, or Turn: Washington’s Spies to visit if you can! They are only open seasonally though, and only on weekends. They do a tour every hour, so plan accordingly if you want to visit!

[skeletorsims]

Ilse opens the first day of school! In attendance are the Laces and Saanvi Hollowbreast. Donovan helps them with their schoolwork by playing the piano.

[anothersimlishtragedy]

Part 1 - The Ghost and the Stranger

With a bar of soap in one hand and a pair of trousers in the other, Magnolia sank her hands into the hot water and begin to scrub and lather the material against the textured tin of the wash board.

She plunged and scrubbed the thin cotton chemise she'd been given on her wedding day by her mother. Next was a pair of Hollis' wool socks that had so much sweat and dirt on them they could nearly stand on their own. She grimaced and chucked it into the tub.

The whinny of a horse caught her attention from the front of the house. She stood and quickly wiped her hands on the skirts of her dress, then grabbed her pistol and started around the house.

"State your name!" she shouted to the stranger from behind the mesquite tree, her pistol in hand and finger on the trigger.

"Howdy, Ms. Brannon." the stranger called out from on top of his horse. She had to squint against the afternoon sun to make out the face of a man.

She cocked the pistol and a familiar metallic click sounded as the bullet entered the chamber.

"I said state your name or I'll blow your head clean off your shoulders, mister!"

"Woh, I don't mean no harm....I- I was just looking for the man of the house."

Through the leaves of the tree, she saw him shift in the saddle and grimace, like there was something about him that was hurt. She wasn't risking moving closer to him but something made her step aside from the leaves to get a good look at his face.

"He aint' here." Magnolia said through grit teeth.

The stranger shifted again and his horse whinnied, antsy and frustrated that they were standing still.

"I apologize, ma'am. This is the Brannon homestead, ain't it?"

"You sure got a lot of questions for someone who's got a gun pointed at 'em" she snarled. " I'm going to give you to the count of 3..."

"Name's Brannon. Hollis Brannon, ma'am." the stranger sputtered.

It made sense at that moment. The jawline, the vacant hazel eyes.

"You- you're, Jake's brother?" she manage to breathe out, chest tight and squeezing with every second that passed. She felt violently ill in that moment.

"Yep, his kid brother. Ya see, I was coming to ta-." he reached down towards the revolver on his hip and she fired a shot into the bramble to his left in defense.

"Shit!"

The horse bucked at the sound of gunfire and knocked the man onto the dirt with a thud, then took off like lightning down the road that trailed down to the river nearby.

She closed the distance between them fast. And then there he was, hat in the dirt, looking just like her late husband did 10 years ago. He clutched his right side where his shirt was plastered to his skin, wet and shiny with blood.

"I didn't aim for you." Her brow furrowed.

"Got shot on the road to Brindleton Bay." he winced, trying to sit up, then flopped back onto the dust with a thud.

"Aren't you a popular feller?"

She studied him for a moment, a ghost of her past come back to haunt her in the form of her late husband's brother. After a quick assessment, she knew he'd be too weak to try anything stupid, and she looped his arm around her neck to help him stand.

"My horse." he croaked, lips dry from days riding under the sun.

"He'll be aight. There's a river just down there. I'll go find him in a second. We need to get you on the porch."

"I don't want to impose..." he groaned between heavy steps and arms sagging against her shoulders and neck.

"It's a little late for that, now, isn't it?"

[clwhowrites]

Prompts 2/2/25

A modern day homesteaders buy themselves one and a half kilometers of land in British Columbia to build their dream house and to get away from the distractions of the modern world so they can focus on their art and pottery. Building their home they discover they were not the first to homestead there and there is a reason no one lived there.

[fantasiafarm]

[feralchaton]

First signs of approaching Autumn | feralchaton

[lochlander]

Oh, I love this new permafrost mod.

[shastafirecracker]

for the trope ask thing, what are your thoughts about: fake dating? historical alternate universe settings? hanahaki?

Fake dating - A+ tier, love it, especially if they’re doing it as friends already or if it’s focused on a specific event (be my date to a wedding/holiday/trip). It’s best as high comedy to me, salted with the flavor-enhancer of pining - if it’s all forlorn then I lose interest because maaan what a waste of a great comedy setup

Historical AU - hmm, C tier, really depends on the author and the amount of thought that went into the historical part. I never have cared for the Victoriana aesthetic so if it’s just an Austen style thing I’ll skip it unless it’s been highly recommended. BUT history is a huge sandbox with so much more than 1880-1920 England in it! If someone’s written something in a period that is clearly their special interest and the research is deliciously crunchy then I’ll read a historical au set pretty much anywhere!

