Habitat for Humanity, Lowe’s seek female volunteers to build homes with low-income families 

Thousands of women across the country join together for National Women Build Week April 30 – May 8

In the days leading up to Mother’s Day construction crews of female volunteers will raise their hammers at Habitat for Humanity construction sites across the country in recognition of National Women Build Week, April 30 through May 8. Lowe’s and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell is  looking for local women to volunteer for a day at the Carter Way (off North Road), Bedford  Habitat construction site during this nine-day event. Construction or home improvement experience is not necessary.

“Local women will be volunteering Monday May 2nd through May 6th on a brand new home.  The week will start off with building walls and on Wed the walls will be raised to kick off the beginning of this affiliates first ever Women Build Home.   This is our 4^th annual event and the days fill up quickly. Women are encouraged to sign up soon in order to be guaranteed a build day” says Kim Trainor, Community Relations Mgr.  “This year we are asking women to make a donation.  We hope they will ask their friends, family and co workers to support them as they volunteer to build.  This Women Build project will not be possible without their support” says Kim Trainor.

The Mother’s Day timeframe was selected for its significance to many volunteers. Families with children make up a staggering number of those in need of adequate housing. More than 12 million children – one in six – live in poverty housing in the United States alone.

To date, female volunteers have built more than 1,800 Habitat houses nationwide .  Locally, Habitat for Humanity  of Greater Lowell has participated in 4 Women Build Weeks.  However, this is the first Women Build house this affiliate has built. To volunteer go to www.lowellhabitat.org and  click on the VolunteerUP button.  For more information call 978-692-0927 or email: ktrainor@lowellhabitat.org.

National Women Build Week challenges women to devote at least one day in the effort to help eliminate poverty housing. The event, now in its fourth year, has drawn more than 20,000 female volunteers from all 50 states.

Lowe’s is contributing more than $1.3 million to National Women Build Week and providing $5,000 Lowe’s gift cards and building materials to more than 250 Habitat affiliates. National Women Build Week is one of the major initiatives supported through Lowe’s five-year, $20 million pledge to Habitat.

As the underwriter of the Women Build program since 2004, Lowe’s conducts how-to clinics at stores to teach women construction skills and empower them to support Habitat projects across the country.

Lowell is swiftly rising as the North Shore’s epicenter of art, and the Western Avenue Lofts are offering artists an entirely new type of place in which to live and work. By Andrea Fox

Floor after floor, Western Avenue Studios (WAS) in Lowell is a labyrinth of wonder. With a roster of mostly artist tenants, it’s also a solid real estate investment.

According to Rebecca Mattson of Sagebrook Development, LLC, investor TD Bank is funding the latest project at the five-building mill complex—a redevelopment of 50 uncommon “live/work” lofts—because the property owner, Karl Frey of BPV Lowell, LLC, was able to show that mostly due to his artist tenants, he’s experienced a less than one percent loss in revenue over seven years. “Before, commercial rents were late,” says Mattson.

Rebecca Mattson and Maxine Farkas at the Bridge, the area that will connect the artists spaces to the remolded studios

“Everyone here is treated as a small business,” says artist and WAS Executive Director Maxine Farkas. The more than 200 artists at WAS are currently working in 145 studio units across five floors of two converted mills. Mattson reported that studio space continues to expand as remaining commercial contracts expire. Currently, there is a waitlist of nearly 40 artists for studios, Farkas says.

WAS is the largest locus of artists in the entire Northeast. Thousands visited in 2011 to experience the incredible transformation. Each hallway is a wave of color, texture, fabric, metal, paint, and light, and each floor is a microcosm in and of itself. The fourth floor boasts activity enough for its own newsletter, the third a used book corner with proceeds benefitting WAS. “People who come here are coming for the community,” says Farkas.

Lofts for Artists According to Mattson, who worked on the new Boston Garden and Copley Square’s 20-story Trinity Place developments, the artists offered Frey a solution that made sense. The revitalization of this wilting 19th- and 20th-century mill complex along the Pawtucket Channel is the result of the shared imagination and ingenuity of the developer team and the artists. When Joan Fabrics filed for bankruptcy in 2006, artists started setting up shops, first on the fifth floor and then on the third. They have breathed new life and success into the whispering halls of industrial-hallowed grounds, captivating visitors at every turn. Still, they longed for “live/work” space, Farkas says.

Mattson says the possibility of another mill condominium conversion was not favored by the city of Lowell “and the costs aren’t great.” Also, Frey could not find a large commercial tenant for the property, she says. The build-out of the new Western Avenue Lofts in Mill G have artists elated. “My commute will be a stroll across the parking lot,” says jubilant jewelry artist Heather Wang. She and her husband, Chad, leased their new home in part because of its particular space—which included a cave-like section of an old freight elevator shaft that will be turned into his music studio—and its close proximity to Heather’s space at WAS. However, the most important thing to her is “the ability to customize and make the space work,” says Wang.

Live/work space is a working artist’s dream come true; everything from the circa 1930s era, 25-foot-on-center columns that leave units free of structural elements to the rents ranging from $835 to $1,625, which include heat, air conditioning, and two parking spots. This artist housing is also unique in that there are no restrictions, which often come along with federal and state subsidized projects, Farkas explains. Affordable housing subsidies for artists make units “conventional,” she says, adding that a live/work space has different requirements. “It’s been a struggle for artists from now until hell freezes over—it doesn’t work for what artists really need…how would Heather and Chad get their recording studio in?” she muses.

Pottery set up at Muddy Girls Studio

Common Latitudes Each unit, which ranges in size from 782 to 1,659 square feet, has a kitchen/bath/mechanical room module, eight-foot entry doors, and full sound and energy insulation. Many units are multi-level with exposed brick in the first-floor units and some ceilings as high as 25 feet on the second floor. Each artist has the freedom to add decking where space allows, colors, and any desired element, including pets. “As long as it doesn’t annoy anyone else,” says Mattson. Tenants must simply remove what they put in when they move out. With so few constraints and expenses, which are few—power for electricity, hot water, and cable/Wi-Fi—some artists are opting for five-year leases. At press time, there were 17 units left.

At WAS, the hallways and common spaces are open to the artists to create—as long as themes are “family-friendly,” says Farkas. There are no uniform wall colors, and potluck lunches are not only permitted, but encouraged. “Amazingly, with 200 people we have surprisingly few issues…It becomes an environment in and of itself,” Mattson says. She expects the loft hallways to have the same feel. They are extra-wide for art exhibition, with two common utility sinks on each floor and the latitude to develop communities that mimic those of WAS, she says.

Home and a Future With the new loft development, artists now have 250,000 square feet of space to stretch their arms, minds, and designs. Diverse and talented souls like Holly Berube, a painter and sculptor who is also event coordinator at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, fabric artist Eling Chang, painter Bill Berry, and Muddy Girls Studio potters are just a few of the artists at WAS. Chang and the Muddy Girls have signed leases for the new live/work spaces.

The lofts are a blank canvas with sealed concrete floors and primed walls, Mattson says. “It’s exactly what they are looking for.” She and Frey have also been creative in finishing the odd nooks and crannies found in old mills, such as the spray paint garden. “You couldn’t afford it all,” says Mattson. With the artists, “you just let them go.” Such solutions are often unacceptable in government-subsidized projects, Farkas points out.

The lofts open in May 2012 with a parking lot facelift scheduled for the spring. The project received historic tax credits, says Mattson, so Frey cannot sell the property for at least five years, at which time the artists could buy it as a co-op, she says. They have not drawn up papers quite yet—but “that’s the goal..”  ●n

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There are certain places on the North Shore that seem to get all the attention, from the popular restaurants in downtown Salem to the region’s beautiful beaches. Don’t get us wrong; we love those spots, too. But there are other places that seem to fly under the radar, frequented only by those who are in on the secret. Consider this story your keys to that club. Whether you’re in search of deli- cious dining, ways to while away a weekend, or a chance to lend a hand, you can add some variety to your routine by checking out some of the area’s most sparkling hidden gems. By Alexandra Pecci

Sparky's Wings and Things

Eat

Sparky’s Wings and Things When it comes to chicken wing supremacy, Haverhill is giving Buffalo, New York a run for its money, thanks to Sparky’s Wings and Things, a tiny wing joint tucked away on a downtown side street. There are wings for every taste, from the sweet-and-spicy Flight of the Bumblebee honey wings to the Wicked PB&J wings. Inside, the décor is spartan, but one taste will let you know why the Phantom Gourmet declared, “You’ve gotta eat here.” 20 Emerson St., Haverhill, 978-521-1009, sparkyswings.biz

D’Amici’s Bakery Pastries, cookies, and fresh bread await hungry patrons at D’Amici’s Bakery, which has locations in Lynn, Wakefield, and Melrose. Founded in Lynn in 1993, the bakery also carries soups, sandwiches, and dinners to go. In the words of James Marsh, community development director for the city of Lynn, D’Amici’s is “incredible.” 500 Eastern Ave., Lynn, 781-596-1559, damicis.com

Phat Cats Bistro Situated just outside downtown, Amesbury’s Phat Cats Bistro is a cozy neighborhood spot that emphasizes from-scratch food made with local ingredients, whether it’s Ipswich Ale or Valley View Farm goat cheese. In addition to the great grub, Phat Cats also hosts a monthly beer club, where diners can sip local suds, meet the brewers, and nosh on items from the $5 menu. 65a Market St., Amesbury, 978-388-2777, phatcatsbistro.com

Artemisia Botanicals

Shop

Downtown Haverhill Haverhill is becoming known for its restaurant scene, but its downtown galleries and boutiques are worthy of attention, too. Park the car and walk to check out shops like Positive Images and Haverhill Music Centre; Wicked Big Café, a coffee shop that features works from different local artists; and art galleries like Sage Art Gallery on Washington Street and Angles & Art on Wingate Street. Then stop by the Tap Brewpub to try some Haverhill-brewed beers like HaverAle and Whittier White.Wingate St., Essex St., Washington St.

Transformations Painted Furniture At Transformations Painted Furniture, owner Lynn Kennedy gives old or dated wooden furniture a gorgeous makeover that’s so restorative you might think her tool of choice is a magic wand, not a paintbrush. Transformations Painted Furniture only has a Facebook page and a shop on Etsy, but even without a storefront, the business has gained a loyal following. “It started off kind of small and it just kind of grew and grew,” says Kennedy, who sees customers by appointment at her workshop.  21 Boutwell Road, Andover, 978-886-0426, etsy.com/transformations2

Artemisia Botanicals There are lots of shops catering to the magical community in Salem, but Artemisia Botanicals is unique among them. “We are a little different,” says owner Teri Kalgren. That’s because they specialize in herbs, carrying hundreds of natural and organic herbs and pre-mixed teas for everything you’d need for cooking, home remedies, teas, tinctures, and, of course, spell work. Whatever you can’t find in the shop can be ordered online, from allspice to yucca root powder. Check out their brand-new space on Hawthorne Boulevard. 3 Hawthorne Blvd., Salem, 978-745-0065, artemisiabotanicals.com

Salsa Dancing, Rockafellas

Play

Salsa Dancing at Rockafellas Even frequent patrons are sometime surprised to discover that every Wednesday night is salsa night at Rockafellas Restaurant in Salem. From 8:00 pm to 11:30, instructor Greg Coles spends an hour on salsa lessons before opening up the dance floor. Bartender Lindsay Meyer says couples, singles, and people of all ages come to the weekly Latin dance party. 231 Essex St., Salem, 978-745-2411, rockafellasofsalem.com

Photo Safaris For a look at the North Shore through the lens, join Essex Heritage during their spring and summer photo safaris. Each of the monthly events, held May through August, explores a different spot in the Essex Heritage Area; among them this year is Lawrence and the House of the Seven Gables, says Emily Levin, project manager of Essex Heritage. The series is sponsored by Hunt’s Photo and Video and a different camera company during each event. “You get to try out all this camera gear at really cool places,” Levin says. Essex Heritage, 221 Essex St., Suite 41, Salem, 978-740-0444, essexheritage.org/photosafari

Foraging Beach plums and rosehips are just some of the wild edibles growing on the North Shore, and a foraging walk for wild edible foods with environmentalist and author Russ Cohen will help foodies take adventurous eating to a new level. “I’m giving people a glimpse of what my life is like as someone who likes to nibble on the landscape,” says Cohen, who leads foraging walks throughout the state; upcoming Essex County walks will include locations in Lawrence, Haverhill, and Beverly. Check for other dates online. Foraging with Russ Cohen, users.rcn.com/eatwild/sched.htm.

