Joy Farm, also known as the E. E. Cummings House, is a historic farmstead on Joy Farm Road in the Silver Lake part of

Madison, New Hampshire Madison is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,565 at the 2020 census. Madison includes the village of Silver Lake and the village district of Eidelweiss. History The area was one of the first to ha ...

. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1971 in recognition for its place as the longtime summer home of poet

E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings or E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was ...

(1894–1962). and Cummings's parents purchased the farm, which is located near Silver Lake, in 1899 from Ephraim Joy. His mother deeded him the farm in 1929, and he spent time there every summer until his death in 1962. He was at the farm in September 1962 when he had a stroke; he died at the hospital in North Conway the next day. The property includes a house and barn, as well as a small, two-story octagonal tower. The main house is a 1-1/2 story building consisting of four bays, of which the rightmost is set back. The house has a side-gable roof, which has been modified to accommodate a deck above the rear half. The front of the main block has five bays on the first level, with paired sash windows flanking a center entry. The entry has sidelight windows, and is sheltered by a porch deck that is accessible from the middle gable of three gable dormers that line the main block's upper level. This deck, like that above the rear of the house, is lined with a railing consisting of posts connected by top rails and lower rails forming an X. The barn stands just north of the house.

References

{{NRHP in Carroll County, New Hampshire E. E. Cummings Houses completed in 1923 Houses in Carroll County, New Hampshire National Historic Landmarks in New Hampshire Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Carroll County, New Hampshire Homes of American writers

See also

References