I have favorite villages and cities, places that offer me totally different experiences and memories. Besides my other favorite village where I lived many years, Bar sur Loup, in France---there is a village in New Hampshire called Peterborough that I consider my favorite village in the States.
Like Bar sur Loup, it is visually attractive. Although small, Peterborough offers a visual pleasantness with every corner you turn. Not the drama of my French village, but rather a peaceful blend of soft colors and typical New England architecture.
Layered on top of this is a splash of the arts that decorates and surprises at every turn. Artists from the famed MacDowell Colony, which is a mile or so away from the town center, have for years nourished the village and many chose to stay on and make it home---turning Peterborough into an intellectual and artistic haven. The village has a museum that celebrates art from around the world. It also has a well known art school and gallery in the Sharon Arts Center.
The picture above was formerly a plain stone wall that faced the back of a parking lot in Peterborough. It is now this beautiful mural for all to enjoy, painted by MacDowell Colony artists in residence one year. This is what makes Peterborough so special. So intriguing to me. It is as if it is organically constantly growing into something more interesting and beautiful every year.
There is a dream like quality to the way of life here that harks back to the 50's and 60's in a way. We have a classic diner from that era. There's time to dawdle over lunch beside a rushing stream. Everyone knows your name. It's pretty safe for kids. They go swimming in ponds and skate on them in the winter and race rubber duckies on the river when it thaws in the Spring.
I love when Rosaly's Farmstand opens. This mostly organic farm market draws painters and photographers every summer to its fields of flowers and its herb gardens to capture the amazing colors and the view. Pick your own strawberries. You can kayak on surrounding lakes and pick your own blueberries as you paddle close to shore. I usually eat them all before getting back to land.
We sit close to Mount Monadnock, which is in the distance of the picture above taken from Monadnock Golf Club. This is one of the most climbed mountains in the world, including a 110 mile trail and a 50 mile trail. It was so loved by Ralph Waldo Emerson that he wrote a poem to it called Monadnoc. I have yet to hike Mount Monadnock but it is on my bucket list mostly because of the interesting sub-alpine species you can see there. I really want to see the Mountain Cranberry that they say is everywhere on the mountain.
I put together the following video to show you more of what I love about this hidden gem of a village in New Hampshire. I hope you enjoy it!
For a Peterborough Walking Tour Map, click here!
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