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I saw these address books as I sorted through items at the Ridge Road House and thought, yes, keep them! Old address books have a page for birthdays: if someone needs to confirm an ancestor's birthday this would be a good resource. If you want to look up census data from a particular town or city, this could be a starting point. The red address book belonged to Harry Cooley himself. Harry and his wife Gertrude (Small) lived on the farm down the road for over 35 years but owned this particular house for only two years (1953-1955) before she passed away from lung cancer. Sadly, my husband Daniel R. Cooley only remembers her ill and lying in bed (he would have been 3-4 when she died. Harry lived until 1986. The other address book belonged to Harry's second wife Bernice (Parker Lane). Even though she doesn't share DNA with the family, she lived at this Ridge Road house for almost five years, from 1957-1962, and Harry loved her dearly. Harry discovered her on the kitchen floor having died of a heart attack (they knew she had a bad heart but she had been completely fine just the day before). Share any memories of your grandmothers...Gramma Cooley and/or Gramma Bernice in the comments section below. I realize you had to be born well before 1955 to be old enough to remember Gramma Cooley and well before 1962 for Gramma Bernice.

The best feature of this tiny bedroom- the two windows with a view of the Green Mountains. Not big enough to add in a closet. L-shaped. Many a grandchild remembers sleeping here. Two secret peek holes created by one grandchild. You could lay in bed and see who was coming up the stairs! Very useful if you were reading late with a flashlight.

This is possibly the most beautiful bedroom in the house. Facing south doesn't hurt any room. So lit up and cheerful. I have always been fond of Capes...with the two bedrooms upstairs that match on either side of the house. I love symmetry I guess. It doesn't matter that there are only two windows in each room...they fill up a whole wall. This room also has a beautiful wide-board floor, though parts of it are kind of 'cut up.' I'm not sure why. Could these boards be saved and reused? I certainly would like to try. As I have mentioned in my Design & Planning Posts, the whole upstairs will be for guests, but this room in particular will be the most hospitable for visitors. It will be known as the PA Bedroom (see previous reference for explanation) and will host my son & wife when they come, and any other special visitors that come just as a couple. Jill and John used this room in summer. Who else has slept here? I have not.

I learned that this bedroom was updated by Marion (Cooley) Stouder (a daughter of Harry Cooley who bought the house in 1953). The Stouder family visited often and spent a lot of time at this house. This room tilts dramatically to the north and the floor can make you a bit dizzy as you walk on it these days.

Installed when Harry Cooley's mother moved in (as were the wide stairs and the special handrails) as she was elderly. Anna Hale Cooley 1867-1972. You do the math! She ended up moving out to Ada, Ohio to live with her son Oscar Cooley. Did the stairs get to be too much? Who can answer in the comments below?