News & Views
Photo of Sandwich Village by Joe Janis
Sam Kachmar, new owner of the Corner House Restaurant & Bar, tells us how he came to Sandwich. Enjoy! Tell us about yourself: How did you connect with Sandwich, NH? What made you decide to live here? I connected with Sandwich in the early 2000s. A family friend bought a piece of land up on Smithville Rd, and engaged SKA, my architecture firm based in Cambridge, MA to design a weekend home for them that they could eventually retire to. It looks out to Red Hill. Over time they decided to reside permanently up in Sandwich, so we added two wings on either side of the main structure. In going up for site visits to the land in Sandwich, I heard about the Sandwich Fair, and came up for that with my wife and kids. We visited Beede Falls, hiked with family friends, and really enjoyed being surrounded by nature. We found Sandwich to be such a special place that our family came to visit often the following year. While here on a site visit my wife found a listing for a home down on Metcalf Rd. We went and looked at a beautiful cove with a really run down cabin from 1970. We bought it. We thought about tearing it down and starting new, but we loved the bones of the house, so we worked to restore some of the mid-century detailing as well as providing modern amenities to the home. While we don't live in Sandwich full time, we do spend as much time as we can at our home during the summer when it's not rented out. In the fall, winter, and spring we enjoy being in the quiet of Sandwich rather than the busy scene of Cambridge and Boston. What were you doing before you came here and what are you doing now? I have been running the SKA Architecture Studio in Cambridge, MA since 2008. We design residential homes in Cambridge and the surrounding areas, and now that I have opened up an SKA office in Sandwich, we offer that same service in the Lakes Region of NH. SKA is pronounced S…….K…..A, not skah, like the music. We utilize Virtual Reality in our work to allow our clients to experience their homes before they are actually built. This technique creates a reduction in variables and surprises during the construction process, and that makes our projects boring in the best way. When the project is complete, the clients say, "Wow, that looks just like it did in VR." What made you decide to buy a historic business in the center of town? I wanted to buy a building in Sandwich as I have loved the time spent up here over the last few years. 22 Main St became available and presented itself as a unique opportunity to house the Corner House restaurant, the Sandwich Creamery, and Sam Kachmar Architects (SKA). Where do you see the Corner House in the next few years? What are your hopes for the business? I see the Corner House improving as a destination restaurant over the next few years. The building and land are in need of some significant maintenance and upgrades. We are planning to replace the roof with a solar roof, upgrade the insulation and HVAC systems of the building, replace rotted wood, etc, in an effort to bring the building back to the prominent status that it has held within the town for decades. What is the most fun/satisfying aspect of your life here? One of the most fun and satisfying aspect of my life in Sandwich is to see people coming back to the Corner House and being excited to have the restaurant going again. Some people have described the Corner House as “Sandwich’s living room.” That is a really nice moniker to have associated with the restaurant. There are so many ways I love being in this town. I love spending time at the Foothills with Nancy and Rebecca, and going to the dump to see John and Kevin. Old Home Week this year was a such a fun event for our kids. I really love walking out into the woods near our house, and just standing in the trees. It recharges my batteries. What else can you tell us about your experience of Sandwich?
This town is brimming with intelligence, energy, thoughtfulness, and caring people. I’m happy to see high speed internet making its way into the town. Sandwich is such an appealing town that it has become a beacon for retirees from many parts of the country. As we move forward with high speed internet utilities, there is an opportunity for Sandwich to chart its course and redefine what kind of town it wants to be going forward. I love coming up here from the city. I can feel the stress of the city falling off my shoulders as I drive down 113 towards Sandwich. What is your name and the name of your business? Ben Bullard, H.B. Bullard and Company, Inc. How did you get to Sandwich, NH? In the early 1970s, Betty and I would visit her family's summer home. We were living in Boston and going to college. She had been coming up to Sandwich in the summers since she was born and we both liked it so much that directly after graduation, we moved here and were married in the summer of 1973. At the time, there were 600 year-round residents. Sandwich was a different town than it is today. It attracted us because of the arts and crafts nature of the town, which persists today. What got you started in this profession? Trained as an artist, I loved working with my hands and creativity, and building became the way to use both simultaneously. Most of the carpenters back then in our age group started working for Van Adriance in some capacity. He started a large crew and we all, as friends and co-workers, built a few houses together. After a few years we started to peel off from that to start our own ventures and partnerships. Rich Benton and I worked together for a few years, then Roger Korpi and I partnered up for 20 years and built many beautiful buildings together. Around 2000, I started this company H.B. Bullard and Company, Inc. Tell us about your work. What do you make, do, or offer as a service? I started doing mostly timber frame construction. I was intrigued with Eric Sloan's books explaining the age old practice of mortise and tenon joinery in barn and house construction more than 200 hundred years ago. My first effort was building our house at Lower Corner. Trees on the property were cut down and hewed into beams with an adze and joined into a timber frame. Later we used local sawyers to mill the beams. Our company designs and builds custom homes and barns, does restoration work on old buildings, does whole house renovations and everything in between. Eighty percent of our our work is in-house designed, twenty percent with architects. Personally I like classic design, be it house, barn or camp and the use of as much local product as I can. What is the most fun/satisfying aspect of your work? I think the most satisfaction I get from this work is providing a beautiful home or workplace for people to enjoy over generations. It’s also fun to work with so many different people coming together to make the project a reality. Another rewarding aspect is watching the carpenters who have worked for me over the years hone their skills and become better and better at the execution of their jobs. I thank them for making our company successful. What is the hardest? The challenge of course is to be a good scheduler, keep everyone happy and make a consistently great product. You have to really like people and remain optimistic to do this consistent juggling. How has this last Covid year affected your work? Our industry is going strong in the Covid era but circumstances have changed making scheduling challenging because of lack of supply, lack of labor and availability of sub-contractors. What are your goals and hopes for the future? My goal at this time is to retire soon, become a recovering contractor and let the next generation of excellent builders take over! Hopefully I can use my fifty years of experience in building to inspire others to take up this vocation that I love. It is financially rewarding, and you use your head, heart and hand. What else can you tell us about yourself and your life in Sandwich?
