Julie Rancourt Photography

Lovely Home for Sale!!

2012-01-15T07:16:00.000-08:00

This week I had to opportunity to photograph a lovely home for sale in Durham. Its a condo in a new, active 55+ community, listed by Lee Ann Parks of ReMax All Points Realty. Lee Ann is one of the best, hardest working realtors in the SeaCoast area, and I highly recommend her if you are buying, selling, or renting!

This lovely 2 bedroom condo is practically brand new, has an open floor plan, and large, sunny rooms.

Its located in a private, tranquil, wooded area, yet close to downtown Durham. The best of both worlds! The homeowners tell me they frequently see deer, and I saw lots of birds at the bird feeders, although none of them wanted their picture taken apparently. They flew away when I got my camera out.

Gorgeous hardwood floors

Love the columns on the front entryway.

Lovely wooded backyard

Spacious second bedroom

Second Bathroom

Closet Space!

Open Concept

Lovely, bright, spacious kitchen

Attached Master bathroom with double sinks

Spacious Master bedroom

Sunny Dining room opening up to the deck

This home has a HUGE, walkout basement, that is ready to be finished, if desired. It also has a two car garage, sprinkler system, central air, hardwood floors, tons of closet space and lots more to offer. Durham is a wonderful town to live in, with UNH being in close proximity. Sports, Arts, Restaurants, shopping, all close by!

Front walkway and granite step

Stairs leading up from the basement

Convenient first floor laundry

Sprinkler system

Huge, walkout ready to finish basement.

Peaceful backyard

Two car garage (adorable Mini Cooper not included)

Sprinklers throughout

Downtown Durham

Walk in Master Closet

Downtown Durham

Active 55+ Community

Couldn't resist taking a picture of the homeowner's adorable dog!

Contact Lee Ann Parks today to request a showing of this awesome property, or to discuss your real estate needs!

Home of Portsmouth

2012-01-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

I might have mentioned before how much I love architecture, and also how much I love exploring Portsmouth. Recently I wandered around taking pictures of the old homes around Strawberry Banke, and found that I was really drawn to the front doors, and hardware. These are some of my favorites:

Poulin Family at Drakes Island

2011-12-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

Recently I took some portraits for the Poulin family at one of their favorite spots, Drakes Island, in Wells, Maine. It was a chilly day, (December in Maine, on the beach!) but you can't beat the gorgeous light in the afternoon sun by the ocean. They bravely took off their jackets and dealt with the wind, and then we had some fun! Check out some of the images from our mini session:

Jay's eyes are the color of liquid chocolate, Handsome kid!

Ella has the most gorgeous hair. Is it ok to be jealous of a 9 year old? :)

What's so funny......

Thanks to the Poulin Family for a fun afternoon of picture taking at the beach!

The Ryan Family

2011-12-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

Luke, so cute; a little leery of the camera at first, but everyone did a great job getting smiles out of him.

Hi Luke!

Love this one of Luke and Dad.

The eyes! So beautiful, just like his brother and sister.

He pulled himself up to look out the window, and was pretty happy with himself. So cute!

Leah: Longest. Eyelashes. Ever.

Couldn't resist taking a pic of these fab shoes!

Beautiful eyes run in the family.

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful family, and had so much fun taking their pictures! Usually I try to think of ways to get kids to smile and laugh, but they had ME laughing. So cute! By the way, these were taken right in their backyard, and in their home. Just goes to show you, a special location isn't always necessary to get beautiful images!

Check out Matthew; Looking so handsome in his sweater vest.

He kept me laughing right along with him.

So cute!

Again, with the gorgeous eyes!!

I love how Luke looks to Matthew, to see if this is fun or not.

Beautiful and fun family.

See where the kids get their adorableness?

Thank you Ryan family for letting me photograph you, I had a ball! Your adorable and fun kids make it easy!

Fascinating and Sad, Part 2: Inside the House

2011-11-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Remember the HGTV show "If Walls Could Talk?"

