Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/105

 Lisbon^ N. H.

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��have all gone to decay. Near the Hillside Home, a sunmier resort kept b}' Edwin Knight, on said brook, are the Hughson falls, a cascade in which the water leaps down over a succes- sion of irregular steps some seventy- five or eighty feet. In time of high water a spectacle is presented truly grand and imposing.

Of late years, Lisbon, on account of its proximity to the mountains, its pure air, and delightful scenery, has become famous as a summer resort. To meet the increasing demand, com- modious structures have been reared, specially fitted for the convenience and comfort of the guests, so that within their walls the pleasure-seeker, the invalid, or the care-worn business man truly may find a home. First comes to notice the Sunset Hill House, built in the year 1879, by Haskin & Bowles, under whose management it has attained its present popularity. Its table is supplied with all the substantials and luxuries procured in the markets and farm-houses, and its arrangements throughout are those of a first-class establishment. Being of peculiar architecture, and domeless, with colors flying from a flagstaff, its appearance from a distance is sug- gestive of a fortress rather than the abode of peace and pleasure. The house is located near the village of Sugar Hill, on a small plateau ele- vated nearly two thousand feet above sea level. No spot in the mountain region is more lovely, or abounds in more picturesque and romantic scenery. To the east, on the oppo- site side of a deep valley, are the mountains, so bold, so huge, so rug- ged and magnificent. The whole range rises to view, from Mount

��Washington to Kinsman, from the sombre spruce in the foot-hills to the rocky cliffs in the clouds, alto- gether constituting a vast expanse of mountain side, endless forest, and rocky declivities.

The tourist can here revel in scenes "which daily viewed, please daily, and whose novelty survives long knowledge and scrutiny of years." From day to day he can recline upon the veranda and contemplate these grand old mountains in all their va- ried phases. He can gaze upon these lofty summits, bleak and weird and desolate and silent, reposing in the glorious sunlight, or when the tem- pest bursts upon them in all its fury, and presses their rock-ribbed sides, searches every nook, and howls its mournful anthems through hollow caverns. Again he beholds them in the terrific grandeur of the storm, as angry clouds obscure their rough feat- tures, and the thunder peals with startling crash and the lightning flashes through the gloom. From the Sunset Hill House, westward, the scene presented to the vision, if less romantic, is more loveh' and attrac- tive ; nature unrolls a panorama pe- culiarly her own, embracing all the beauties of the landscape. Over the variegated expanse, far away, are seen the smoky for.ms of the Green Mountains ; farther south appears hill beyond hill, till in the dim distance the view is lost. This house usually remains open into October, affording opportunity for lovers of nature to linger, and behold the ubiquitous for- est tinted with all the gorgeous hues of autumn, and the mountain-tops white with snow.

One mile north of the Sunset Hill

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