High Rock Tower and Observatory

Learn

Essex Art Center Housed in a newly renovated space in one of Lawrence’s historic mill buildings, Essex Art Center offers an extensive array of classes for adults and children, ranging from painting and drawing to sculpture and stained glass. In addition, the Art Center hosts several gallery openings throughout the year. The show Strike! will run from June 15 through August 15 and remembers the 1912 Bread and Roses strike. According to Leslie Costello, executive director and co-founder, the art openings are a great night out, with wine and cheese served at the gallery. 56 Island St. # 1, Lawrence, 978-685-2343, essexartcenter.com

Buttonwoods Museum From Native American artifacts to remnants of a shoemaking past, the more than 10,000 artifacts at Haverhill Historical Society’s Buttonwoods Museum chronicle Haverhill’s long history. The museum, perched on a hill overlooking the Merrimack River, also hosts events throughout the year, such as the Greater Haverhill Art Association Art Show and the Festival of Trees. It’s also a designated Essex National Heritage Area Visitor Center, so visitors can brush up on the rest of their Essex County knowledge, too. 240 Water St., Haverhill, 978-374-4626, haverhillhistory.org

High Rock Tower and Observatory The city of Lynn might not be synonymous with stargazing, but the view from the top of High Rock Tower and Observatory might change a few minds. The city-managed tower houses a 12-inch Meade telescope that’s used during free public observation nights. “I put on a tour and let everyone use the telescope to see the moon and its features, and the plants that are out; usually Saturn and her rings or Jupiter and her moons, and nebula and star clusters,” says James Marsh, Lynn’s community development director and volunteer tour guide. “People are very surprised that we have such a wonderful resource available for free.” High Rock St., Lynn, 781-586-6770, ci.lynn.ma.us/attractions_highrocktower.shtml

Art Classes at Montserrat College of Art

Create

Italian cooking lessons Head to Salem to learn the ropes of authentic Italian cooking with Licia Bester, a.k.a. Mama Licia. “I introduce clients to what is authentic Italian food rather than an American interpretation of the cuisine,” says Bester, who hails from Milan. Providing private lessons and classes throughout the city of Salem, Bester teaches students about the flavors of Italy, from seasonings to handmade pasta and ricotta to fresh tomato sauce. Best of all? Students do as much eating as they do cooking. Mama Licia, Salem, 978-219-9211, mammalicia.com

Community Gardens If you’ve got a green thumb, but not a lot of green space, don’t despair. Many cities and towns on the North Shore have their own community gardens that residents can use to grow their own veggies, herbs, and flowers. “We haven’t put a limit on what people grow,” says Lisa Spence, a member of the board of directors of Salem Community Gardens. Other community gardens exist in Haverhill, Lawrence, Beverly, and Danvers. Find one—or start one—in your own town. bostonnatural.org/cgFind.htm

Art classes at Montserrat College of Art Drawing from film, silkscreen, and digital photography are among the many classes and workshops offered for adults are Montserrat College of Art in Beverly. Classes are offered on evenings and weekends. For inspiration, also check out the art galleries and artist talks available to the public on campus. 23 Essex St., Beverly, 978-921-4242, montserrat.edu

Horizons for Homeless Children

Help

Horizons for Homeless Children Homeless shelters can be bleak places to live, especially for kids. That’s why Horizons for Homeless Children has spent the past 20 years building playspaces just for kids in family homeless shelters throughout Massachusetts, including about 24 shelters in the Northeast Region, which includes the North Shore. The playspaces are staffed with PALs—playspace activity leaders—who volunteer to play with the kids who live in the shelters. “It’s given me an additional way to make a difference and be a positive role model,” says Kurt Mittelstaedt, a PAL from North Andover who volunteers in Lawrence. 60 Island St., Lawrence, 978-557-2182, horizonsforhomelesschildren.org

Merrimack River Watershed Council The Merrimack River Watershed Council protects one of the North Shore’s most defining rivers. Water resources manager Tracie Sales says that indoor  and outdoor volunteer opportunities are available, and because water quality testing happens on the open water, there’s a special call for people who’d be willing to take volunteers out on their boats. “We can always use more volunteers who actually own boats,” says Sales. 60 Island St. # 2, Lawrence, 978-655-4742, merrimack.org/volunteer/
The Witch House Not many people get a chance to work in a more than 300-year-old house that has connections to the famous Salem Witch Trials, but that’s exactly what’s in store for people who choose to volunteer at the Witch House in Salem. The Witch House’s director, Elizabeth Peterson, says that volunteer opportunities can range from greeting patrons and answering questions about the home’s history to dressing up in full-on Colonial garb to provide historical interpretations. 310 Essex St., Salem, 978-744-8815, witchhouse.info

A unique dog training center in Methuen provides personal protection dogs to some of Hollywood’s hottest stars and turns headstrong hounds into obedient and well-mannered pets you can take anywhere on—or off—a leash. By Andrew Conway

This is a tale of two dogs. The first, an adorable golden-haired dachshund called Bobo, walks confidently into the training arena, head up, eyes locked onto his trainer, tail wagging furiously. At every command, Bobo sits, stands, waits, lies down, walks, jumps, and comes to heel in a flawless display of obedience and manners. As a reward, he receives a couple of treats, some enthusiastic patting, and words of encouragement, which clearly make Bobo feel like a Best in Show winner. With a pedigreed grin, the delighted dachshund departs to make way for a training session of an entirely different kind.

Up next is a 90-pound, black-as-night, don’t-mess-with-me German Shepherd called Eiko, which happens to be one of Hollywood actor Steven Seagal’s protection dogs and looks like he’d happily take down a couple of pesky paparazzi in the blink of an eye. Clearly, the training manager, Jay Haley, who used to be a builder and has the muscles to prove it, has drawn the short straw. Dressed in a heavily padded protection suit and surrounded by plastic garbage bins, Haley prepares to confront Eiko as a potential assailant.

On the command “Attack!”, the once-placid Eiko leaps like a hound from hell across the arena, smashes into the bins, takes Haley down in a matter of seconds, and clamps his jaws onto Haley’s arm like it’s dinner time. On the command “Heel!”, Eiko immediately releases Haley, returns to his trainer and sits panting with the same butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth look that Bobo had a few minutes ago.

Welcome to Canine Solutions and Canine Protection International (CPI), a dual-purpose dog training center in Methuen that will take your beloved pet or protection dog and train them to the highest levels of obedience and performance. The brainchild of Bradford resident, European dog importer, and veteran trainer John H. Whittaker, CPI launched in 1996 and quickly became an international success, securing high-profile clients from Seagal to Shaquille O’Neal, politicians and senior White House staff, foreign royalty, top breeders, and law enforcement agencies, all seeking the finest protection dogs from German Shepherds to Belgian Malinois.

John Wittaker

“We started CPI with the simple notion that if we imported the finest dogs Europe had to offer and provided the highest level of training available anywhere, people would want our dogs and seek us out,” says Whittaker. Then something unexpected started happening: As each expertly trained protection dog was delivered to its owner, Whittaker or his delivery trainers were invariably handed the client’s family dog, which required training of its own.

“At first, we took family pets as an exception,” Whittaker explains. “We’d deliver a German Shepherd and return with a poodle, and then the client’s neighbor’s boxer. Very soon, we were returning with every breed of pet—from Great Danes and labradors to Boston Terriers and even a Chihuahuas—from as far away as Los Angeles, Dallas, Germany, Spain, Canada, and Mexico City.” It soon became obvious to Whittaker that many pet owners were frustrated and needed solutions—or, as he calls it, “functional results”—and in 2010, Canine Solutions officially became the bark to CPI’s bite.

While the protection dog importing and training division remains a crucial part of the business, with the company selling six to eight fully trained dogs a month for an average of $65,000 per dog, Whittaker is excited about the newer Canine Solutions, which focuses exclusively on obedience and manners training for family dogs. Based on a unique program called Naked Dog Training, Whittaker and his team of eight professional trainers teach clients precision control of their dogs, both on and off a leash and in any surroundings, while bringing out the best in the dog’s natural personality. The program can also help eradicate undesirable dog behaviors, such as barking and biting, and creates impeccable manners that will turn frustration into pleasure for both owner and dog, all achieved without ever having to raise your voice.

“First and foremost, we create complete off-leash control with commands said once and in a normal tone,” says Whittaker. “Most training centers tell you to ‘command’ your dog–speak with authority, don’t request. We have to reeducate owners to do just the opposite and stop speaking harshly . . .  we teach dogs to respect commands said in normal, pleasant tones. It’s very important the dog thoroughly enjoys the training process and long-term performance.”

Whittaker describes old-school training methods using negative reinforcement, hard corrections, and even choke chains as “primitive” and not conducive to learning. “There are much more resourceful, more respectful, and enjoyable ways to relate to dogs, and that’s our approach,” he adds. “We still use the same tools—food, toys, and training collars—but it’s done differently enough to get the highest level of obedience and performance off-leash while bringing the dog’s personality out.”

Whittaker says the ‘Naked Dog’ element, referring to a dog being off-leash without so much as a collar on, is about joy and freedom. “It’s hard to imagine walking your dog off-leash on Newbury Street, Fifth Avenue, or Sunset Boulevard, but we achieve that level of control, and it’s wonderful for the owner and the dog.”

Whittaker’s “functional results” are typically achieved in 12 weekly training sessions for an adult dog and 16 weekly sessions for a puppy, starting with a detailed questionnaire completed by owners to help assess the dog’s training needs. The weekly lessons are one-to-one, or with one other client and dog, and owners are given “homework” to practice with their pets between lessons. The cost is $950, which includes unlimited weekly lessons for up to a year after the official training program. “Follow-up sessions are not usually needed,” says Whittaker, “but after a month or two, clients sometimes feel the need for a couple of ‘touch up’ sessions.”

Clients who live further afield can place their dogs in a condensed B&B program that typically lasts four to six weeks. This program costs $3,500 (pick-up and delivery are an additional charge), which includes a full day’s training and handling instruction with the owner once the trained dog is delivered.

While Whittaker’s high-profile clientele brings the business a celebrity status—other notables include best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks, New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia, and members of Abu Dhabi’s royal family—it’s just a small part of the business.

“We work with professionals from all walks of life,” he says. “With the obedience business, statistically most kennels and training centers draw from an eight-mile radius. The fact [that] we draw people from across America and around the world is an indication we are doing something different.”

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Oddly enough, Rhode Island-born Whittaker didn’t have the most auspicious start to his career as a dog trainer. “I had a beagle that bit me as a kid,” he says, laughing at the painful but formative incident. “Prior to that, I was actually afraid of dogs.” Undeterred, and with a newfound obsession for canines in his early teens, he started doing kennel work at a local protection dog center. “They told me I was the worst kennel help they’d ever had and that I’d chosen the wrong profession,” he recalls. “But by then I was committed to becoming a dog trainer and, despite my lack of natural talent, I learned every aspect of the craft. Maybe that initial discouragement contributed to my determination.”

