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[push-stars.livejournal.com]

Round House

" At 36 Atherton Street between Porter and Union squares, there is round house which dates from 1856. I am fascinated by its archirecture and history and saddened by its state of direpair.

According to the Somerville Public Library, the 40-foot diameter Round House was built as a curiosity by a prominent inventor and locksmith, Enoch Robinson. It contains a glass-domed central hall and two parlors: one circular and one oval. The Somerville Old House Organization (SOHO) has a nice write up on the place, including a rare picture of the interior, seen at right. In it you can see sections of the parlor walls, which Robinson covered with a French scenic paper depicting royalty in castles, gardens, and hunting scenes. The shape of the house itself has been traced to one built in the Desert de Retz in Chambourcy, France, in 1780 and 1781 by Francois Nicolas Henri Racine de Monville (1734–1797) in the shape of a huge, round, ruined, classical column."

    Here is more :   Round House

    Thanks for all of the replies and additional links!  Here are some more intersting links about the house as well as some other Somerville historic photos    Link one, house plans

Link two, Somerville Historic photos

found: children's books

[littlelamynds.livejournal.com]

On Saturday evening I found a Porter Square Books bag with 2 new children's books in it in front of the CVS in Porter Square. If these belong to you, please contact me so I can return them to you!

new restaurant review: 400 highland, davis sq

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

brand-new restaurant in my neighborhood. executive summary: that was GREAT.

. first big hit: basil ginger gimlet. everybody knows about me and infused vodkas, and this was a vodka-infused, overall rather sweet (as well as fresh-leaf-type spicy) drink with ice and a lime slice. mmMMmm.

. appetizer: i had french onion soup, which was hearty and filling, lots and lots of bread and cheese as well as the onions and the broth (a good version imho; i hate the sort with a stupid crouton or so), but each ingredient having a strength to properly complement the overall proportions. my companion had a spinach salad with hazelnuts; i don't think i'd have liked that quite as much in front of me but as something to steal bites of, yum, hazelnuts.

. main course; i ordered the duck confit (secretly an appetizer) with a side of garlic spinach. the duck was salty if eaten alone; on a fork with the fresh greens it was just right, and very flavorful. the garlic spinach imho was fine spinach, but the garlic wasn't as present as maybe it should have been to stand up to spinach. that was my biggest (and only, really) culinary minor complaint of the evening. my companion had the "petit filet" (not petit, there were leftovers) and the "medium rare" was, if not the bloodiest, still rare enough that i took as many bites as i could. the accompanying chanterelles did that lovely mushroom plenty of justice, and the gnocchi were tender and savory. very much wow. (EDIT: and there was a glass of wine in there somewhere, of which i had a mere sip; it was white and hearty and i don't remember anything else about it (no, i wasn't *that* sloshed; it was my companion's drink :) )

. second big hit: they were out of the fruit for making a "forbidden fruit" cocktail, so brought me something else to try (possibly called a "strawberry tartini"?) this was amazing. i dipped the strawberry garnish into the drink and fed it to my companion, and she swooned, and it was beautiful.

. dessert: cappucino with enough foam and no burnt taste to the espresso -- it doesn't get better than that, and it hardly ever gets remotely that good anywhere on this coast at all. and the 'budino' (?) was a sort of chocolate souffle, hot and melty in the middle, topped with a creamy coffee ice cream and more crunchy hazelnuts. a total win.

. service: gave good advice, was present at correct moments, asked if everything was perfect and i could honestly say it was. can't beat that. the manager stopped by with similar questions -- they've opened w/o publicity, i guess so that they could get feedback and word-of-mouth out first. i can only sing their praises. they're wonderful. if anybody wants to take me out to a fancy, decadent, high-end spendy meal anytime soon, i'm there :)

(x-posted: my journal, davis_square, boston_eats)