Rough Point, Newport, RI. Photograph by William H. Johnson

Do you remember a few weeks ago when New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens was featured in the Boston Herald for an article titled “The Ghosts of Gossip Columns Past?” We got a big chuckle out of that piece and we were delighted in the idea that a whole new audience was catching wind of this beautiful—and entertaining—book about New England’s architectural and social history.

Now we are thrilled to report that Kim Knox Beckius’s New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens is back in the spotlight, but this time, for the inspiration one can draw from the classic design and traditional styles found on these pages.  Apartment Therapy, a popular home design website, has featured New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens in a story highlighting this “Yankee” style, comparing it to the much-buzzed about Downton Abbey, the recent hit for Masterpiece Theatre on PBS.

Roseland Cottage, Woodstock, CT. Photograph by William H. Johnson

Shot by renowned photographer William H. Johnson, the photography on these pages not only capture the gorgeous landscapes and exteriors of these homes, but also gives the reader a view the lives that were lived within. The pages are splashed with colorful images of the formal receiving and dining areas, but also of the kitchens, laundry rooms, and other impressive spaces that supported the lives of these notable New Englanders.

The best part? Each of the 36 homes featured in New England’s Historic Homes & Gardens are open to the public. So grab a copy of this informative and beautiful book, visit these great examples of “Yankee style”, and plan to be inspired!

Read the full Apartment Therapy post here.

 New England's Historic Homes & Gardens is available in local bookstores, at Barnes & Nobles, and online.

Image courtesy of BostonHerald.com

The days are dwindling until the kickoff for Super Bowl XLVI between the Patriots and New York Giants. The ducklings in the Public Garden are ready. Now, it’s just time to get those Duck Boats ready for the parade.

Looking for a place to cheer on the Pats with your fellow fans? Don’t want to host your own party and risk missing any of the snaps or commercials? Here are some of the best spots around Boston to watch Super Bowl XLVI:

The Four’s. Boston sports fans not only get the Super Bowl on Sunday, but an entertaining undercard in the afternoon with the Bruins skating in Washington against the Capitals and the Celtics hosting the Grizzlies at the TD Garden. Just around the corner, The Four’s will be jumping all day. It may not have the biggest televisions, but it’s a classic Boston sports bar that will be a great place to catch any of the games.

The Greatest Bar. Located near the Garden, the ground-floor bar has a bank of gigantic high-def televisions that rivals some sports books in Las Vegas. No need to worry about squinting to follow the action here. Jim Beam will be hosting a Super Bowl party with giveaways.

Game On! Always a popular sports bar, Game On! has no shortage of flat-screen televisions on its two levels. Since it’s located adjacent to Fenway Park, there’s always a Red Sox flavor, and the Super Bowl is no different. Game On! will be giving away three pairs of Monster Tickets at halftime. Take that, Madonna.

Cask ‘n Flagon. Right across the street from Game On!, the Cask will also be giving away prizes, including concert and Red Sox tickets, Xbox game systems, and gift cards.

Image courtesy of dropkickmurphys.com

McGreevy’s. The Boston-New York rivalry will be extended off the field as McGreevy’s has agreed to a wager with Foley’s, a New York City pub. The losing team’s bar will also give proceeds of all shepherd’s pies sold from Super Bowl Sunday to baseball opening day to the winner’s charity. The loser of the bet will be forced to travel to the other pub to work a bartending shift in the colors of the enemy team. Let’s hope its not our Ken Casey, part owner and founding member of the Dropkick Murphys.

Jerry Remy’s Seaport. The monster 32-foot HD video wall inside this new eatery will put anyone’s TV to shame, but it’s going to cost you. Remy’s is accepting VIP reservations for $50 per person with seating beginning at 4PM. Reservations are taken in parties of four. (50% of all reservations will be donated to a local charity.) Each VIP party of four gets a table, a free appetizer per guest, and a Remy’s Seaport Super Bowl T-shirt.

Stadium Sports Bar. If you don’t want to venture downtown, the Stadium Sports Bar in South Boston is a great alternative. Mike Adams of WEEI radio will be hosting a Super Bowl party beginning at 3 PM.

CBS Scene. If you really have Patriots fever, you can always watch the game just steps away from the home field in Foxboro. Patriot Place has plenty of bars and restaurant tuned into the game, including the CBS Scene, where you can watch right in the shadows of Gillette Stadium. First and second floor seats are sold out, but no reservations are needed to watch the game on the third-floor sports bar. If the Pats win, maybe they’ll let you stick around for 12 hours until the Patriot bus pulls back into the parking lot with the Vince Lombardi Trophy in tow.