His instincts proved right. By the age of 21, after dabbling in European dog sports, Whittaker had negotiated a contract with the former East German government to import protections dogs to the United States. Training became a natural extension of the import business, and those early ties with Europe continue today as the cornerstone to Canine Protection International’s success.

Prices for a trained protection dog are determined by the level of training, the dog’s natural ability, and other factors, such as show titles. “A third of our business is actually selling our European dogs back to Europeans after training,” says Whittaker. Given the European heritage of the protection dogs and the company’s global clients, CPI’s dogs are trained in French, German, and Japanese, as well as English. “Typically, we have 35 dogs in the CPI program and another 15 for obedience training,” he adds, stressing that the two types and personalities of dogs train happily side-by-side. Whittaker says high-energy and motivated pets like labradors, retrievers, and setters are easier to train than others. “But most dogs are somewhere in the middle,” he says, “and we have to find ways to motivate them.”

Whittaker practices what he teaches. Married with two grown-up children and a six-year-old grandson, he owns a German Shepherd called Nikito (son of Nicco, a former family dog he sold to a client in Europe, but still looks after for six months each year when the client travels). “Nikito is only 16 weeks old, but through our puppy imprinting, [he] is already working off-leash,” he says.

Family also plays an important role in the business. Stepson Ian is a lead delivery trainer, and 21-year-old nephew John is a talented trainer, while Whittaker himself takes a hands-on role with every aspect from training to delivery. It’s a far cry from his days as a 14-year-old kennel hand—and no one tells him he’s in the wrong profession any more.

The Portfolio

Headquarters: Methuen. Number of Businesses: 2. Years Founded: Canine Solutions, 2010. Canine Protection International, 1996. Employees: 12. Services: Unique dog training programs delivering functional results in obedience, manners and protection for all ages and breeds. Owner: John Whittaker. Contact: 202 Tyler Street, Methuen, 877-560-DOGS (3647), functionalresults.com, protectiondogs.com.

The annual Color Run is going down in Amesbury on July 28th, 2012. The only question is “Are you ready for the craziest, colorful, 5k of your life?” You bet you are. Race it solo or form a “color team” of 4+ members. Check out the race details below & we’ll see you all squeaky clean at the start line.

The Color Run is a one of a kind experience that is less about speed and more about enjoying a color crazy day with your friends and family. For our events, it is about participants of all different speeds, ages, shapes, and sizes toeing the start line. Whether you are a casual morning mall walker or an Olympic athlete, the 3 miles of the Color Run course will be the most enjoyable real estate you’ve traveled in a VERY long time. For more information and to register click here!

Amesbury photographer Christopher Churchill embarked on a journey across America to capture on film its denizens’ ideas of personal faith. The resulting portraits—published in a new coffee table book—tell a deeply captivating tale. By James Sullivan

Christopher Churchill

When he was nine, Christopher Churchill lived with his parents and sister for a year in the middle of the ocean on a 33-foot sailboat. Now 34, he’s still amazed at his father’s audacity. Though the children, who grew up in Maine and Pennsylvania, were not raised according to a particular religious faith, that extraordinary experience at sea clearly gave the future photographer a world of mysteries to contemplate.

As a young imagemaker, Churchill was inspired by documentarians such as August Sander, who took classic portraits of ordinary Germans in the early 20th century, and Joel Sternfeld, whose 1987 book American Prospects is a modern landmark. Almost 10 years ago, Churchill set out across America with his vintage large-format field camera and a vague notion that he wanted to find some insight into the various forms of American faith.

In towns stretching from New York to New Mexico, Churchill photographed people and places. Some—such as the empty sprawl of a modern Baptist megachurch in Plano, Texas, or the timeless resolve of two men holding Nation of Islam newspapers in Dorchester, Massachusetts—expressed a distinct bandwidth on the broad spectrum of American faith.

Other subjects, however, were far more ambiguous, like the young soldier who told Churchill about his misgivings about the military, or the father and son who posed solemnly for the camera, sitting in a go-kart in their Oklahoma driveway. As his travels unfolded, Churchill came to realize that his project was actually about those ambiguities. American Faith, he decided, would capture the myriad ways we try to connect with something greater than ourselves, whether inside or out of organized religion. “I’d propose that’s the single most common human need—to be a part of something larger than ourselves,” says Churchill.

American Faith has just been published as a magnificent, limited-edition coffee table book by Nazraeli Press. The print quality of these photos is astonishing, thanks to the large-format camera Churchill used. There’s a “hyperspecificity” to the pictures, he says, noting that you can see the texture on one man’s leather jacket with more clarity than he could in person. For all the photographer’s self-proclaimed “naïveté” in undertaking this ambitious project, American Faith offers unmistakable clarity in an uncertain world.

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Salem design firm Wilson-Kelsey helps a busy couple transform their less-than-spectacular pride’s crossing condominium into an opulent home reminiscent of a grand and bygone era.

By Regina Cole  photographs by Laura Moss

Dining Room

I take clients to places they don’t even know they [can go],” says interior designer Sally Wilson, laughing.

Take her recent project in Pride’s Crossing. Wilson and her husband, John Kelsey, who is also her partner in their eponymously named Salem design firm, transformed a 5,500-square-foot Pride’s Crossing condominium from a featureless box into an opulent home redolent of the bygone Grand Tours, but also a casually comfortable yet elegant family life and the happy mementos of generations of informed collectors. While homeowners Cheryl and Richard Durgan haven’t experienced the Grand Tours or brought home French and Italian antiques, their new home perfectly expresses their aesthetic.

“Sally got me,” says Cheryl. Her husband agrees. They love the rich paneling and molding of their interior filled with Directoire and Regency furniture, gilded mirrors, Italian crystal and metal chandeliers, tapestries, and defining millwork. Here, finally, they feel at home.

These parents and busy professionals had worked with architects and interior designers in the past, so when they downsized from a large suburban estate to this condominium—one-third the size of the former Ayer Estate carriage house—they knew enough to seek professional advice. But relationships did not click until a storekeeper steered them to the door of Wilson-Kelsey.

“When they told me what they wanted, I saw that they were very interested in richness and luxury and in the drama of this kind of space,” Wilson says. “I said, ‘I can see that you are more Continental than people have been perceiving.’ Traditional design, which is John’s and my specialty, can have its roots in the American decorative arts, or it can spring from British, French, and European stylistic fashions.”

Clearly, a whole design education unfolds in this rambling home. It begins with a formal entry featuring a classical floor composed of black and white marble squares. The collaboration between client and designers began here, when Kelsey devised a floor plan that moved the unwieldy workings of a new HVAC system from this graceful space and hid them in an upstairs closet.

“When he resited that into what had been an unused tiny bath,” Wilson says, “John hit a home run. After that auspicious beginning, Richard and Cheryl gave us carte blanche.”

Kelsey explains how flow and architecture intertwine, and how millwork works to define and ornament a room.

“I do the architectural look,” he says as he talks about the successful—some might say unusually so—relationship that makes their firm a go-to destination for clients like the Durgans, who want to make a home both beautiful and entirely their own. “I do the layout, lighting, millwork. Then, Sally comes and overlays all the decorative elements on top of that.” Sally Wilson’s quick, instinctive understanding of her clients’ taste drove all design decisions from there on.

“When Cheryl realized that she wanted it to look very French, I started to look at pictures of Versailles, took their spirit, and scaled them back to modern living,” Kelsey says. “A challenge developed when it proved that New England stock millwork profiles are Colonial, not European.” Still, Kelsey found a source. “I happen to love millwork and cabinetry, and I relish researching and coming up with something for the client.”

The designing couple walks through the formal living room, pointing to other examples of the home’s Continental sensibility, including a pair of gilded Parisian wall sconces, two tapestry-upholstered Italian chairs, and a massive, carved French Renaissance fireplace mantel.

“As designers,” Wilson explains, “we balanced ornate materials with simple forms. It requires a deft touch.”

“If you don’t make sure that all these parts and pieces carry on a dialogue with each other, it is just a room full of furniture,” Kelsey adds.

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The kitchen takes the lead in the home’s harmony. Its personality speaks of French country houses and of generations of family gatherings. Wilson created the warm and functional room around a hearth-like stove surround, its rubbed-back—intentionally worn-looking—gentle green echoed in antique shutters at the tall, arched windows. Brick walls provide a soft red backdrop while they allude to the building’s past.

“Originally, it housed cars and horses, and there was an area for washing both vehicles and animals,” Wilson explains. The carriage house dates to the glory days when this was the summer home to a patrician family whose connections reached deep into the ranks of American wealth and power. Beatrice Ayer, whose father owned the American Woolen Company, spent all her summers here. In 1910, she married her childhood sweetheart, General George Patton, at Beverly Farms’ St. John’s Episcopal Church, a few miles down the road. Horses, carriages, and touring automobiles contributed to the leisurely pursuits of Boston Brahmins along their Gold Coast, as its summer denizens referred to the North Shore.

“The walls originally were brick but were greatly degraded by the time we came along,” Wilson recalls. “Brick walls speak both of the house’s past and of the rustic spirit of French farmhouses. We used brick slices measuring five-eighths of an inch thick; they require mortar but don’t have the weight of whole bricks.”

The kitchen’s collected sensibility, which includes black curio cabinets and yellow-gold granite counters, features a backsplash composed of ceramic tiles with a custom toile pattern.

“The tiles use two tones, exactly planned and measured, that depict lambs, dogs—a pastoral French bucolic scene,” Wilson says.

“We worked hard to assure that the pot filler doesn’t cut into the middle of a tile, or that someone’s head doesn’t get cut off,” Kelsey adds.

Wilson says, “This kitchen was perhaps our biggest challenge. In the end, the results make the owners very happy.”

When Kelsey and Wilson took this project on, they pushed the owners into new territory.

“At one point, we agreed that no timid solutions were allowed here,” Wilson says. “Their courage brings its own rewards.”

Rainbow brights, mix-and-match patterns, bold colorblocks, and accessories galore. The new resort wear is anything goes. Photographs by Glenn Scott  / Styling by Lysa Pelletier

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A personal passion for cheesemaking has blossomed into a full-on lifestyle —and successful business— for Peter and Liz Mullholland, owners of Valley View Farm in Topsfield.

By Anna Kasabian, Photographs by Kindra Clineff

The Star Product: Cheese

Back in the nineties, in the early days of Peter and Liz Mulholland’s cheesemaking, commuting by train to Boston also meant toting a cooler full of cheese. Peter, who then worked at Fidelity in private client services, was bringing Valley View Farm cheese to chefs’ kitchens on the jaunt from North Station to his office. “I’d walk from the train, leave cheese at, say, the Boston Harbor Hotel, and then at the end of the day on the way back to the train, pick up my cooler,” he says.

Mulholland remembers a chef at the hotel giving him a call after tasting a batch of his cheese and saying, “Get me 80 of those by Friday.” Today, cheeses made here at Valley View Farm in Topsfield are quickly bought up within a 10-mile radius of the farm by local stores and restaurants. One pizza maker in particular, the Amesbury Flatbread Co., has been a customer for more than 13 years.

Fast forward about 20 years later, and Peter and Liz are seated at their kitchen table, their dog Sophie nuzzling their hands in want of the occasional pat. Peter, with his iPhone nearby, and Liz, brewing tea, recall the story of how this all came to be.

Liz’s parents bought this beautiful hilltop farm in the ‘70s; three families lived here prior from 1904 on. But then, says Liz, it was more a gentleman’s farm. Owners included the Lynn family of Harry Niles and the Vaughn family of Melrose, and there was much more acreage. By the time Liz’s parent purchased the farm, it was seven acres of gorgeous rolling hillside and included the main house, the big New England-style barn, a carriage barn, and a chicken coop.

