Historic Butternut Cottage - Hem för skådespelerskan Bette Davis i Sugar Hill, NH

I first visited the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the Summer of 1970 as a camper at the Ogontz White Mountain Camp. I fell in love with the beautiful Ogontz Lake surrounded by its idyllic hills. As a camper, I went hiking on Mount Moosilauke and climbed Mount Lafayette twice. I loved eating the freshly made pancakes topped with maple butter, syrup, and sugar at Polly's Pancake Parlor. Besides having an excuse to eat pancakes and hike around the area while I visit the house, I love hosting this house because of the guests and the wonderful experiences they share in the guest book located in the living room.

During a summer reunion in 2008, I spoke to another former Ogontz camper who had moved back to the area. I considered buying a house with a small apartment attached so I could rent the house out and stay in the apartment. In October 2008, I traveled up to Franconia to see a few houses that fit my criteria. The realtor informed me that a house owned by the actress Bette Davis had just dropped in price (remember the 2008 real estate crash?) and was within my price range. All I could remember about Ms. Davis at that moment was the scene in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" where she uncovers a serving dish to reveal a dead rat for Joan Crawford's supper. The realtor, an Ogontz Camp friend, and I went off to see this renowned house formerly owned by Bette Davis. When I approached the front of the house, I felt a strange feeling of stepping into the past. I thought the front screened porch was curious as I climbed the small steps to the front door. As I strolled through the mud room, kitchen and rest of this hand crafted house, I grew fascinated by the wide floor planks and wood beams, hand crafted built-in vanities, kitchen cabinets, and wood-paneled walls. I was admiring the photographs of Bette's career and life in the barn room when I turned to my friend and said, "I think we are done looking at houses for the day." It took me several years to insulate the walls, basement, and crawl spaces, install a geothermal heating and cooling system, install a generator (no more power outages!) and add other updates while respecting the original structure and spirit of the house.

The house was rebuilt and renovated by Bette Davis during her early years in Hollywood as an escape from the stress of making one movie after the next under her contract with the Warner Brothers Studio. It has been written that she employed some of the Warner carpenters to panel the interior of the upstairs bedrooms and craft the built-in vanities and mirrors. I discovered she employed local architects as well to attach a barn to the house, which is the current barn room. The house changed hands a few times after Bette sold it, and the owners before me found the house abandoned with raccoons living in the attic. They collected books, photographs, posters, and other memorabilia of Bette's life and displayed these in the barn room. I have added a few more photographs/memorabilia and some of my guests have graciously added to the collection. There is one plaque left by a guest that states "Old age ain't for sissies!" in the barn room. The house is surrounded by quiet woods with a view of the Bette's stable house to the east and Bette's second house to the southwest, The Butternut Lodge. The barn room looks out over peaceful woods and during the winter, snow drifts form upon the glass doors. The Vermont Castings wood stove warms up the barn room and two front bedrooms during the coldest winter nights. There is always a generous stack of kiln dried wood in the garage to keep the stove hot and the barn room and house cozy for movies, board games, or just relaxing on a winter's day.