Boathouse Garret, Now & Then

I’ve conceded often that I was more attracted to the boathouse than anything else during the first couple of years that we visited Rosslyn with realtors. The quintessence of waterfront charm, this architecturally elaborate dock house flirted coquettishly with our lakeside lifestyle. In all ways irresistible, the second story boathouse garret sparked my imagination. I pictured penning poems at a desk beneath that window overlooking the lake.

Today’s now-and-then images capture the intimate upstairs of the boathouse 20 years apart. The view above dates back to November 8, 2004 when we first visited Rosslyn. Before we purchased the Lapine House. Before we talked ourselves (and each other) into a major life change in order to justify making Rosslyn our home.

Jason McNulty emailed this flashback photo (and others) to Susan and me on July 6, 2010 after his first return visit to Rosslyn, the home where he grew up, after his parents sold the property to us.

Yesterday, 20 years after the first photo, abundant differences and similarities between the two photographs are immediately evident. The bones are familiar. The chimney is untouched. The windows remain. The old floorboards, the intimacy of sloped ceilings and near knee-walls, the imagination kindling atmosphere, and the intoxicating air of history bridge the present and past unmistakably.

I imagine that readers with a romantic sense might share my attraction to Rosslyn’s boathouse garret, now and then. “Yes; ’tis a garret—let him know’t who will”… (Apologies to William Makepeace Thackeray!) It’s the proverbial poet’s/artist’s hideaway complete with mesmerizing waves lapping at the pier upon which it stands. Both now and then these quarters cosseted above the quaint dock house nurture the muse.

Waves whisper,
lake lapping
at the pier
upon which this
lakeside landmark
rests as I read,
as I write. 
Sloped ceiling
paneled in fir,
oiled and re-oiled
by hand, by season,
brass hardware
patina’ed by breath
of maritime memories
and sunscreen
and sweat.
This cluttered quarters
doing double duty
as scrivener’s sanctuary
and waterfront warehouse
echoes lake life lived
and lake life imagined.

Rosslyn’s boathouse rehabilitation took time — too much time, probably — and tender attention from a parade of carpenters and caretakers. Lots of love! And perseverance. We had only just finished renovating boathouse when the 2011 floods inundated, the first floor of the building, 3 feet deep, for two months.  and while we didn’t have to start from scratch after the waters retreated, it wasn’t a little dispiriting to so soon rehabilitate a rehabilitation. 

But now this boathouse garret endures, rewarding us with daydreams delivered and imagination realized. This tiny folly is an enduring testament to the hopes and years and memories that Susan, Rosslyn, and I share. 

Now and then I am inspired by this endearing boathouse garret. Now and then I am abundantly grateful for this boathouse garret and the poetry it has provided. Thank you.