History

The farmhouse at 79 Rolling Rock Road was built by 1879 or earlier (reports differ) with significant additions in the 1930s and 1940s.  The farm was a working farm for many years in the 19th century.  It was owned by the Curtis family in the last 1920s and early 1930s.  The Newhall/Adams family purchased the farm in 1933 and has owned it ever since.  Through the middle of the 20th century, Avis and Gerald Adams maintained the farm and made it into a "family headquarters", naming many of the locales after sites in Lynn, Massachusetts, the hometown of Avis and the Newhalls.  Gerald enjoyed fishing in Lake Sunapee and Avis enjoyed herb gardening.  They expanded the farmhouse and built the structures by the waterfront.  Uncle Gerald bought the Dyer launch for fishing.  Both were avid scouts and loved the mountains.  After Gerald died, Avis continued to invite cousins, nieces and nephews to Sunapee.  Trails were cut through the woods by some, others became avid tennis players and sailors.  All developed a loyalty to White Cottage Farm and Sunapee. 

In the 1960s and 1970s, one niece and one nephew each built a home on the property, setting a precedent to develop a family community.  After Aunt Avis died, six more house lots were established and made available to family members.  John B. Newhall, Aunt Avis's nephew, opened the farmhouse to family to use on a reservation basis, maintained the finances, contributed  his legal and administrative oversight, and ran annual Aunt Avis Day gathers for all family in August.  High Rock and Mab's Way were built by the family and soon more family houses were built.  The quiet and graceful spirit of White Cottage Farm persists, anchored in family bonds. 

Below you will find family history including scans of Breed service during the Revolutionary War and a 1991 interview with Aunt Avis Newhall Adams.