Roadtrip East: Shaking It Up, 2016 Edition!

Two years ago when we visited Massachusetts, I wrote a much more informative post than this one on the Shaker Village in Hancock. The photos I took then were stark -- the elegantly simple buildings against a blanket of white. (You can check out the original post which has much more information about the Shakers and their history HERE.)

This year, with the ground beginning to green up, I thought I'd make another visit to compare. This historical museum itself wasn't open yet (that's not till April) but from the parking area I could get a look at some of the sites I saw before.



I loved the starkness of the white against this building and the angles of the photo. The springtime version is almost painterly in a much different way.



Here's the round barn, one of the notable features of the Shaker Village.

 

As you can see, it's quite a difference!


I wish I could have better captured the yellow building in the winter shot in the spring. I'm not quite sure why it didn't show as well this year!

And here are a few of the outbuildings, including the meeting house.

 

If I did the blog match up "Good Fences," I would be sure to add this one!



This time I was able to window peek. You can get a good idea of the beautiful Shaker workmanship.

Hancock is not the oldest Shaker Village. That distinction belongs to the Shaker colony at New Lebanon, New York.

Much of this area has been taken over by the Darrow School, a boarding and day college prep school. The campus was on the site of the largest and most industrious Shaker community in the country.

The Shakers had set the plans for a school in motion more than a decade before the left the site in 1947. Many of the original buildings evolved into classrooms, dining areas, dorms and sports facilities, although all renovations were conducted in consideration of the Shaker principles of simplicity, function, beauty and stewardship.

 

Also on the property is a Shaker Museum and a barn that is currently under reconstruction.

If you keep on the same country road, you will come to Abode of the Message, a Universal Community founded in 1975. It is housed in additional Shaker buildings from the New Lebanon community.

The group grew out of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 70s. Its intent is to bring about spiritual awakening thruogh the Sufi teachings and to the devotion of love, harmony and beauty. Included in the area is a conference center, communal living and dining facilities, classrooms for workshops, and meditation retreat areas.

Here you can see a bit of the layout of the area as it was in Shaker times. The school is in the middle and Abode of the Message at the far right of the drawing.

I leave you with a country road, quiet on a Sunday morning.

And a few words from the Sufi community. Good words to remember!

This post is linked to Thoughts of Home on Thursday! Check out the link for tons of wonderful interesting posts and creative ideas.