Liz and Peter, who were introduced to each other by a friend just after graduating from college, had no big plans to be cheese makers. Liz graduated from Bowdoin with a major in British colonial history and went on to graduate with a degree in historic preservation. Peter graduated from the University of New Hampshire and quickly landed himself a job in finance.

As the story goes, Liz went off to grad school and Peter, craving some physical labor, started coming to Valley View Farm to help with some refurbishments, including that chicken coop. “So [Peter] really wooed me fixing up that coop,” Liz says. “There was a tree growing out of it, and he’d come by every week to work on the coop.”

As for the goats, Peter and Liz visited a friend in Ipswich whose goat had just had some kids, and, in one of those life-changing moments, the pair left there with two irresistible goat kids riding in the back seat of their car. Soon, they got engaged, and their next shared farm activity was breeding those two cute Nubian goats, Charlotte and Emily.

“Each goat gave three-quarters of a gallon of milk a day, and we drank it,” Liz says. “Then, Peter got the idea of making cheese and bought books on how to do that.”

Because there was no local cheese maker at the time to learn from, when the Mulhollands planned their honeymoon to Scotland, they also planned visits to cheese makers there to see what they could learn.

“One of the coolest places we visited was a farm belonging to a couple who sold their cheese to Harrods of London,” Liz says. Adds Peter, “I had an early interest in brewing beer, and cheese making seemed a similar artisanal offshoot. I thought, too, that making cheese here would keep the farm alive.”

Today, the couple, along with their boys, Andrew, nearly 13, and Henry, 9, along with Liz’s mother, all work together on the farm. Peter takes morning milking duty, and other friends, plus students from Masco-nomet, help with afternoon milking. Close friend James Eveleth of Topsfield not only helps with milking during evenings (he took care of things while the Mulhollands honeymooned), but is also assisting the couple with their breeding program.

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“We talk daily about which does we should breed to which buck and which goats we should buy,” Liz says. “I don’t go to the shows; I just don’t have time with all there is to do here and with my boys. So James attends and gives us a new perspective on breeding. While we like beautiful goats, production is our main priority. Because of that, every year, we make selections on whose daughters to keep and which ones we should take out of the herd and sell.”

They’ve stayed with the Nubian breed because they enjoy their unique personality traits and because they produce milk with a high butter-fat content, which makes for a mild, sweet, luxuriously textured cheese.

“We are partial to them and like the idea of having one breed,” Liz says. “Others might mix breeds because they want more milk volume, but we want to stay pure.” The Mulhollands are also pure in terms of the lifestyle they allow their goats to enjoy, including good nutrition and care. For example, the goats eat hay that grows on or near the farm, which in turn is fertilized with the goats’ own manure, so no unnatural chemicals enhance the soil where the grass grows.

Additionally, Liz  is out in the barn to help any of her goats when they are birthing, and if by chance there is a complication, a vet comes to help. “When the babies are born, I am there unless it’s in the middle of night,” Liz says. “We had a baby monitor in there for awhile, but that didn’t work. Goats are noisy; they snore, among other things!” To date, more than 600 goats have been born on the farm, and those kids come right into the house and live in various rooms in cardboard boxes, where they are bottle-fed.

“I know when a birth is imminent; sometimes [the kids] just come and I practically catch them on the way out,” Liz says. “Then, I bring each one into the house. They stay inside for two to three days, depending on the time of year.” But when those kids start coming quickly and in multiples and the house starts to fill up, they are moved to the barn more quickly. “My mom makes the call on that; she is the nursery maven,” Liz says.

The Mulhollands don’t use plastic baby bottles for feeding the kids, opting instead for recycled glass Corona beer bottles. The three dozen babies that might arrive in a few weeks’ time are hand-fed four to five times a day at first, and then three times a day until they are finally weaned at eight weeks. Neighbors, friends, and family are all welcome to help, and, actually, “Anyone who dares walk onto the property at feeding time is handed a bottle,” Liz says.

Feeding Time

“This year, we are breeding 37 does, and they average two and a half babies each. They almost always have twins, and triplets are more common than singles. Last year, one doe, our best and favorite, Phyllis, had quintuplets. Her son, Philanderer, is a stud here,” she says. Those 37 does will mate with seven bucks with names like Hugh Hefner, Spike Lee, Oblivion, Ken-Doll Carlson, and Rockabilly, among others.

Right now, Valley View Farm produces 6,000 pounds of cheese each year, about 1,000 of which are from a combination of cows’ milk (from Appleton Farms in Ipswich) and goats’ milk. The Mulhollands plan to create aged cheese utilizing more cows’ milk. They’re also looking into building a cheese cave for aging so that they can produce different styles of cheese.

“Moving into making more cheeses with cows’ milk is different. For one thing, getting to the final product takes more time. It could take three to six months for a cheese to be ready for sale. The fresher-style goat cheeses are out the door between one and four weeks,” Peter says.

What both Peter and Liz say they love about their life here is the up-front closeness to the bare bones of life, nature, and the seasons, and that very straight line of goat-to-milk-to-cheese-to-table.

“You feel like you are always crafting something new, driving to the next thing,” adds Peter.

“You need to be really close to it to succeed, and the crafting part is really satisfying. There’s the farming aspect, and then from the milk phase onward, it’s a two-part experience,” Peter says. Liz agrees, adding that she also enjoys “running the farm, making the product, [handling] marketing and sales, the interaction with the customer, and community involvement.”

Peter sums up the couple’s farm-work cycle, noting that they spend nine months of the year making cheese and two months making maple syrup. Then there are the spurts of time that the Mulhollands spend with their beehives to get honey in the spring, summer, and fall. They also sell fresh eggs and are known for their homemade ice cream, made with the help of Liz’s grandfather’s old Farmall Cub tractor, which Peter hooks up to a five-gallon ice cream churn. “It runs at 35 RPM,” Peter says of the churn, noting that they make ice cream for church gatherings and birthday parties.

“It gives us a reason to bring out the tractor. The ice cream recipe is, interestingly enough, a recipe that Thomas Jefferson brought back from Europe and is simply heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and egg yolks,” he says.

Now there’s a bit of historic preservation that adds to Valley View Farm’s own rich and delicious story.

Where To Find It

Amesbury Flatbread Co., 5 Market Square, Amesbury, 978-834-9800. Canaan Farm, 93 Main Street, Wenham, 978-468-3276, Amesbury. Christopher’s Table, 5 Depot Square, Ipswich, 978-356-6166. Coastal Green Grocer, 51 Market Street, Ipswich, 978-356-8500. Common Crow Natural Market, 6 Elm Street, Gloucester, 978-283-1665. Crosby’s Marketplace, 62 Central Street, Georgetown, 978-352-2111, (additional locations). Essex County Club, 153 School Street, Manchester, 978-526-7311,. Green Meadows Farm, 656 Asbury Street , South Hamilton, 978-468-2277. Henry’s Market, 588 Cabot Street, Beverly, 978-922-3885. Main Street Market, 17 Main Street, Topsfield, 978-887-2005. Marini Farm, 259 Linebrook Road, Ipswich, 978-356-0430. Milk & Honey Green Grocer, 32 Church Street, Salem, 978-219-4125. Russell Orchards, 143 Argilla Road, Ipswich, 978-356-5366. Savour Wine & Cheese, 24 Washington Street, Gloucester, 978-282-1455. Scratch Kitchen, 245 Derby Street, Salem, 978-741-2442. Valley View Farm, 278 High Street, Topsfield. Vidalia’s Market, 9 West Street, Beverly, 978-998-4814. Willow Rest, 1 Holly Street, Gloucester, 978-283-2417.

Comics are big business—at least in Hollywood—with new silver screen adaptations of Batman, The Avengers, Superman, and Spider-Man coming soon. But the superhero obsession isn’t news to the employees of Salem’s Harrison’s Comics and Collectibles, who have been satisfying local superhumans with comics, gear, memorabilia, and more since 1996.

Not every comic book store can boast an employee who’s actually involved in creating the comics, but that’s the case with professional inker Jim Tournas, who adds ink over artists’ pencil drawings. “I don’t need to do it for a living,” he says of inking. “I do it because I like doing it.” But then again, Harrison’s Comics and Collectibles isn’t really your typical comic book store. In fact, owner Larry Harrison prefers to call his 5,200-square-foot Salem shop a “pop culture emporium” because it carries everything from Star Wars action figures to KISS bobble-head dolls to trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh. In addition to the main
Salem location, there are two others—one in Medford and one in Nashua, NH. Not bad for a store that started with a few comics on a six-foot table.

Since Harrison’s sells a little bit of everything, customers like Lynn resident Thomas Champigny and Peter Urkowitz have a lot to choose from besides comics. And employees like Ryan Anderson get to know what their customers like; Anderson says he can usually figure out what someone would like to read just by talking with them. “There are a lot of customers that will kind of beeline straight for me” for recommendations, he says. A writer himself, Anderson likes to read and create “grandiose, larger-than-life stories,” he says. “The real world is really boring, and I kind of like creating things that are a little less boring.”

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Yeah, some of Harrison’s customers probably live in their moms’ basements, says Liz Manning, who, as the Salem location’s only female employee, calls herself the store’s “token chick.” But the former librarian says any group of people might have a basement-dwelling subset, and for the most part, comics’ nerdy image is fading fast. Plus, the growing number of female comic book fans is helping to buck the geek-boy stereotype. “I love seeing young women coming in and buying comics,” says Manning, whose interests include manga (Japanese comics), Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, and Star Trek. But even if you are a geek, Manning says there’s no reason to be embarrassed. “I fully admit to being a geek, and I wear my geek shirt proudly,” she says. “Nerd is the new black.”

Harrison’s manager Chris Berry has been reading comics since he was a kid. Growing up with an alcoholic stepfather, comics were an outlet. “It was my way of escaping stuff at home,” Berry says. “If I was depressed or having a hard time, I could always pick up a book…it would take me away somewhere.” Although online comics are growing in popularity, Berry prefers print. “I’m from the old school. I like the paper in my hand,” he says. Customer Christina Walsh agrees. “I hope the comic lives on,” she says, “even though there are so many screens to replace pages.”

Harrison’s employees, like Keith Portrait, are comic book fans as well as retailers. “My hobby is also my business,” says owner Larry Harrison, whose office is lined wall-to-wall with superhero and Godzilla figurines. “I tend to be drawn to more human characters,” Harrison says. “They can be who they are without their superpowers.” Customer Christina Walsh loves stories about the “hometown hero…the average sort of kid who goes on his adventure and shares his journey with everyone else,” she says. “I think people can be superheroes in their own way.”

Most of us dream of taking a much-needed winter vacation, but with the holidays, school days, and snow days, finding time to plan one can be a challenge. This year, to help whittle down the legwork, we compiled a list of our own favorite winter getaways that are not only luxurious and versatile, but all within a few hours’ commute. So whether you’re looking for a romantic retreat—a second honeymoon, perhaps?—or somewhere to let loose outdoors, these 12 exquisite New England resorts provide the perfect mix of ingredients to yield a winter wonderland all your own.

Romantic Getaways

Winvian

Winvian Situated between Boston and New York City in Litchfield Hills, Connecticut, Winvian is a tranquil, romantic getaway, perfect for couples who enjoy exquisite cuisine, outdoor adventure, and, above all, relaxation. Winvian has received AAA Five Diamond Awards for its accommodations and exceptional fine-dining restaurant, which features French and Mediterranean dishes created from artisanal seasonal ingredients by Executive Chef Chris Eddy. Stay in one of the 19 luxe cottages, which bear whimsical and even outrageous themed décor (an authentic restored 17,000-pound 1968 Sikorsky Sea King Pelican HH3F helicopter is the centerpiece of its Helicopter Cottage, for instance). You can also treat yourself to some quality R&R at the nearly 5,000-square-foot spa. Looking for something remarkably romantic? Book the couples massage in the Forty Winks Suite, followed by fireside Champagne and treats. 155 Alain White Road, Morris, CT, 860-567-9600, winvian.com.