As I walked around the inside of this house, that's what I kept thinking. These walls would probably have a lot of stories to tell. I was lucky enough to spend several hours exploring and photographing. I was able to learn a little bit more about the place from Lou, the contractor who is working hard trying to salvage what he can from the old structure. He is working on saving things like the wide floor boards, the Indian shutters, the wainscoting, doors, mantels; anything that could possibly be used again. Its not easy. There is mildew and mold everywhere, and square nails were not meant to come out, so its time consuming and laborious to remove things without damaging them.

So, even though its too late for this house, at least parts of it will help with other restoration projects. This is a picture of how the house looked sometime in the 1800's; Compare it with how it looks today…

All the outbuildings are long gone, the grounds are now overgrown. Its hard to picture where the barn once stood. The shutters I found stored in a small room. I would love to see interior photos of how it used to look, to compare with what I found: (click images for a larger view)

The floors are missing in several rooms

mold is everywhere

The plywood is covering up a hole in the floor, and the floors are spongy feeling in lots of places.

This room would have been the formal parlor, where guests were received, wakes were held.

the front door is missing.

The front entryway/staircase; beautiful paneling.

At the top of the front staircase

upstairs room

upstairs hallway

An upstairs room, where the wide floorboards have already been removed.

The massive attic. The beams are huge.

An upstairs landing, right near the attic entrance.

Another small upstairs room

This is a small room, no windows, it passes through to another, later part of the house.

This fireplace is hand painted in a faux grain.

A tight, narrow staircase at the side of the house.

This is part of the later addition

Under the stairs: one of the only closets I saw.

Someone wrote on the wood a long time ago, in chalk, but I can't figure out what it says.

Missing transom window.

Very old graffiti: It says "John J. Dunn, age 16, 1849

Staircase in the main part of the house

Those are the shutters, piled up in the corner.

This fireplace is original, and all the cooking would have been done here in the house's early days.

This is the "modern" kitchen. This room is very dark, there isn't any lighting, and the window is boarded up. I took these pictures with flash, and was so surprised to see how bright the colors were. Without the flash, you would have no idea what you are looking at.

Another view of the main room, panels being removed. Note the Indian shutters. This house was built when there were actual Indian attacks happening in the area.

Graffiti from vandals

This piano is quite rare, and in remarkably good shape. It is being appraised, but to give you an idea, here are some similar pianos:http://www.antiquepianoshop.com/square-grand-pianos/

Nancy Reagan!

large hole in the wall

faux graining

This is the room where John J Dunn signed his name.

The attic

The beams are held together with wooden spikes.

Note the old carpet sweeper.

Add caption

This is what remains of the red door with the glass knob.

Carefully removing the moulding

The red door, middle gone!

Indian Shutters

You can see where the floor has mostly caved in this room.

These barrels contained the original square nails that built the house

Extensive water damage in the back of the house, missing floors.

Add caption

When I was researching this house online, I found this information, from the Dover, NH public library:

I have had two residents of Dover come in recently, and ask about the empty house that is at the intersection of route 108 (Durham Rd.), and Back River Road. They had been looking at it for years and just wondering what the story of the house is. The house, which is known as Dunn's Tavern, was included in the The Dover Heritage Walking Tours in the years 1988 and 1995. There is also some interesting information from Mary P. Thompson's book "Landmarks in Ancient Dover." Here are some of the highlights:

"This colonial house is well over 200 years old. In 1780 it was operated as a tavern by Col. Benjamin Titcomb (1743-1799), a Revolutionary War veteran wounded in 3 battles. In 1820, Captain Samuel Dunn (1766 - 1850) bought the tavern. In 1825, Dover dignitaries gathered here to pay tribute to General Lafayette, who was touring New Hampshire. As the general entered from Durham, a thirteen gun salute was fired from atop Pine Hill to the assembly at the tavern."

"The tavern continued operations through the 1840s and the home remained in the Dunn family until Miss Eliza Dunn's death at the age of 80 in 1898. By 1899 the house had been converted to tenement housing for the workers at Sawyer Mills. The house is presently unoccupied due to pending litigation concerning its ownership (remember that was written in 1988)."

