Happy New Year -- The Driveway Is Finished!

On this last day of 2007 the new driveway at the north end is finished, and the workers have until the end of January 2008 to clean up the site and move on. It's unbelievable to the neighbors that the crew was able to pour the concrete in December, considering how bad the weather was. We saw the crew shoveling snow (with hand shovels) off the prepared bed in order to get the concrete poured. Good thing concrete heats up as it cures! The two photos show the new driveway. The crews working on the south side of the Martin House are still working almost daily, even in the cold and snow.

Happy New Year -- just imagine what excitement is in store for us at the Martin House Complex in 2008!

How Many Visitors in 2007?

We received a letter this week that told us the House had 20,000 visitors this year -- that's up from 18,000 last year. The Shopping Gala, held the first weekend of December, was very successful. I worked in the gift shop for a few hours, and people were buying everything in sight.


We are seriously considering putting in a driveway, which would entail our destroying our garden space next to the house. Since we have no back yard -- only this side yard -- we would have no more lawn or gardens. But, at least, we would be able to park near our house on weekends when we have groceries, etc. to carry. We'll probably wait until the tour entrance/exit moves to the Jewett Parkway entrance before we make a final decision. Maybe the parking situation will ease because more tourists will park on Jewett rather than on Summit. Anyone know a good architect to help us design a driveway and gardens that will look great????