Wheatleigh Arguably the most sophisticated French chateau in America, Wheatleigh in Lenox, Massachusetts, sets the tone for an unforgettably romantic winter getaway in the heart of the Berkshires. Tucked away on 22 acres, the exquisite property offers 19 accommodations in the form of grand guest rooms and elegant suites. (Hosting an intimate wedding? Book the entire property for a totally private ceremony and celebration.) Complete with exceptional personal service and attention to detail around every corner, not to mention its own AAA Five Diamond Award-winning restaurant, Wheatleigh is perfect for couples who are looking for a true fairytale setting on a romantic weekend retreat. 11 Hawthorne Road, Lenox, MA, 413-637-0610, wheatleigh.com.

The White Barn Inn If you’re searching for a quintessentially romantic New England getaway, look no further than The White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport, Maine. From its thoughtful, luxurious details to its astounding cuisine, you can’t help but feel starry-eyed during your stay at the 150-year-old coastal Maine estate. Not only has the property’s celebrated restaurant received both a AAA Five Diamond Award and a Forbes Five-Star Restaurant award, but it is also the only restaurant with this status north of New York City. If dining in a restaurant of this stature accompanied by rustic décor, the soft flicker of candlelight, and classic snowy mountain views still isn’t romantic enough, maybe the butler-drawn bath and chilled Champagne will be just the thing to convince you. 37 Beach Avenue, Kennebunkport, ME, 207-967-2321, whitebarninn.com.

Indulge at the Essex Resort & Spa

Urban Esacpes

Forty 1° North If your idea of a New England winter getaway is more urban than rustic, Forty 1° North in Newport, Rhode Island, is the place for you. Sit back and unwind among modern elegance and sparkling winter views of Newport Harbor and historic Thames Street from any of the 28 guest rooms or suites. For truly royal treatment, take advantage of the sweeping views seen through the floor-to-ceiling windows while enjoying in-room spa services by the fire. Plus, all accommodations at Forty 1° North feature state-of-the-art technology and are LEED registered for an eco-friendly stay. And with an iPad in every room, you’ll never be without paperless directories, menus, and maps, or even your daily newspaper. 351 Thames Street, Newport, RI, 401-846-8018, 41north.com.

Portland Harbor Hotel Located in the heart of the Old Port in Portland, Maine, Portland Harbor Hotel is a one-stop destination for winter fun and all of the glamorous amenities of an upscale urban retreat. Situated on the waterfront, the Portland Harbor Hotel provides a dose of warmth from the cold winter temps as soon as your car is whisked away by the valet and you are ushered inside to the toasty lobby. Head upstairs to your room and you’ll find a custom-made Signature Portland Harbor Hotel bed waiting to wrap you in luxurious 250-thread-count linens. A Town Car is available to whisk guests away to downtown restaurants and attractions, but if you prefer to enjoy the brisk New England outdoors, the hotel is right near spots for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and ice skating. 468 Fore Street, Portland, ME, 207-775-9090, portlandharborhotel.com.

The Essex Resort & Spa Just minutes from the lively cultural scene of Burlington, Vermont, you’ll find a winter getaway that’s perfect for culinary aficionados. The Essex Resort & Spa, also known as Vermont’s Culinary Resort, offers an onsite cooking-class program for its residents. Stay in one of the property’s 120 guest rooms and suites and you’ll get the opportunity to work alongside its renowned chefs as you prepare delicious meals using local Vermont ingredients in the fun and intimate atmosphere of its classroom kitchens. Not only will you sharpen your knife skills and cooking techniques, but you’ll also get a three- or four-course meal paired with a glass of wine to celebrate your new area of expertise. 70 Essex Way, Burlington, VT, 802-878-1100, vtculinaryresort.com.

Mayflower Inn & Spa

Wellness Retreats

Canyon Ranch Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to get back into your regular healthy routine. What better way to stick to those New Year’s resolutions than by heading to Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts? An all-inclusive stay at the award-winning Canyon Ranch has everything you need for the ultimate dose of R&R, including gracious, relaxing rooms and the tools necessary for living a healthy lifestyle. Every day at lunch, a chef will teach you how to cook healthful, easy-to-make meals, and the 40-plus fitness classes offered every day amid the beautiful Berkshires backdrop will make exercising—indoors or out—enjoyable. For the perfect end to your day, choose from a variety of signature spa treatments that promise to reenergize and restore balance to your body and mind. 165 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA, 413-637-4100, canyonranch.com/lenox.

Mayflower Inn & Spa The Mayflower Inn & Spa’s 58 acres of Connecticut woodland and five-star accommodations make it the perfect antidote to a hectic, urban lifestyle. As a guest of the Mayflower Spa, you’ll be pampered and reenergized with a personalized program built by a spa advisor. The state-of-the-art Spa House includes soundproof treatment rooms to enhance tranquility; various fitness choices, from yoga to kickboxing; and even its own dining room, which serves health-conscious meals to complete the healthy living experience. With extremely comfortable feather-topped mattresses, enormous marble baths, and clean-air gas fireplaces, you’ll never want to return home from this country haven. 118 Woodbury Road, Washington, CT, 860-868-9466, mayflowerinn.com.

Topnotch Resort & Spa Often ranked among the top 10 spas in the United States, Topnotch Resort & Spa, nestled in the beautiful landscape of Stowe, Vermont, provides guests with an enchanting dose of leisure and indulgence. The Spa at Topnotch spreads over 35,000 square feet and includes more than 120 spa services that focus on body, skin, fitness, beauty, and peace of mind, allowing for utmost relaxation and rejuvenation. Rooms include divinely comfortable beds, complimentary WiFi, marble baths, and, of course, stunning views of the Vermont mountains. The resort even has its own spa boutique, which sells signature Topnotch Spa products, clothing, and gifts to help make the bliss last long after your stay. 4000 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT, 802-253-8585, topnotchresort.com.

Stowe Mountain Resort

Outdoor Adventures

The Wentworth Inn Situated among the snowy White Mountains of Jackson, New Hampshire, the Wentworth Inn puts a charming spin on wintertime fun. The 51-room inn includes both standard and superior rooms, as well as deluxe accommodations equipped with modern amenities to satisfy even the most discerning of guests. Cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, and snowshoeing in the nearby White Mountains are popular activities among guests of The Wentworth. To make your stay more intimate, the inn partners with local mountains to bring all the amenities and activities of larger ski resorts to its guests while still providing a personal and luxurious country setting all your own. 1 Carter Notch Road, Jackson, NH, 603-383-9700, thewentworth.com.

Stowe Mountain Resort Its 485 skiable acres are only part of what sets Stowe Mountain Resort apart from other luxury ski resorts in the Northeast. There are an outstanding number of winter activities on site, as well, like skiing, snowshoeing, ziplining, and snow mobiling, not to mention dogsledding, horseback riding, and sleigh rides around the resort. When you’ve had enough winter fun, you’ll be welcomed back inside the 312-room luxury Stowe Mountain Lodge to goose-down feather beds, marble baths, oversized windows, and outdoor balconies, the ideal location from which to watch shadows dance across Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peek at night. 5781 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT, 802-253-3000, stowe.com.

The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel From the pristine white snow to the breathtaking views, wintertime at The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, is nothing short of perfect. Enjoy complimentary downhill or cross-country skiing at The BALSAMS Wilderness Ski Area, where you’ll find impeccably groomed trails, ski lessons, a separate children’s area, and even a base lodge, where guests can defrost by the fire after a fun-filled day on the slopes. Visitors can also snowshoe or snow mobile through the wooded area surrounding the estate, skate and play hockey or broom ball at the resort’s own ice rink, or simply relax during a romantic sleigh ride. 1000 Cold Spring Road, Dixville Notch, NH, 800-255-0600, thebalsams.com.

For centuries, chocolate has captivated the senses—and sensibilities—of its legions of loyal subjects. It’s the perfect gift, a fail-safe fix for a stressful day, an edible expression of love, and a go-to treat in times of celebration. Plus, it possesses downright healing qualities. It’s also the perfect pick-me-up when summer’s warmth seems so far away, which is why we went in search of the North Shore’s most decadent and unique chocolate creations.

Stowaway Sweets Stoway Sweets is a house and candy business in one. The current owners, Alicia and Mike Cannife, have lived upstairs since they bought the business in 1980. They bought it from the Moore family, who founded Stowaway Sweets in 1929 in neighboring Swampscott before moving it to Marblehead.

Of all the places we visited, this shop gets our vote for the most romantic setting: Swing open a wooden gate and follow the walkway to the retail room. Step inside and you’ll feel as though you’ve entered an old-fashioned parlor, but instead of couches and chairs, there are rows of glass cases filled to the brim with chocolates. With the exception of a handful, these are all made on the premises.

Loyal customers in the early years included Queen Mary of England, Lady Astor, Calvin Coolidge, and Katharine Hepburn, who even had her own card on file that listed all her favorites. During the entire 11-year FDR administration, the White House received weekly shipments. There are letters from the 1930s posted on the wall from the White House housekeeper, Henrietta Nesbitt, singing the praises of their chocolates. 154 Atlantic Ave., Marblehead, 781-631-0303, stowawaysweets.com.

What to try: Pralines These are filled with a silky cream and tiny bits of toffee. It’s a great combination of flavors—especially that little toffee crunch. Melt Aways The thin chocolate shell collapses as you bite down, and inside is a buttery, not-too-sweet, thick and dreamy chocolate filling. Kings and Queens Each of these delicious creams has a single almond on top. We can just imagine these arriving at Buckingham Palace.

Winfrey’s Fudge & Chocolates Back in 1979, when the Winfreys’ twin baby boys came home from the hospital, life changed dramatically. Each baby weighed just four and a half pounds—less than a gift box of chocolates! The couple decided to stay home to care for their sons. To earn a living, they began making fudge in their home and selling it locally, gradually branching out from there. Since then, the family has grown, and so has the business. Now there are 23 varieties of fudge, 22 kinds of taffy, more than 100 kinds of chocolates, and five locations. Hamilton: 44 Railroad Avenue, 978-468-7448; Wenham: 143 Topsfield Road, 978-468-0549; Rowley: 42 Newburyport Turnpike, 978-948-7448; Newburyport: 21 Market Square, 978-465-8200; Stoneham, 41 Main Street, 781-279-7448; winfreys.com.

Assortment of Bark from Simply Sweet

What to try: Candied Orange Rind in Dark Chocolate Wonderful, velvety dark chocolate wrapping a moist candied orange rind. Chocolate-Covered Pretzel with Caramel This chocolate concoction is all about a big contrast of textures—crumbly, crunchy pretzels with smooth, creamy caramel. Chocolate with Dried Cranberry, Walnut, and Caramel This is like a turtle and bark joined together for a big taste sensation.

Simply Sweet Owner Wendy Smith learned the business when she worked at another chocolate store. When practice made perfect, she opened her own shop in the heart of Newburyport. She prides herself on making small batches to keep it all fresh. Smith, who has a following for her unusual chunky bark and chocolate-covered apples, combines good, tasty ingredients that make for those delicious lumps and bumps in her hefty, hand-split pieces. 12 Inn St., Newburyport, 978-462-3226, simplysweet.com.

What to try: Dark Chocolate, Coconut, and Cranberry The chocolate reigns, but the extras give this its perky personality. Cranberry and Pistachio with Milk Chocolate Pistachio and cranberry? Seems an unlikely marriage—until your first bite. Cheers to this happy couple! Oreo Bark Our favorite. A great buttery cookie surprise with yet more deep, rich chocolate.