"Adjacent to Dunn's Tavern was a reputedly haunted area known as Dunn's Woods. These dark, damp, lonely woods were enclosed by hills and were remote from any dwelling. It was said to be the scene of many a robbery by day and supernatural occurance by night. The ghost stories originated from the phosphorescent lights which on dark nights were often seen to gleam among the bogs and decayed wood, startling the belated and weary traveler."

Fascinating and Sad.. an abandoned house in Dover

2011-10-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

Recently I had an amazing opportunity. I have always had a passion for old houses, old things, and history, especially abandoned houses. They fascinate me, and leave me wondering how they came to be that way, and what, if anything is left inside. There is a particular house in Dover, NH that I drive by every day, and always wanted to explore, but never dared to. Its been boarded up for a long time, and I didn't want to trespass.

But on this day, (my birthday!) a friend texted me to let me know there was a truck in the driveway and the door was open. I happened to be nearby, and went right over. I walked up to the opened door and called "hello?" and a man answered back. I gave him my business card, and explained my interest in this house. He told me he owned the structure and would be taking it down piece by piece in order to save and preserve anything he could. The house, built sometime in the 1680's was too far gone to salvage the whole thing, but there are hopefully some architectural elements to be saved. He was kind enough to give me a tour, and it was like stepping back in time.

Apparently it had been unoccupied since the late 1970's or early 1980's, but it was still littered with objects and furniture from the last 200 plus years. Most of the windows were broken, there were holes in walls and floors, and layers of dirt and dust coating everything, but I could imagine what it must have looked like at one time. He showed me a signature written on a wall, from back in the 1700's. Unfortunately, there was also graffiti on a lot of the walls, from vandals who have broken in.

The attic of this house is held up by beams that are the size of railroad ties and held together with wooden spikes.

This would have been the front door, and would have faced the river. Trees block the view now. I was told by a neighboor, that it was used as a tavern/Inn and people would have arrived by boat, and by horse on what is now route 108.

Any idea how old this mattress is?

It looks like this house hasn't seen a coat of paint in years, if ever.

Inside, the ceilings are mostly mildewed now.

This window has the original Indian Shutters, they hide away, like pocket doors.

Left on the ground, old blue paint; I wonder what it went to?

Gaping holes in the original clapboard siding.

Original six over six windows, minus the glass.

This house was put together using hand forged square iron nails shipped over from England. The original barrels they came in are still in the house. Their are literally hundreds of nails all over the floors inside.

I love this doorknob. It looks like really old blown glass, and you can see the old red paint under the plywood covering the door. A beautiful thing among the ruins.

The last time this was on a vehicle was in 1956.

This thing is an old boot scraper, probably original to the house. Since roads weren't paved back then, you would have needed to remove the mud from your shoes before coming inside.

Very wide hand hewn boards from the attic.

Don't know why there would be a grocery cart here, but its clearly been here a while.

Various old tools and doorknobs, covered in rust.

This is still private property, and needs to be respected. It is under a watchful eye and trespassers won't be tolerated. This house has certainly suffered from enough vandals over the years.

It was amazing to see, like a glimpse back into time, I'm so glad I got the chance. I hope to be able to photograph the inside soon, but I did get some great shots of the outside. Take a look at these pictures, and try to imagine how this house has sat and deteriorated for so long right under our noses. It should have been on the National Historic Register of Places, but unfortunately, its too late for that.

2011-10-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

Alexis and Aliya, sisters.

Shannon, Alexis and Aliya

Adam, Shannon, Alexis, and Aliya

Alexis

Aliya

sisters!

family fun

Alexis; not only is she beautiful and smart, she's a skilled martial artist.

Fun Fact: They are all good looking, and they can all break boards with their bare hands.

Mr. B is a 5th degree black belt, and also one of the most patient teachers I have ever seen.

Check out Aliya in action.

See that silhouette on his uniform? That is actually him!

Shannon can hold this stance forever.

Your family can train with this amazing family.

Just like her mom and dad!