Sandwich is a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family. The strong sense of community is a valuable and special aspect of our town, and one that has meant a lot to our family over the years and continues still. What is your name(s) and the name of your business? Sarah and Mark Cotrupi. The name of our business is “The Porch.” How/when did you get to Sandwich, NH? Life before Sandwich? We visited Sandwich regularly for the past 10 years but only became Sandwich property owners two years ago when we bought Polly Jewett’s house. Before Sandwich Mark and I lived in Nebraska City, Nebraska for about 30 years. It was there that Mark retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency as well as his 28 year career as an Air Force active duty and reserve member. We were both intelligence officers in the Air Force but I separated after seven years and started “Peppercricket Farm,” an antique store and Bed and Breakfast. This was our first restoration project and was located on our 15 acre farm, utilizing the barn as a shop and workroom. I discovered quickly that selling antiques was way more fun than running a B&B and spent the next 15 years refinishing and selling antiques. In 2005 we bought and restored a double storefront in Nebraska City and opened a home décor and gift shop called The Keeping Room. Our plan was always to eventually move to New England (Mark has family in Vermont and we learned to love it on our many buying trips for the antique business). Now approaching 50 we decided it was time to move. We sold the business and came to New Hampshire about 10 years ago. How/why did you start your business? Mark and I always wanted to restore another old house and looked at dozens of homes in the New England area over the years and never could find “the one” to restore. Too expensive, wrong location, beyond our capabilities etc etc. Then there was this big old yellow one with the awesome porch. Mark loved it right away and I couldn’t wait to paint it!! So we bought it and got to work. We weren’t sure what kind of business we were going to start but the longer we worked on it the more sure I was that it had to be retail. This house was meant to be shared with others. Tell us about your business. What do you make, do, or offer? The Porch features an eclectic blend of antique, vintage and new home décor as well as a women’s clothing line. The building, with all of its natural light, high ceilings and expansive floorspace provides a great backdrop in which to showcase the merchandise. The antique furnishings also blend in nicely with the new items so that customers can better visualize what they may look like in their own home or office. What is the most fun/satisfying aspect of your job? The restoration process of the house and working on antique furniture that will have a new home are definitely the most satisfying, but finding inventory with Mark and setting up displays with my sister Chris Milanovich are the most fun. Mark calls it “playing house”! The one on one conversation we have with our customers is also a fun part of the job. It is truly amazing where folks are from, their background and what their plans are for the pieces they buy from us. We both love the interaction with our growing customer base at The Porch. What is the hardest? The days when no one comes in. It happens in all retail but is never easy. What are your goals and hopes for the future? To become a shopping destination that brings more people to Sandwich to appreciate the unique beauty of the community. We are looking at expanding the shop into the second floor to complement what we already have in the barn and first floor. The architecture of this house lends itself to display and is something we want to take advantage of. What else can you tell us about yourself and your life in Sandwich?
Our number one priority in our lives are our two daughters Helen, who is now a freshman at Stonehill College, and Mary Lynn, who is a junior at Moultonborough Academy. Family is a very big part of our lives and something we have learned to cherish. We truly love the town and the folks who live here and the surrounding communities. Sitting on the front porch of the shop in the summer invites conversation with all who walk or ride by. We hope to be doing it for many years to come. theporchnh.com facebook.com/porchnh theporchnh@gmail.com (402) 326-5450 |
News & Views
News of what's happening in Sandwich and other items of interest. Meet Our Members
Please enjoy the Sandwich Business Group's 2021 project called Meet Our Members. Read interviews with fascinating people who live here and run businesses, organizations, and engage in other creative pursuits.
Categories
All
|
|
Follow Discover Sandwich on Facebook!
|