Nichols Candies Walter and Margaret Nichols opened up shop back in 1932 and had a few downtown Gloucester locations before building here, right off of Route 128 just before the bridge, on a beautiful oceanfront spot with water views. It was an inspired move, one that would take advantage of newly mobile America taking Sunday drives on what was a state-of-the-art highway back in the 1950s. Today, Nichols remains a family-owned operation, and the big red house by the bay that is so familiar to locals continues to catch those heading to and from the beach. 1 Crafts Road, Rte. 128, Gloucester, 978-283-9850, nicholscandies.com.

What to try: First, a note: Although we were told their turtles are pretty popular, we wanted to try more unusual offerings. Here’s what we discovered: Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Sticks Great classic combo with a generous coat of chocolate over crunchy peanut butter candies. Molasses-And-Coconut Clusters Toasted coconut with molasses cream, wrapped in chocolate—an unexpected but heavenly combination. Snowflakes It’s the classic candied coconut dipped in top-quality chocolate, well balanced with interesting textures.

Ye Old Pepper Company Ye Olde Pepper Company is billed as the oldest candy company in the country. In fact, its roots go back to a woman who ended up in Salem, desperate and destitute, after she was shipwrecked offshore in 1806. With no money and a son to raise, neighbors heard she knew how to make candy and brought her a barrel of sugar. With that, she created the Salem Gibraltar, the first candy (according to their history) made and sold commercially and which sea captains and sailors were said to take with them on their travels. Early on, she sold her candy on the steps of the First Church, and then later bought a horse and buggy to sell the chocolates all over the North Shore. Sold in the late 1800s to the Birkinshaws, it is now in its fourth generation of this family’s ownership. It’s a small, quaint shop—right out of a storybook—across the street from the House of Seven Gables, and it’s filled to the brim with chocolates. 122 Derby Street, Salem, 978-745-2744, peppercandy.net.

What to try: White Chocolate Cherries These are so pretty you feel bad biting into them. But, once you do, you’ll feel a lot better. The cream, the chocolate, and the cherry are brought together with what is obviously a passion and deep understanding of what distinguishes this classic. Orange Mousse This is a new one for their collection and is the invention of manager Amanda. These have a big, fresh orange taste swimming in a flavorful cream, all wrapped in a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate shell. Pomegranate Jelly Who would have thought this combo would bring a smile to a chocolate lover’s face? Here we have a brilliant, perky fruit-flavored jelly (with a nice squish in the bite!) dipped in a generous coating of chocolate. Maple Cream This is the quintessential New England classic, with deep maple flavor infused in a buttery cream and finished in a thin chocolate shell.

Sweet Slopes by Harbor Sweets

Harbor Sweets As the story goes, it was back in 1973 when local Ben Strohecker’s declared his goal to create the “best piece of candy in the world,” regardless of cost. His home kitchen experimentation brought the world what we now know as Sweet Sloops. This chocolate, which resembles a sailboat, is made of almond butter crunch covered in white chocolate and dipped in dark chocolate and crushed pecans, and is a huge commercial success. Today, Phyllis LeBlanc, who started here 25 years ago as a chocolate dipper, is the president and CEO who presides over scores of other creations, all meeting high standards for quality ingredients and craftsmanship. We also love the big glass-walled work rooms here that let you watch these sinfully delicious confections being created. Palmer Cove, 85 Leavitt St., Salem, 978-745-7648, harborsweets.com.

What to try: Sweet Sloop If you live on or visit the North Shore and still have not had this pass your lips, shame on you. It’s a must have in your chocolate repertoire. Harbor Lights The image of the Salem lighthouse has been made into a chocolate mold to make this truly fabulous chocolate. There’s a white chocolate base and dark chocolate top, and it is filled with a cranberry-raspberry truffle. We think this is the most enjoyable way to get your daily dose of fruit. Marblehead Mint This raises the bar on mints as we know them, made by filling a pretty little sailboat mold with solid dark chocolate and peppermint crunch.

Ovedia Here we have a great chocolate shop tucked off Main Street in what was once a run-down old warehouse. Owner Barbara Vogel created this little island of chocolate Nirvana after a career in the corporate world. Fascinated with the artisan food movement and history, back when specialty stores served a town’s residents, she turned a passion into a reality. She learned the chocolate business while staying with her chocolate-making family in the Midwest. Back home, she designed and remodeled the warehouse space, opened in 2007, and has been creating her own recipes ever since. Cream and butter come from local dairies, and artisan food producers supply her with natural flavorings. Small batches and handmade delectables are her focus. She also serves coffee and baked goods, and she says she really wanted to create a place where people would love to hang out. Mission accomplished—and then some. 36 Main Street, Amesbury, 978-388-7700, ovedia.com.

What to try: Cracked Peppercorn Truffle Unusual, intriguing and memorable, it features a fabulous chocolate truffle base, with a skillful blend of sweet and bitter plus the subtle heat of the peppercorn. Salted Caramel Exquisite, buttery caramel wrapped in a crunchy coat of chocolate, a hint of salt, and voila—a chocolate to write home about.

Prides Crossing Confections Chris Flynn, owner and chocolate maker who was first trained to be a chef, but as he says, he quickly realized that the lifestyle was a bad match. He turned to candy making, learning the business by working for three different candy makers before taking the plunge and opening up his own shop. We know this place well for their spectacular chocolates. Asked how he does this without faltering, he says simply he buys the best ingredients he can find—from cream to nuts, the biggest and freshest. Also amply on hand are a high degree of skill and obvious dedication to perfection. 590 Hale St., Prides Crossing, 978-927-2185.

What to try: The turtles, the bark, and the butter crunch are all worth sabotaging your diet. For this testing, we opted for a few classics: Pistachio Buttercrunch We hadn’t had this combo before. Those plump pistachios made for a great contrast with the buttery crunch. Snowflakes What’s wonderful about this is the freshness of the coconut and the velvety chocolate shell—delicious combination. Turtles with Pecans Three things here: fabulous, buttery, balanced caramel (among the best we’ve tasted); giant pecans; and thick chocolate coating that is simply unsurpassed.

*Check out the images below to get the ultimate chocolate fix

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By Anna &  David Kasabian - Photographs by Keller + Keller – Styling by Catrine Kelty

Seated for four is the R-44 Raven II

Many people can say that they have visually experienced all that the north shore has to offer. From postcard looking beaches to historic buildings, it is amazing that a small area of New England offers so much beauty. But what many people cannot say is that they have seen such beauty from 800 feet in the sky, going 130 miles per hour, in a R44-Raven II helicopter.

Introducing brothers Christian and Matt Nowosiadly, the faces behind Now City Tours, a touring company that takes guests all over the north shore and Boston. Although it might not ring a bell yet, these brothers are on the right track to making their company a household name. Since starting their business this past summer they have been featured in the Improper Bostonian and have earned a top spot on Trip Advisor, ranking them 12th out of 68 tours in the Boston area. Wednesday morning I caught up with Christian and Matt, had the pleasure of learning about their company and got to see that there really is no way view the north shore than by helicopter.

Where was your starting location? Where are you currently? As Now City Tours, we started our operation in Revere and currently operate out of Revere and Beverly

How did Now City Tours come about? We took a helicopter tour in the summer of 2010 and fell in love with helicopters instantly.  We built a relationship with the owner of that tour company and eventually took over the helicopter and operation from him and now have him on staff as a pilot.  We wanted to start a tour company closer to Boston, so we started looking into building a helipad in/near the city.  Through our research, we found that a helipad existed from the 70’s in Revere.  This helipad was planned for use in offshore oil operations off of Georges Bank, but that plan never materialized.  30 years later, we partnered with the current helipad owner to put some life back into the old landing area rather than build one from scratch.

How long has it been around? Now City Tours started operations this summer.

Tours that you do include North Shore, Boston and from your flyer it says South Shore as well. Are there any other ones? Those are the standard tours, but we often customize tours to fit the guests’ needs. Sometimes we will fly over a person’s house or circle over the spot where a couple first met while one proposes to the other in the back.

Heading past Gloucester

Out of all of these, which is the most popular/your favorite? The most popular is the Skyline tour of Boston, mostly because a lot of our guests are from out of town and visiting the city.  I find that local flyers love the North Shore, or to fly over where they live.  My personal favorite is the peaceful flight along the North Shore.

Do you look to expand or stay local? New England has such unique scenery with the ocean; peninsulas, inland bays and beaches that we would love to stay local.  Our current expansion plans are only to get more helicopters.

You have a great rating on Trip Advisor and have been in the Improper Bostonian, so sum it up for me, how is business? Considering we were late starting in the season, business has been great.  We are booked pretty solid every weekend and the tours really sell themselves.  Once people see that we really love doing this, it rubs off on them and they can’t help but have a great time.

Anything exciting or unusual happen while flying? While every trip is exciting for us, it’s probably a good thing that nothing unusual has happened while flying tours.  The most unusual stuff happens while doing the other part of our business, Aerial Photography/Videography.  We often have to get creative with the helicopter so the crew can get just the right shot.

For more information and to book your first flight, visit their website: www.nowcitytours.com or shoot them an email: christian@nowcitytours.com, matthew@nowcitytours.com

*More images from the flight*

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Antiques dealer Andrew Spindler applies his impeccable taste and expert knack for interior design to create one of the north shore’s most beautiful homes. Photographs by Trent Bell

Andrew Spindler points to the floor in the entryway of his Gloucester house. Ceramic tiles glow softly in shades of dusty red, blue, and ochre. They flow into the broad living room, where they converge with massive granite fireplace stones, a Jonas Lie frieze depicting Viking ships, and numerous sculptures, books, paintings—not to mention a superb collection of American and European Arts and Crafts furniture.

Andrew Spindler

“These are Mercer Tiles,” says one of the North Shore’s most respected antiques dealers, “like the ones on the floors at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.” Spindler’s reference to Gardner, a legendary Boston Grande Dame and one of this country’s great connoisseurs and collectors, is fitting. To furnish rooms with important art and antiques, as she did in her museum on the Fenway, requires deep knowledge and supreme confidence based in an elevated aesthetic. “The tiles were made by Henry Mercer in Doylestown, Pennsylvania,” Spindler explains. “Today, we prize them as great examples of American Arts and Crafts.”

The floors are not the only distinguished architectural element of the rambling 4,500-square-foot Shingle-style house, built in 1937 according to plans by local architects Phillips and Halloran. Perched on a bluff to gaze at Bass Rocks, Salt Island, and the Twin Lights on Thatcher’s Island, the house is hidden from view. Just below, cars follow Route 127 as it winds along Gloucester’s Back Shore, but here, all is private and tranquil.

“The house was built for a Mr. and Mrs. Taylor of Boston,” Spindler explains. “This was their summer home. It perfectly represents this area in 1937; the house is strongly Arts and Crafts, with some elements of Modernism.”

Hallmarks of Arts and Crafts styling include the beautiful floor tiles and varied siding materials, from granite on the first floor to deeply scalloped shingles on the second. The original metal windows represent Modernism’s embrace of clean lines and new materials. When Spindler bought the house in 1992, however, they had deteriorated past the point of no return, so he replaced them with new wood windows. “All 36 of them,” he sighs. He points to torpedo-shaped door hinges as another Modernist touch.

“The house design is wonderful in the way it connects to the site,” Spindler says admiringly. “With wood, stone, and beautiful windows, it makes the view important, while seeming to blend into the surroundings. It’s really like nowhere else,” he continues. “The house is individualistic, with a strong sense of self. Before I did anything, I asked, ‘What does the house want to be?’”