This weekend I had the pleasure of photographing an amazing family at Rye Beach. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, not too windy, and surprisingly warm. The Boisvert's are not only wonderful people, they are all black belts, and own Mr. B's Tae Kwon Do. One of the great things about this school is that it is family owned, and they encourage other families to train together, just like theirs. A great way to stay active, have fun, and learn something new. Adam is a 5th degree, his wife Shannon is a 4th degree, their daughter Alexis is a 2nd degree, and their daughter Aliya is a 1st degree black belt. Check out some of their pictures!

At the Park

2011-10-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to take too many pictures lately, just too busy!! But here are a few from the Park a week or two ago:

What the heck kind of bird is this?

2011-10-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

So the other day, I was walking through my neighborhood with my daughter, when we noticed this funky looking bird coming over to us. We stood still, waiting to see how close it would get, and hoping to get a picture. It literally came right up to us, and circled us. Then it went and stood in the middle of the street, not moving. I tried to get it to cross the road, because cars were coming and going. After getting it to one side, it ended up following us back across the road, and following us on our walk. However, it got closer and closer to me, and then started chasing me, trying to bite my pant leg. Of course I ran, and it chased me some more, before giving up. That's what I get for trying to help!

Dogs of Apple Harvest Day

2011-10-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Dover's annual Apple Harvest Day is always a good time. This year was a little rainy, but still fun. One of the cool things about it, is how lots of people bring their dogs. I got a few snapshots while wandering around. Some dogs posed very politely, and some were too excited to sit still. Anyways, here are a few of my faves:

Architectural Elements

2011-09-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite subjects are architectural elements. Luckily for me, I live near Portsmouth New Hampshire, where we have so many historical buildings, especially Strawberry Banke. http://www.strawberybanke.org/

ok, this is actually in Newburyport, MA not too far away.

Disclosure: This is actually a display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but its FROM a historical home in Portsmouth.

Obviously this is not in NH. Its St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, but look how COOL this is! Imagine what the skyline looked like when the cathedral was built. I love the contrast here. Modern/Old.

Again, this isn't in NH, but the Brooklyn Bridge is very cool.

http://www.strawberybanke.org/ I love wandering around here, I always find something new to look at. The gardens are amazing, and the neighborhood around it is quaint and historical. I LOVE old houses, but only to look at and appreciate. My first house was 100 years old, and just a little too much maintenance for me. I'll just live vicariously through the photos.

things neatly in rows

2011-09-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

I love things that are all lined up, its one of my photo obsessions, I can't resist taking pictures of it.

8 Strafford- Property for Sale by ReMax All points Realty

2011-09-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

I recently photographed a cute property in Dover for LeeAnn Parks of ReMax All Points Realty. Its a nice ranch on a great corner lot. For more information check out their website: http://www.leeannparks.com/

Old Stage Road- For Sale by ReMax All points Realty

2011-09-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

I recently photographed a great property for Lee Ann Parks, of ReMax All Points Realty. Its an executive ranch in Dover, NH, set on a beautiful, private LARGE lot. It has a fantastic studio space above the detached garage, which would be perfect for lots of professions, anyone who would like the comfort of working from home, without being in your actual home. Perfect!! Also, I was loving the stone patio space and cathedral ceilings in the kitchen/great room. Check out LeeAnn's website for all the info:http://www.leeannparks.com/

Crescent and John; Engagement Session

2011-09-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

Crescent and John met at a wedding; she was the maid of honor, he was the best man. This New England girl and Michigan boy fell in love. Now he even owns and wears a Red Sox hat. :) This photo shoot was not hampered by the rainy day. We got a little damp, but their love shines through the pictures. Pictures taken in Quincy, MA.

Beach Photo Shoot

2011-09-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

I took my girls and some of their friends to Ogunquit Beach for a little photo session a few weeks ago, and we had a blast. I find kids make the best models, and these girls were no exception. They were all fantastic models, and it was a beautiful day! We stayed throughout the afternoon and followed the light. Its best at the end of the day; you end up with such gorgeous reflections and colors. Thank you to Sophie, Alexandra, Jordyn, Kali and Gabbie!