House on Stone Pond below Mt Monadnock, near Keene

Family house, in quiet wooded setting, steps from Stone Pond. Loll on the deck, cook gourmet meals, gather in the living room by the fireplace. Use the lakeside firepit or picnic table, paddle the canoe, or swim in crystal-clear lake water. Hike the woods or up Mt Monadnock (3165 ft, the most-climbed US mountain). Dine or shop in the nearby college town of Keene, see summer theater in Peterborough, or hear nearby Monadnock classical and other music concerts. Pets OK, but not loud parties The space Our parents built this house in the 1972, and spent their summers here after they retired. We are making it available to guests during most of the summer and early fall (good for fall colors!), when we are not enjoying it ourselves. The house is not winterized, so we close it up every fall after the leaf-viewing season and reopen it in late spring. It is a simple house. We have tried to maintain its rustic feel while at the same time making it comfortable for our guests. The large common area (26.5 by 14.75) has a dining table, two comfy couches, and a central fireplace, and opens onto a deck that overlooks the lake. There is a large bedroom (12.5 by 16.5) on the lower floor off the basement storage area (it can feel chilly, even sometimes damp, so use of the baseboard heating is often needed even in July and August. But we find it comfortable and some members of our family prefer to stay in that room). The other bedrooms are just big enough for a bed, chest of drawers, and closet. The master bedroom upstairs, right next to the bathroom, has a queen bed and is 11 by 11. Two smaller bedrooms (10 by 10 and 8 by 10) have two single beds each, which can be pushed together for a couple. There is a small table in the kitchen as well as an electric stove and oven, fridge, dishwasher and microwave, and enough pots and pans and kitchen utensils for gourmet cooking (a number of cookbooks and a looseleaf collection of favorite recipes as well). We have both a gas grill and a weber kettle for charcoal grilling. The pantry is well-stocked with staples; we ask guests to replace staples that they use up so that succeeding guests will have the same waiting for them. There are a washer and dryer on the lower floor, off the bathroom). But you can also hang clothes to dry (as well as towels and bathing suits) on lines near the house. There is a large chest in the common area with toys; there are puzzles and games, children's art supplies, and a number of children's books as well as adult reading, a small stereo system with a CD player and CD's; you also play your iPod or phone through a receiver to room-sized speakers using hard connection, or bluetooth. But no TV. Municipal broadband is fast enough both to watch movies and do Zoom meetings. There are various guidebooks and maps for local hiking: If you are around for a few days, you should make sure to spend a half-day hiking to the top of Mt. Monadnock on one of the dozen trails to the top, but there are plenty of other good hikes around -- just walking to the other side of the lake is a pleasure. A notebook offers suggestions for local activities and cultural offerings and favorite eateries in the surrounding towns (especially downtown Marlborough, Peterborough, Dublin and Keene). Our beach, thirty yards from the house, is grassy/mossy and gets sun during the afternoon; there are a picnic table so you can dine beside the water, a firepit, and a small dock. You can jump or dive into the water from a dock (you should assess the depth for yourself before doing that). We provide a canoe, two stand-up paddle boards, and assorted flotation devices for all ages for use in the water from our waterfront. New this year (no photo yet) will be a swim raft sitting in the sun several yards offshore. You can often get sun by sitting on the dock; but if you prefer to sit in more sun and play in the sand in between bathing, walk down to the town beach 400 hundred yards away. The firepit beside the lake is good for sitting by the fire or modest grilling. Our parking area is big enough for two small cars; there is more room for parking along the road. Note that a recent guest mentioned that the path to the house from the parking area is dirt and not even, so that an elderly parent had trouble getting back and forth with a walker. The temperature may reach the 90's down in Keene and Marlborough, but it is always pleasant up at the lake. We have a few small fans that are rarely needed. Indeed, that you may want a sweater for the evening, even in mid-summer. The house has baseboard heating in all rooms, each with a separate thermostat. You can eat at a table in the kitchen, at the dining table in the living room just off the large picture windows looking at the deck and out onto the lake. There is a small table on the deck facing the lake, and an 8-foot picnic table down beside the lake. Tranquility is one of the nicest features that all of the neighbors prize. Nearby houses are not on top of you (you cannot see them through the woods), but your enjoyment of the house should not be audible 70 yards away through the forest, out of respect for our neighbors. Guest access The entire house and grounds are open to guests Other things to note We do not have trash collection, so if you are staying for a week or more, you will need to visit the town dump (and Marlborough is very strict about recycling). It's open Wednesday afternoon, Friday morning, and Saturday. The "swap shop" is fun. Whether your stay is short or long, please take any remaining trash with you when you leave. We have high speed municipal broadband. We ask guests not to wear outdoor shoes in the house. Benches are available in the common room near the from door for doffing and storing shoes