"In 2017, Stephen Antonson, a New York City home furnishings artisan, and his wife, Kathleen Hackett, an interior designer and writer who counts Martha Stewart among her clients, bought a summer house in Rockport, Maine, a coastal town of fine arts, lobster boats and stunning views of Penobscot Bay. At $320,000, the small, 19th-century clapboard house was among the lower-priced properties on Mechanic Street, known for its stately homes overlooking the town's scenic working harbor."
"Almost immediately, the couple asked Graham about clearing her land of the trees that blocked their view. She refused. She was an avid gardener, and killing trees repelled her. Also, years before, she had been cited by the town because one of her two sons, unaware of strict rules protecting shore land forest, had cleared some scrub trees from her property."
"Although Graham was legally blind, she refused to let that get in her way. She hosted neighborhood parties; walked her dog, Charlie, in all kinds of weather; and, with the help of a software program, composed musical scores on the piano. Douglas Cole, a retired surgeon and a friend of Graham's, described her as "such a pistol." "She would have us over to her house to dinner and kind of direct everybody what to do," he said."
In 2017 Stephen Antonson and his wife Kathleen Hackett purchased a summer house on Mechanic Street in Rockport, Maine, near Penobscot Bay. Their property lacked a harbor view because a wooded lot behind the house belonged to neighbor Ruth Graham. The couple repeatedly asked Graham to clear trees that blocked their view; she refused and defended her garden. Years earlier Graham had been cited after a son cleared scrub trees in violation of shoreland forest rules. Maine's Board of Pesticides Control says the couple poisoned Graham's trees to gain a harbor view; the couple deny the accusation. Graham remained active in the community despite being nearly 90 and legally blind.
Read at Boston.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]