To belong to an antiques dealer and collector with superb taste is the house’s apparent answer. Comfortable and stylish rooms showcase important art and furniture without the stuffiness and excess often on display in the homes of collectors. The living room, while filled with beautiful and rare pieces, is comfortable, spacious, and filled with light. Along one wall, French doors open onto a broad stone terrace that Spindler added. “One of the Cape Ann quarries was still operating, so the granite of the terrace matches that of the first story,” he says.

The terrace acts as an extension of the living room. It is also a gallery for some favorite sculptures, including a large bronze by Walker Hancock, one of the many famed artists drawn to Gloucester during the 20th century. The French doors, the deep overhangs shading the windows, and a screened porch at one end of the house all contribute to a cleverly designed natural airflow, negating the need for air conditioning.

Spindler dates his interest in art and antiques to childhood, when his father, an engineer, designed the family home. After graduating from Yale, Spindler headed to London to attend Sotheby’s unparalleled antiques education program. “It was very intense,” he says. “We did everything, from research to conservation.” While he speaks warmly of his London years, Spindler paid his dues when he went to work for a high-end New York antiques dealer. Spindler refers to these as his Devil Wears Prada years.

“But in the end, I learned so much,” he adds cheerfully. “I had already learned a lot about English antiques. The experience helped me to define my career. I learned that I wanted two things: to be independent and to be creative.”

Spindler bought and sold antiques on his own while he extricated himself from his Manhattan job, then he moved to Gloucester. In 1998, he launched his eponymous store in Essex. “From the minute I opened the door, the business was successful,” he says. “The economy was strong; the location was good.”

Spindler’s refined approach to selection and display won him a loyal following, even when the economy turned downward. Many customers wanted more than his antiques; they yearned for his eye and esthetic.
“Even now, people come into the shop and ask for interior design help,” he says. “While I don’t work as a decorator, I try to tell them that the store represents my personal taste and sensibility. It is curated. I know that’s an overused word these days, but it works here.”

But Spindler’s success isn’t exactly the luck of the draw. “The things I sell transcend time and where they were made,” Spindler continues, adding, “because I focus on form and surface. Also, I leave plenty of room around objects so that people can see them properly. I know that’s the opposite of what you’re supposed to do in a store,” he admits, “but without light and space, objects are not beautiful.”

Spindler’s home is proof positive of this philosophy. Elegant and curvaceous Federal Era furniture, Italian iron lighting, a 1968 Danish Harp chair, and a massive 19th-century mahogany bed could not be more different from each other, but each looks perfectly at home in an environment that honors them without taking them too seriously. The house may be historic, but that didn’t keep Spindler from applying intense azure blue or kelly green to the walls. Stainless-steel kitchen counters spell sleek function, while the kitchen walls are treated to a deep, luscious aubergine. In this house, historicism does not fight contemporary tastes.

Years of experience have not diminished Spindler’s passion for his work. He gives time and expertise to boards and committees at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Cape Ann Museum, and Historic New England, particularly at Beauport on Gloucester’s Eastern Point. He organizes his work and volunteer activities around the one week per month he spends in Houston, where his husband, Hiram Butler, owns an important art gallery.

“We have a bicoastal marriage,” Spindler says, then smiles. “He comes to Gloucester one week per month. We met at a dinner party in Annisquam and got married four years ago.” The couple’s wedding took place in one of the North Shore’s transcendent historic spaces, Amesbury’s Rocky Hill Meetinghouse. “We are both so fortunate because our vocations are our passions,” Spindler explains. “Our careers in art and antiques complement each other perfectly.”

He sums up his life, his work, and his love in this way: “I take enormous pleasure in all forms of beauty.”

Bobby Garnett is a well-kept secret among serious vintage seekers—including Hollywood costume designers and Ralph Lauren—who flock to his 5,000- square-foot storage warehouse in Lynn for bygone-era clothing, accessories, and camaraderie.

On a late-summer day, Bobby Garnett—better known in certain circles simply as Bobby from Boston—is kicking back in the South End retail space that bears that same nickname, picked up over a long career buying and selling vintage clothing. He’s wearing an old school rugby cap, a pair of worn-in Levi’s, and a grin—always the grin.

Bobby Garnett at home in his vintage shop.

After two years of enduring health issues, Garnett is confined to a wheelchair—an ironic twist of fate for a man whose life and career have been built scouring the globe for things to buy and sell—but his physical limitations don’t seem to dampen his mood. Occasionally, he’ll pluck a cigarette from the pack he keeps nearby and call on one of his nattily dressed worker bees for a light. If the generally hip clientele notice, no one seems to care.

In the 30-something years he’s been in business, Garnett has established himself as one of the country’s most respected and relied-upon vintage dealers, with nods from national arbiters of style like GQ, Details, Esquire, and Lucky. Locally, though, he’s maintained a fairly quiet profile. Shoppers who do know him do so through the South End retail space that’s subtly existed, in some form, for 16 years in a space off a formerly gritty stretch in Boston’s South End.

But the real magic happens behind the scenes at Garnett’s 5,000-square-foot warehouse in Lynn, a place he set up to handle the overflow from his constant buying, and where the high-profile clientele he has cultivated—including fashion designers like Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and Marc Jacobs—come to buy design inspiration. He’s helped supply the wardrobe for more than 40 films, too, including Road to Perdition, Casino, Ali, and Men in Black 3. “Just last week, I had a pair of girls on a buying mission for Abercrombie & Fitch,” Garnett says. Next week, the warehouse will welcome Hollywood costume designer Susan Lyall.

Garnett has been picking for as long as he can remember. “I always thought I wanted to buy stuff; I just didn’t know what,” he says. As a 7-year-old in the mid-1960s, he’d sell his toys from his front stoop; later, he and some buddies would build bicycles out of salvaged parts to sell for cash. “My mother stopped wanting to give me anything,” he says. “She was like, ‘He’s just gonna sell it!’ I always had something going on.” He’d use the proceeds to buy himself clothes: iridescent sharkskin suits, skinny ties, porkpie hats. “I was 14, 15,” he recalls. “My mother was like, ‘You’re dressing like a 35-year-old man.’ I just loved that stuff. I still do.”

After two years at Gordon College in Wenham, where he ran a small leather shop out of his dorm room just because he could, Garnett dropped out to open Muddy River Trading Company, a leather goods store in Brookline Village. Three years later, in 1974, he expanded, with a second shop in Provincetown. But it was a friend’s business, a Cambridge vintage boutique called Dazzle, that interested Garnett more. “I was always running around to antique shows and fairs and thrift shops,” he says. Cufflinks, palm tree pins, and picture ties were among his favorite items to collect. “Now I had a real purpose—to look for stuff to sell to this guy.”

Eventually, Garnett amassed enough stock to open his own store, which he called Uptown Strutters Ball—later just Strutters—with locations in Provincetown and Allston, as well as one on Newbury Street. He operated a regular vintage booth at the Brimfield Antique Show in Western Massachusetts, where he began to attract attention from Manhattan-based designers and buyers. At Brimfield, he was in his element. “People try to avoid crowds, but I like crowds,” he says. “I always want to be around a lot of people—where the folks are at. And I was so happy to turn my obsession into a job.”

In the ‘90s, when vintage first began to become trendy—and the demand Garnett fielded from designers and costume directors began to skyrocket—he opened the South End space as the country’s first appointment-only vintage showroom. Nine years ago, as part of a neighborhood-wide gentrification effort, he converted it to retail and moved the showroom operation to Lynn. The second-floor space now houses an immaculate, if overwhelming, collection of Americana—stacks and stacks of vintage denim, walls of stadium hats, piles of luggage, racks full of linen and gabardine suiting, wool college sweaters, and children’s wear from as early as the 1940s: a virtual Never-Never Land for clothing. There’s also an assortment of vintage paraphernalia—odds and ends that seem to require a category all their own, like ‘50s-era roller skates and U.S. postal mailbags.

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Once a season, staffers circulate the merchandise, moving current-season items into the South End store and organizing the showroom to better suit the fashion designer clientele. While fashion and costume designers make up the bulk of the visitors to Lynn, the showroom is open to vintage lovers with time to spare; otherwise, visits are on an appointment basis.
Though much of the merchandise he sells now comes to him—from collectors looking to downsize or relatives cleaning out a parent’s or grandparent’s house—Garnett remains as active as ever, despite the wheelchair. He continues to go on buying trips as often as three or four times a week to look for pieces that fit his classic-preppy aesthetic. He makes regular visits to New York, Miami, London, and, closer to home, to Brimfield and Todd Farm in Rowley.

“You can travel all over the place, but it’s all better in New England,” says Garnett, who once purchased a “shipping container’s worth of vintage clothing” that had originated in Worcester from a dealer in the South of France. Sometimes he buys with a specific customer in mind; mainly, he just buys what he likes.

And while prices have necessarily gone up as vintage has become trendier—jeans he not long ago sold for $2 to $3 now go for $25 to $35—Garnett’s love of classic fashion supercedes his business sense. “I try to keep everything in the range of what prices were in the ‘80s, because I still want vintage to be fun and affordable for everyone,” he says. However, he admits that he once sold a pair of collectible ‘50s-era Levi’s for $2,800 and recently paid $44 for a ‘50s gabardine-patterned jacket that he’ll turn around for $600.

“I’m a buyer, man,” he says. “I wish I had more customers like me.”

When one thinks of magic, many things come to mind: Ringling Brothers, card tricks and bunnies being pulled out of top hats, just to name a few. Many people don’t stop to think about the art and performance aspect that goes into building a great magic show. For Salem resident and magician Evan Northrup, magic is not just about playing tricks on viewer’s eyes. To him, magic is about submerging the audience in a theatrical performance that amazes the mind.

Northrup performing one of his street shows.

Northrup is not your average Brown University graduate. At age 22, he has already traveled to numerous countries and is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and Greek. In his travels he has met extraordinary people who have influenced his life and have molded him to be the person he is today. But if you were to ask Northrup about his journeys, he would not say that it is his passion for learning about different locations and cultures that sets him apart from the norm.  What makes him unique is that magic has been the underlining factor for all of his adventures since he was eight years old.

Growing up in Salem, Northrup was surrounded by witches and magic at an early age. A Magic Parlor located down the street, a father who enjoyed showing him tricks that he could never figure out and books his older brother gave him led Evan to a fascination of the world of magic.

“It has always been something that I liked to do and loved reading about,” says Northrup. “Then my sophomore year of high school I started street performing here during the summer and the fall. Which was so much fun but an absolute failure. I was probably the worst street performer you would ever meet.”

Even though the beginning was everything but easy, Evan stuck with the gig for four more years. Then in his junior year at Brown he studied abroad in Madrid, Spain where he found his niche. He met numerous street performers, who he not only traveled through Europe with, but who taught him unique tricks and techniques of street performing. And with his five-month long program coming to an end, Northrup wasn’t ready to end his time in Spain. He took his Visa, which was valid for one more month, bought a plane ticket to Barcelona and traveled through the city performing.

“It was so much fun and I actually learned how to perform then, so I have been addicted to the street performing ever since because I can finally do it.”

"I like using pretty props," says Northrup, who has used wine bottles, fans and flowers in many shows.

After returning to the states, Northrup did not limit himself solely to street performances. Since graduating school he has done everything from theater and street shows, sport arenas for teams such as the Celtics and Bruins and hotel brunches. Recently returning from Vegas, Northrup spent time learning from Jeff McBride, a renounced performer in the magic scene who runs the McBride’s Magic and Mystery School.

“He is the one of the few people in magic today that really understands performance theory and how you can’t just present a series of tricks but you have to treat it almost like theater.”

Through lectures, guest speakers and shows Northrup learned skills that he hopes will take his performances to the next level, all while learning more about the appreciation and art of magic.