Christopher Klein is the author of The Die-Hard Sports Fan's Guide to Boston and Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: A Guide to the City's Hidden Shores. He is a regular contributor to the travel pages of The Boston Globe, and his articles and photographs have appeared in National Geographic Traveler, The Boston Globe Magazine, New England Travel, GO Magazine, AAA Horizons, Smithsonian.com, AmericanHeritage.com, and ESPN.com.

It’s that time of year again. Store windows are covered in heart decals and flower shops are practically shoving roses down everyone’s throats. But regardless of how you feel about Valentine’s Day, all of us at Union Park Press hope you’ll consider being our valentine! If you take us up on the offer, you’ll be entered in our contest to win a free book!

Here’s how it works: To enter the giveaway, go to our Facebook page and click the “like” button. Then write on our wall and tell us which Union Park Press book you most want to give to your Valentine*! Yes, it’s that simple! However, you must like the page to be entered into the contest.

A winner will be selected via a random number generator on Friday, February 10^th at 3:00 PM and will be announced on Twitter and Facebook. We will promptly ship the your selected title to the person of your choice so that it will arrive in time for the holiday. Please note that this gift can only be shipped to U.S. residents.

*Please note, we think that your Valentine can be your mom, your dad, your friend, your postman, your cousin, your yoga instructor, your bus driver, or even YOURSELF. Love knows no bounds, after all!

The Books:

New England's Historic Homes & Gardens by Kim Knox Beckius
Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces by Meg Muckenhoupt
Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands by Christopher Klein
The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston by Christopher Klein
Under Cape Cod Waters by Ethan Daniels
Boston Baby by Kim Foley MacKinnon
North Shore Baby by Dana Rousmaniere

Best of luck and happy Valentine’s Day from Union Park Press!

Late last year, we realized how lucky we were to have access to such beautiful photography of Boston and New England here at Union Park Press.  After all, when you publish books about New England’s historic houses and landscapes, Greater Boston’s parks and gardens, and underwater photography from Cape Cod, you are bound to see some spectacular shots.

We wanted to share some of those gorgeous scenes with fellow New England-lovers, and introduced the monthly Union Park Press digital desktop calendar series in October of 2011. We have been thrilled by the response, and have pulled together a great collection of photography to share in 2012.

This month, we have chosen to represent February with a stunning underwater shot from Under Cape Cod Waters. This has been such an odd, snowless winter, that we are ready to just move on already, and fast-forward to the spring and summer on Cape Cod.

Taken by Under Cape Cod Waters author and photographer Ethan Daniels, this gorgeous shot of pink water lilies comes from a chapter called "Freshwater Colors", where Daniels focuses on the lakes and kettle ponds that dot the Cape.  He says about the lakes:

"Immersed in a virtually weightless universe, disconnected from the world spinning above, one enters another time, another space, and experiences a great discord of color. Vibrant greens and sultry reds of lilies clash in an unruly composition. Sunlight passes through a canopy of lily pads growing on the edge of the water, casting yellow beams through the miniature underwater jungle, illuminating a rich and colorful flora..."

While those lakes and kettle ponds are pretty dormant right about now, it doesn't mean we can't start thinking about those beautiful, vibrant colors now! We would also add that Under Cape Cod Waters might just be the perfect mid-winter pick-me-up (or Valentine's Day gift?) for the Cape Cod lover in your life.

We hope you enjoy this monthly series and that you come back next month to see what we have in store for March.

How to set this image as your Desktop Background:

• Download this for your desktop screen in resolutions of 1280 x 800 (small), 1440 x 900 (medium), or 1920 x 1200 (large), based on the size of your screen.
• Right-click (or ctrl-click for some Mac users) on the image, and chose the option that says, "Set as Desktop Background", "Use as Desktop Picture", -- the exact wording will depend on the browser you use.
• If the image does not fit your desktop background neatly, you may have to go to your preference screen (on a Mac: System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Desktop; on Windows: Control Panel > Display > Desktop) and choose "Fit to screen" as the display mode of your background image.
• Voila! You have a beautiful, seasonal desktop calendar to keep you on track all month long.

Boston Light

Those of us who live in and around Boston are likely familiar with the recent discussion about potential MBTA fare hikes and service cuts. These proposals come as a way of dealing with massive deficits and a struggling system.

However, it has been brought to our attention by the Boston Harbor Island Alliance that some of these proposals include eliminating commuter ferries and Boston Harbor Island ferries from Quincy.  In light of all the public investment that has gone into the harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands National Park, we believe that any cuts to ferry service are misguided.