(Caveat that if it’s a Vietnam war au I might also nope out bc I have a low tolerance for Oscar bait in fanfic form and I did read Twist and Shout (SPN) and it did not do it for me)

Hanahaki - rating N/A because you know I don’t think I have ever read a single piece of hanahaki? I will say that conceptually it doesn’t sound interesting to me. I have a mid-range tolerance for pining - I need either plot or communication to happen at SOME point to break things up. And hanahaki sounds like it’s the extreme end of the pining spectrum, so. (Also flavored with a little fuck or die, right? Or at least fulfill the relationship or die? Ehh -waves iffy hand-)

[spn-fanfic-reblog-writes]

Destiel Prompt# 30

(Domestic Destiel# 6: Charles the Chick)

Castiel and Dean have a homestead. Today, Castiel spends all day outside in the garden and in the chicken coop, Dean doesn’t think anything is wrong with this other then making sure Cas doesn’t get sunburned so he makes sure his love wears are wide straw brimmed hat and a light long sleeve shirt (even though he doesn’t actually need it).

At lunchtime when Dean calls Cas to eat (not that he really needs to), he doesn’t come which is surprising. After about 10 minutes, he goes out looking for him to find him surrounded by quiet baby chicks. He holds one each and listens to them chirp, responding to their noises as if he can understand them each (which he probably can). There is one with a redness to them that sits in Cas’ lap, calmly. He periodically will pet them or hold them a few moments in a hand before addressing another chick.

“Babe, lunchtime,” Dean says, gently, eyes soft.

“Oh, Dean! You must meet everyone,” replies Castiel excitedly.

“Ok,” Dean smiles and sits down, legs crossed just like him.

All the little chicks come running over to him and he chuckles, not expecting to be surrounded suddenly. Dean stretches out his hand and begins picking up each one, nuzzling them a moment before setting them down. “I can’t understand you guys. Sorry,” he says quietly to the crowding yellow chicks.

Once he has done this for each fluffy yellow chick, they head back into the coop to find their mother hen, Dean quirks a brow at Castiel, “Who’s your buddy?”

“He told me he has a lot to say and I wanted to give him my undivided attention, so he wanted to wait.”

“Ah,” Dean says, understanding. “Should I leave you two alone?”

Cas furrowed his brows and looked down, “Charles?”

The chick chirped once and Castiel smiled. “No, he would be happy if you were here to listen as well.”

Dean grinned, “I’d be happy to stay and listen.” ❤️

Good Morning by the Daily Mirror, England, April 4, 1944

[toastyartistelf]

So I don't have my own property, I currently am staying at someone's house, and about 50 years ago, this was a fully functional, working farm. I took these pictures about a year ago, give or take, and I thought I'd share them.

There's zero chance that I'll ever be able to do anything here, unfortunately. If I did, I'd have to abandon it all when I leave.

I'm trying to save up, but it'll take a couple years to save enough to actually buy something of my own. I've been looking, and there are properties I love, but it would be another 28 months at this rate for the cheapest I have my eye on without assistance. (No, I'm not asking, though I'd be grateful.) It'll be longer because I have to dip into savings twice a year for large insurance bills, and every other year for my registration. Thankfully this year isn't a registration year xD if I wasn't just me, myself, and I, maybe "we" could save up a bit faster.

[skeletorsims]

ALICEL navigation

Alicel is my homestead challenge hood. Beginning in 1892, we follow our Host Dimitri Lace and the new settlers he accepts into his home, all hoping to set up their plots and create a thriving community.

INTRODUCTION : 1892, LONG MAN RANCH OUR FIRST SETTLERS dimitri lace | lloyd hollowbreast & jeremy teeth | latika rao | liu wei | henriqueta ruiz

_____________________________________________________________________

1892

host & first wagon overview year one, spring | RECAP

year one, summer | RECAP

year one, fall: hollowbreast | liu & teeth | new settlers | lace | RECAP

year one, winter: hollowbreast | liu & teeth | lace | RECAP

1893

year two, spring: hollowbreast | liu & teeth | the buccaneers | lace | RECAP year two, summer: new settlers | lace | hollowbreast | liu & teeth | clemente | harris | mcclean I | mcclean II | ward | tedo | butler (incomplete)

1894

household recaps: lace | hollowbreast | liu & teeth | clemente | harris | mcclean i | mcclean ii | ward | tedo | spelmen (nee butler)

[monkeyssalad-blog]

A blurry image of a home from a long time ago which I’m sure is no longer. by snelson951 Via Flickr: Someone lived there

[adventuresofjasperboone]