The Coon Tavern, c. 1800, Haverhill Corner, NH

Features:

The Coon Tavern is a stunning Federal home which has been sensitively restored, blending period detail with modern amenities and featuring:

• 13 rooms, including 3 bedrooms, plus 2 full baths
• 3,400 sq. ft.
• Five working Rumford fireplaces
• Wide pine flooring throughout
• 12 over 12 windows, many with old glass
• Spacious country kitchen and pantry, with honed granite countertops and custom hand-planed Kennebec Company cabinetry
• Four-oven AGA Cooker; Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer 
• Authentic reproduction lighting fixtures from Period Lighting Fixtures
• Antique door hardware throughout
• Office with woodstove and exposed beams, plank walls
• Marble bath countertops and tub surround
• Mudroom/laundry with antique soapstone set-tub and soapstone countertops
• New sunroom with slate floor and radiant heat
• Modern appliances
• 19th century post-and-beam barn with workshop and room to park two vehicles

Setting:

The historic Coon Tavern sits on a level 3.1 acre lot which is surprisingly private given its location at the corner of the village green.  Professionally landscaped, the lot includes established perennial gardens, a stone patio, a hay field and a large 19th century barn with workshop and room to park two vehicles.  Only 25 miles from Hanover, with Dartmouth College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Haverhill Corner is also close to the White Mountains for hiking, fishing, skiing and breathtaking scenery.  The Connecticut River, the boundary between NH and VT, is also a prominent feature of the local landscape and is easily accessible to boaters.

History:

The Coon Tavern was built around 1800 when Haverhill Corner was the Grafton County seat.  The need for accommodations when court was in session led to the establishment of many inns and taverns.  Built by Ross Coon, a physician as well as a tavern-keeper, this two-story hip-roofed Federal structure was originally sited on Dartmouth College Highway and moved to its present location on the village green around 1821.  To learn more about the village of Haverhill Corner and its history, and to see photographs of its many historic structures, including The Coon Tavern, see The Magazine ANTIQUES, December 2004, pages 72-81.  Historian William Nathaniel Banks concludes his article by observing: "Today residents and visitors alike cherish this placid village, an enchanted relic of a glamorous past."