It's no secret that we are huge fans of the Boston Harbor Islands here at Union Park Press.  Our first, and still most popular title, Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: A Guide to the City’s Hidden Shores, was created to share that enthusiasm for this incredible resource found just minutes away from downtown Boston.  We are thrilled that this guide has served to introduce many people to the Islands for the first time and to give experienced explorers a deeper knowledge of the Islands’ history and context.

The Boston Harbor National Park area has seen incredible growth in recent years, with public interest and visitor counts increasing each season. But if we cut out a major means for getting people to the islands, what will be the consequence?

If you feel the same way, please attend one of the public hearings scheduled by the MBTA and make your voice heard.

MBTA Public Hearing Schedule

UPDATE: The Boston Globe has published an Op-Ed piece that supports maintaining the commuter ferry service from Hull, Hingham and Quincy, saying that taking the services away is a step backward. While the Boston Harbor Island ferries out of Quincy were not mentioned, we believe that not providing ferry service from that location threatens the recent successes and improved infrastructure at the Boston Harbor Islands.

Photograph by Sue Scheible for the Patriot Ledger

Hoo boy—just when you'd think the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy could get some peace and quiet, what with Occupy Boston decamped and a mostly empty calendar, the Boston Herald suddenly discovers that Nancy Brennan doesn't know how to use e-mail. While it's certainly amusing to read Brennan's panicked typing, the grousing about her salary as Exeuctive Director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy misses the point; the Conservancy will never be completely open and transparent to the public, or use public funds efficiently. And it's all our fault.

First, let me recap the current kerfuffle. Confronted with a request from Boston Herald reporter for her current salary, Brennan, the Greenway's executive director, attempted to e-mail her public relations consultant Lisa Quackenbush to ask what to do... and sent her e-mail to the reporter instead. As a result, the Herald published this message:

“What do you think about: 1. My writing her with the FY12 salary of 185,000 as of July 1,” Brennan wrote, noting that the documents now publicly available date only to 2010. Those documents show her base salary at $162,000. Brennan suggested: “a. Ignore; b. Write her now; c. Respond after deadline later tonight... Brennan later emailed the Herald reporter and declined to provide current salaries for herself or her staff, citing staff privacy, and directed the reporter to the group’s most recent 990 nonprofit corporation tax forms, which cover calendar year 2010.”

The best tweet I've seen about the situation, by @JaneCarpenter, reads: "Don't let this happen to you! Call your PR pro on the phone, Rose Kennedy Greenway exec learns the hard way...http://bit.ly/zDRCH9."

(Let me note here that anyone with an internet connection can look up the salaries of the top executives at any organization the IRS considers a nonprofit  by looking through their IRS form 990 filings at Guidestar.org (free registration required). The most recent years are often missing, as are bonuses, but you can get an idea of what's going on.)

The Herald reported that Brennan's salary has been bumped as high as $225K, thanks to generous bonuses, and that the Greenway parks cost $300K per year per acre to maintain. Various state representatives have been demanding more transparency for Greenway finances, as has Richard Davey, the Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which owns the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Brennan responded in an interview with Meghna Charkabarti on WBUR, where Charkabarti noted that the Greenway maintenance figures are in line with expenses for other urban parks with lots of pavement, electrical fixtures, fountains and the like, like New York City's Battery Park City and the High Line.

So what do we do with this information?

Nothing.

Nancy Brennan's salary is, in and of itself, meaningless. The entire Greenway budget is re-enacting the Big Dig's fiscal management. Here's what the Boston Globe had to say about Greenway finances in 2005:

"Current estimates are that the Greenway parks, which are being more elaborately designed than most of the other parks in the city, will cost $2.5 million to $3.5 million annually for upkeep. A 5 percent annual return on a $50 million endowment would yield $2.5 million. It is the board's task to raise that money."

...and the Boston Herald on January 25, 2012:

"The conservancy, which originally was formed to maintain the Greenway without public funding, has received more than $15 million in state funds since 2005, including more than $2.5 million for last year’s $4.7 million budget."

Got that? According to the 2005 estimates, the state's contribution should pay for the entire Greenway budget—and the state shouldn't be giving the Greenway any money at all. You can read more about the Conservancy's budget here.

And here is the crux of the problem: the Greenway Conservancy was created to run a park that no one wanted to fund. Now, the State Department of Transportation owns the Greenway, while the Conservancy maintains the parks (leading to occasional problems with garbage collection.) So we've got the worst of all possible worlds: a tiny organization that can't take advantage of the Boston Parks Department's expertise or equipment, that keeps current staff salaries secret, and that violates open meeting laws. We can't stop funding this major park right in the middle of Boston because it could fall apart—how tragic! How embarrassing!— but the Greenway can't run parks as cheaply as the city (and it isn't), and it is not directly accountable to the public.