Now the question Northrup has to answer is where he sees himself down the road. He spends 11 months out of the year performing gigs in different arenas and saves October for his beloved hometown street performing. Being immersed in a town that is known for magic, Northrup gets a chance to amaze tourists and locals but also allows himself time to prepare for the next year.

“There is a great, beautiful, amazing magic show in New York that is really an inspiration to me called Chamber Magic. It is run by a psychologist/magician named Steve Cohan. He’s developed a modern take on classic nineteenth century parlor magic show, back when high-class people would invite friends over and bring in a magician to perform in their living room. And he is doing classic effects that have not been seen in over a hundred years, but re-interpreting them to fit the setting of the Waldorf-Astoria.”

One of the three card tricks Northrup amazed us with. Stacking two decks without looking and having all of the cards in each deck be the same color.

Being involved in this type of show, where performers dress up in business attire and the shows are geared towards audiences smaller than 50, is a calling to Northrup. He sees himself wanting to interact with people in the crowd all while being in a theater atmosphere where he has to take his magic vertical. He noted that it is hard to perform magic on a table in front of a larger audience. For the time being he is working on building a set show and developing a clientele, but he knows that whatever he does, he wants to be doing magic.

“I don’t want to do anything else. I have worked in restaurants, I have done small jobs here and there and I never last very long because it’s not challenging at all. That is the thing I like about magic, a lot of things come really easily to me and I pick things up very quickly, but with magic I still screw up a lot. So it is a constant fight to learn more about it.”

*After the interview Evan performed a few card tricks that boggled the mind, and when asked to share his secret he politely replied that once you give yourself to magic you sign an imaginary vow that you will never tell your secrets.

While the North Shore is rightly famous for its seafood, it is also blessed with an abundance of good old-fashioned American burger joints. Forget the fast food, these ten burgers—hot off the griddle and made with heart—are fit for royalty. By Anna and David Kasabian Photographs by Glenn Scott Styling by Maria del Mar Sacasa

Daily Harvest Café

Daily Harvest Café

Danvers Surrounded by strip malls and bleak parking lots, the three-year-old Daily Harvest Café is a pleasant surprise on Route 35. Step inside and you are transported away from the humdrum to a warm and friendly combination of old-fashioned bakery, neighborhood coffee shop, and country-chic café. Wood floors, bead board, country design accents, and bright copper-top tables add to the cozy atmosphere. The Burger: Bronto Bacon Burger ($7.99). The Beef: Eight ounces of Angus. The Bun: House-baked bulkie. The Toppings: Caramelized onions, Vermont cheddar cheese, applewood bacon, lettuce, tomato, and BBQ sauce. The Fries: No French fries here, but we did taste the home fries ($1.99). The Vibe: What a happy, light-filled, cheery place this is! It appears that everybody—staff and customers alike—is having a good time. 103 High Street, Route 35, Danvers, 978-777-4123, dailyharvestcafe.com.

Dotty & Ray’s Lunch

Dotty & Ray’s Lunch

Salem To get to this spot, head straight out of Salem on Route 114, but go slowly. You’ll have to look for it, but it’s there, on the right, exactly where it has been since 1958. And looking pretty much the same today as it did when George and Pauline Marcos bought the place 30 years ago. That’s back when “high quality” and “hand-made” weren’t just marketing slogans but the norm. At Dotty & Ray’s, that hasn’t changed, either. The Burger: Cheeseburger Club ($6.50). The Beef: Six ounces of top round, freshly trimmed and ground by George three times a week. The Bun: In this case, three slices of toasted deli white (wheat and pumpernickel are also available) for building the club sandwich. The Toppings: American cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, and mayo. The Fries: Straight-ahead, standard American French fries that are nicely cooked and definitely worth the calories. The Vibe: Make no mistake—this place is a no-frills, deeply planted, honest-to-goodness neighborhood joint that we should feel privileged to know about. 112 North Street, Salem, 978-744-9730, dottyandrays.com. 

The Farm Downtown

The Farm Downtown

Beverly With The Farm Downtown (a recently established outpost of The Farm Bar & Grill in Essex), Noah Goldstein and partners have found a need and fulfilled it. Specifically, to satisfy our hankering for authentic, fresh, handmade burgers that are fast, affordable, and fabulous. Plus, they’re open Thursday through Saturday until 2 a.m.! The Burger: Junior Burger with Mushrooms ($4.50) and “Fries Your Way!” ($2.50). The Beef: Four ounces of griddle-cooked Angus. The Bun: Very fresh, American-standard burger bun. The Toppings: Mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, and Route 22 Sauce (their name for mayo-and-ketchup Fancy Sauce). The Fries: An ample portion of sweet, hand-cut spuds, skins on, nicely crisped, seasoned with salt and pepper. The Vibe: Sub-shop chic with woody tones, limited seating, and a welcome sense of urgency to get your burger in your hands as fast as possible. 350 Rantoul Street, Beverly, 978-922-0011, farmdowntown.com.

The Old Spot 

Salem Brendon Crocker of Beverly’s esteemed Wild Horse Café has created a pleasingly credible replica of a bona fide British pub, made a tad more convincing by its ancient-looking spotted pig logo and mascot. He has also created a heck of a genuine American burger. The Burger: Cheeseburger ($9.75). The Beef: Angus chuck, 80 percent lean. The Bun: 4.5-inch split-top with cornmeal, which lends the burger a little texture and a richer savory taste. The Toppings: Swiss cheese, tomato, “Special Sauce” (a.k.a Fancy Sauce). The Fries: Proficiently prepared standard issue 3/8-inch shoestrings. The Vibe: Warm, worn, welcoming, and sincere. You’ll feel like a regular your first time in. 121 Essex Street, Salem, 978-745-5656, theoldspot.com.

Beach Street Café

Beach Street Café

Manchester-by-the-Sea Bob and Tracey Atwater bought the place in 1984 and have since firmly established Beach Street Café as the quintessential small-town eatery. Come here for the authentic charm, the fabulous staff, and—among many other commendable dishes—the cheeseburger we adore. the burger: Cheeseburger ($4.50), side of French fries ($2.50). the beef: Five ounces of 85 percent ground beef, trimmed and custom-ground daily in the Crosby’s Supermarket butcher shop across the street. the bun: Bob calls it a 3-D seed bun, which is square, not round. As far as buns go, it’s a style typically found around roast beef sandwiches rather than burgers, but it works brilliantly here. the toppings: Swiss cheese, tomato, and dill pickle chips. the fries: Standard shoestring potatoes, but done with skill. the vibe: A bustling village meeting place for a cross section of the town’s seniors, school kids, lobstermen, landscapers, lunching ladies, moms with toddlers, and guys wearing ties. Tracey’s delightful paintings adorn the walls, while gulls glide over Manchester Harbor, visible through the window. Commuter trains groan in and out of the village on tracks just feet away. 35 Beach Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, 978-526-8049.  

15 Walnut

15 Walnut

South Hamilton The recent and dramatic expansion of the bar and dining area of this near-landmark establishment is testament to just how right Chef Sam Hunt and the whole team at 15 Walnut got it from the start, which was just two years ago. Like so much else that comes out of the kitchen here, the 15 Walnut Burger shows Hunt’s devotion to quality ingredients and careful preparation, which, in our estimation, underpin the restaurant’s success. The Burger: 15 Walnut Burger ($10). The Beef: Eight ounces of char-grilled chuck. The Bun: The richly flavored bun of brioche—the classic French bread enriched with eggs, butter, and milk—sets this burger apart. The Toppings: Caramelized onions, Vermont cheddar, and house-cured bacon. The Fries: Perfectly browned and crispy hand-cut shoestrings. The Vibe: Crisp, airy, and woodsy with an almost California wine country feel; just right for this upscale suburban setting and its smartly dressed natives. 15 Walnut Road, South Hamilton, 978-468-2400, 15walnut.com. 

Passports

Passports

Gloucester After 16 years in the heart of downtown Gloucester, Passports is not just a landmark; it’s an enduring symbol of Gloucester’s economic and cultural revival. Make no mistake; these folks do food right, including their signature burger, a longtime Passports staple. The Burger: Burger du Jour ($9). The Beef: Eight ounces of char-grilled Angus. The Bun: An outstanding, fresh-baked-daily, sesame-topped St. Joseph’s roll from the legendary Vergilio’s bakery just down the street. The Toppings: Tomato, lettuce, and a touch of thinly sliced red onion. It’s simple, so the grilled beef flavor really comes through. The Fries: The thick-sliced and deep-fried Red Bliss potatoes are full of rich potato flavor, but they’re not your regular-cut French fries, which is okay for a change. The Vibe: Casual European-style storefront café atmosphere with lots of local art on the walls, liberal portions on the plates, and smart service all around. 110 Main Street, Gloucester, 978-281-3680, passportsrestaurant.wordpress.com. 

Ale House

Amesbury If you enjoy a pint or two with your burger, this is your kind of place. With 31 quality beers on tap, from the everyday to the exotic, and literally scores of bottled brew from every corner of the planet, Ale House earns it name. Once your burger is cooked and assembled, it’s buttered and griddled à la a grilled cheese sandwich, so the bread is crispy and the cheese oozy. The Burger: Patty Melt with Cherry Wood Bacon ($10). The Beef: 10 ounces ultra-lean (90 percent) house-ground Angus. The Bun: Not a bun at all—rather, two slices of tasty Italian bread. The Toppings: Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, and cherrywood bacon. The Fries: Hand-cut twice-fried Ale House Belgian-style frites, reportedly fried in lard. The Vibe: Expansive, woody room with a substantial bar, roomy booths, enthusiastic staff, and all the other makings of a great night out. 33 Main Street, Amesbury, 978-388-1950, amesburyalehouse.com.

The Grog

The Grog

Newburyport Chef and owner Patrick O’Neil is proud of his restaurant, a Newburyport fixture for more than 40 years, and, in particular, of the dish he calls “my burger!” Considering the result, fussing over his burgers as he does seems worth it. Like the way he super-heats a small pan, then places it on top of a burger cooking on the grill, searing it on both sides at once. Or the way he puts a subtle, smoky scent on the bun by toasting it on the grill. The Burger: The Grog Burger ($7.95). The Beef: Eight ounces of char-grilled 81 percent Black Angus sirloin. The Bun: Split-top deli roll, toasted on the grill. The Toppings: Wisconsin bleu cheese, mushrooms sautéed in garlic-parsley butter, lettuce, tomato, and garlic-dill pickle chips. The Fries: Larger plank-cut potatoes, “because they hold the heat and the ketchup,” says O’Neil. The Vibe: “Ould Newburyport” personified, with magnificently worn-in wood floors and fixtures and a half-century-old nautical ambiance that’s cozy and real. 13 Middle Street, Newburyport, 978-465-8008, thegrog.com.

Bradford Tavern

Bradford Tavern

Rowley As long-time North Shore residents, we’ve watched this location open and close a number of times, as one restaurateur after another tried to crack the code for what is obviously a tricky market. After opening up just last October, these folks—the same ones who operate Sylvan Street Grilles in Peabody and Salisbury—just might have done it. Judging from the number of smiling faces in the dining room, folks around here seem to like Chef Mike Clukey’s honest and exuberant American tavern fare just fine. We sure liked the burger. The Burger: Smokehouse BBQ Burger ($8.99). The Beef: Eight ounces char-grilled, 80 percent lean Angus. The Bun: A substantial and tasty item Chef Clukey calls a “cross-knotted seeded roll.” The Toppings: Caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, bacon, and Bradford Tavern’s Special BBQ Sauce. The Fries: Fresh-cut shoestrings with the chef’s mild fry seasoning. The Vibe: Bustling, full-service casual dining with patrons of every age and description giving it an upbeat neighborhood feel. 87 Haverhill Street, Rowley, 978-948-3657, bradfordtavern.com.

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