Topsmead Memories

The house and gardens of Topsmead on Jefferson Hill, the highest point in Litchfield, are battened down for winter.  The Friends of Topsmead Docent Team and the DEEP employees have done the job with care.

The house is closed up; put to bed and winterized:  screens exchanged for storm windows; summer curtains exchanged for winter curtains; 16th century antique furniture dusted, cleaned with Murphy's oil soap, and covered with protective drapes.

From the outside, the French doors are shuttered with wooden panels.  Ivy pots on the veranda's tree of life have been taken home to be loved over the winter by a devoted DEEP seasonal employee.  Gardens around the house have been cut down.  The dovecote bird nest has been abandoned for warmer climes.  Fruit trees along the driveway stand pruned in readiness for winter's wind and ice.  Hardwood leaves fallen and blown away leave naked tree limbs drawing dark lines against the sky.  The hayfields have been mowed down to their winter buzz cuts.

While the docent team takes advantage of the winter off-season to research topics of interest to enrich their tour presentations, DEEP employees regularly check on the property and are at-the-ready to respond to any winter storm emergencies.

Each December day that passes drives the season toward its shortest daylight and longest darkness--the winter solstice, Monday, December 21, 2025, 10:03am.

As the house and the landscape slumber and the end of the year approaches, the shorter days and longer nights give us permission to remember our visits to Topsmead. What were some of your most perfect walkabouts at Topsmead this year?  Whom were you with:  a lively dog companion?  a new friend?  a faithful partner?  Where did you go:  to the butterfly garden?  around the Edith Chase Ecology Trail or the Bernard Stairs Trail?  What did you do:  go birdwatching?  picnicking?  photographing?  How was the weather:  sunny? rainy? snowy?

Regardless of wherever, whatever, however, and with whomever, take heart and embrace winter solstice because minute by minute after its arrival, the days grow longer and the expanding daylight will once again welcome us back to make new Topsmead 2026 memories.

Margaret Hunt
Blogmistress