Over the past few years, the Greenway staff have done a great job of making the Greenway more welcoming to visitors (except for Occupy Boston). But make no mistake: we are paying for it. Nancy Brennan's salary is a side issue. The real problem is that the Greenway is an expensive privately-run park on public land that is subsidized by  Massachusetts taxpayers. Brennan compares the Greenway to the High Line and Battery Park City, but the High Line is a public park run by the city of New York, and Battery Park City is privately owned; neither of those parks are run as a green welfare mishmash like the Greenway.

So complain all you like. Nothing is going to change unless the Greenway is made into a public park, or completely privatized and has to raise all its own funds—a condition which tends to encourage thrift. Nancy Brennan may be awkward with technology and public disclosures, but she isn't doing anything new. The Greenway has never been comfortable with disclosure of its finances; there were complaints about its secrecy in 2010. The difference is that now, people are beginning to notice.

The Greenway's lease is up for renewal in 2014. If you want Greenway management to change, start making plans.

For more on the Rose Kennedy Greenway from Meg Muckenhoupt, check out the following posts:

• Occupying Boston's Public Planning
• Occupy Boston: Public Parks and Protests
• The Buzz Around Boston
• Boston Park Pile Up: Summer News on Green Boston
• The Kennedy Greenway: Less is More of What Exactly?
• The Greenway Plans Change Again

Or, even better, plan to attend her upcoming talk hosted by the Boston Preservation Alliance at the Old South Meeting House in downtown Boston. More information can be found here.

Meg Muckenhoupt is the author of Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces.  She is a freelance environmental and travel writer. Her articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, the Time Out Boston guide, and many other publications. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society. 

We are blown away by the positive press our newest book, North Shore Baby, continues to receive. We are thrilled that North Shore and Boston-area media are so taken with the book and with author Dana Rousmaniere, the brains behind this diaper bag essential. In a write-up that was distributed to several local papers throughout the North Shore, the book was praised for containing “all the information local parents could ever need,” and just  last week, the  Salem Gazette published an article featuring Dana and her inspiration for writing the book.

Now the Boston Parents Paper is getting in on the action. In the February 2012 issue of the magazine, North Shore Baby is lauded for being “comprehensive and easy to navigate,” and Dana’s easy-to-read writing style is compared to “a conversation between two friends.”

Dana, a North Shore resident herself, has “been there, done that – and new moms and dads will benefit from her exhaustive research,” according to the paper. For the full text of the article, see the clip below and remember to pick up a complimentary copy at  a location near you!

As appeared in Boston Parents' Paper, February 2012

Interested in purchasing a copy of the book? North Shore Baby is available online and in local boutiques and bookstores.

Here at Union Park Press, we are beyond thrilled that our newest book, North Shore Baby: A Field Guide for Parents North of Boston, has been getting so much great publicity.  The book has been featured in the CNC North Holiday Gift Guide, the Danvers Herald/Tri-Town Transcript, and most recently, the Salem Gazette.

Author Dana Rousmaniere, who has written for Fit Pregnancy and Good Housekeeping, lives on the North Shore with her husband and three children. In the Salem Gazette article, published Friday, January 20^th, she explains why she decided to write North Shore Baby. She also shares her favorite North Shore family-friendly activities, like visiting the Trustees of Reservations properties in Gloucester, and talks about her experiences raising her own kids. Click here to read the full article.

Interested in purchasing a copy of this diaper bag essential? North Shore Baby is available online and in local boutiques and bookstores.

Union Park Press’ own Meg Muckenhoupt, who authored Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces, is no stranger to giving thought-provoking, informative talks. We’re thrilled to announce that she will put her talents to good use at the Old South Meeting House at a talk hosted by the Boston Preservation Alliance on Wednesday, February 8^th at 5:30 p.m. as part of their Meet the Author lecture series.

Come hear Meg’s views on the roles played by public spaces throughout Boston’s historic and contemporary landscape, from the suburban wilderness and urban wilds to the Emerald Necklace and newly created Big Dig parks.

The people at Old South Meeting Hall place a great deal of importance on educational lectures such as Meg’s, and it’s only fitting that the Boston Preservation Alliance should host the event. After all, the purpose of the nonprofit organization is to protect and improve the quality of Boston's historic buildings, landscapes and communities through advocacy and education.

The event is free for members of OSMH and BPA, and $10 for non-members- the Boston Preservation Alliance simply asks that you pre-register here.  Don’t forget to bring your copy of Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces for Meg to sign! If you don’t already own it, pick it up at the event—a UPP staff member will be there selling copies.

Can't make Meg's event? Union Park Press author Christopher Klein will take part in the series as well on Wednesday, March 28^th at 5:30 p.m. He will share the “stranger than fiction” history of the 34 Boston Harbor Islands, which he wrote about in his book, Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands.

The new wing at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, photograph by Nic Lehoux

As the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's public relations staff have been trying to tell you for weeks now, the new Gardner Museum wing will be opening on Thursday, January 19. What they don't tell you is that Mrs. Gardner would never have approved of the the Museum's plan for the new Lynch Foundation garden—or the rest of this new-fangled glass display case of an addition.

Well, that may be a bit severe. Let's just say that Mrs. Gardner didn't care for change. Here's how the Boston Landmarks Commission Study Report on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum describes Gardner's desires (emphasis mine):

In 1919 Isabella Gardner suffered the first of a series of strokes and died on July 17, 1924, leaving a $1 million endowment for the museum. Her will stipulated that the museum’s permanent collection be displayed 'for the education and enjoyment of the public forever' and that the composition and arrangement of the collection not be significantly altered; if her wishes were not honored, the palace and collection were to be sold and the proceeds donated to Harvard University.

Got that? Don't touch anything! It's mine!

Ahem. It's clear that the Gardner Museum's succeeding trustees have creatively interpreted Mrs. Gardner's instructions—for example, by covering her meditation room and selling most of her Buddhist statues and sacred objects, according to WBUR—and the notorious thieves who from the museum in 1990 certainly didn't carry out her wishes (though they did carry off thirteen works of art). And now, there's a gigantic new addition for displaying stuff that Mrs. Gardner never saw, and rotating exhibitions. Anything goes!

The new wing at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, photograph by Nic Lehoux

To be fair, the only thing Gardner said in her will about the open space around her garden is“I prefer that the vacant land shall remain open, but if the Trustees deem it necessary for the protection of the museum, they may erect buildings thereon…" Still, the most radical (in the "root" sense of the word) expression of the new wing's novel impermanence is in the Lynch Foundation Garden. The bizarrely unedited Museum Project Fact Sheet describes thusly:

Behind the new Museum lobby space is a grade-level garden of Lacebark Elms and Witch Hazel, creating the illusion of a larger garden space. Functioning more as a horticultural exhibition space, the new Lynch Foundation Garden will be reinstalled by a new artist in several years.

Once you're done wondering how a garden creates an illusion of a larger garden, and how the Lynch Foundation Garden functions more as a horticultural exhibition space (more than what? A rock? A vampire squid?), look at the end of the second sentence; the garden will be reinstalled in several years.

Yes, the Gardner Museum now has a rotating exhibition garden! It's like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Courtyard, only on a completely different time scale. Perhaps the designers were inspired by the Gardner Museum's January, 2011 lecture on the annual Garden Festival at Quebec's Les Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens. Or perhaps no one could decide what to do with the place.

Now, the Lynch Foundation Garden is planted with "tight groves of juvenile Chinese lacebark elm trees," according to Carol Stocker's Boston Globe piece on the Museum's landscaping. They're growing in planters buried in the ground, and they have to be dug up and put somewhere else in three years. If not, "They will eat the building," says landscape architect Ron Henderson. I suppose that's better than having the building eat the trees.

Of course, the new building project did eat the gardens. As the Boston Landmarks Commission Study Report states repeatedly, "all of the gardens were excavated and redesigned as part of the 2012 museum expansion project." That may not be such a bad thing; Stocker quotes Gardner director of operations James Labeck as saying, "Every director took an interest in redesigning the garden, so the reality was a hodgepodge."

The Monks Garden at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1946

Labeck doesn't seem to realize that the reality is still a hodgepodge. The new wing has a greenhouse that visitors can admire, and an allée of American hornbeams and lacebark pines (not elms! They're keepers!) shading the glass corridor between the new wing and the Gardner Classic museum, a bunch of potted elms, and the Monks Garden which "awaits an 2012-13 makeover by a yet-to-be-named designer" according to Stocker. Oh, and a giant outdoor portrait of an ailanthus tree, one of the top invasive plants in Massachusetts. (I suppose it's transgressive art.) There are some new permanent plantings—a few magnolias, three sugar maples. But it all sounds a bit non-committal.

Imagine how the Renzo Piano-designed wing would be received if it opened this week with a few walls missing and a sign at the entrance desk saying that all the furniture would be replaced in a few years. Mrs. Gardner might find that a bit more amusing than having her Monks Garden, which was "very dear" to her, torn apart and left unplanted for a year. But Isabella Stewart Gardner has been dead for ninety years now. She doesn't have much of a say in the matter any more.