Hollyhocks, Lambs, and Other Passions: A Memoir of Thornhill Farm

by Dee Hardie

This is the story of an old country house and how it grew young again, and of the family that has grown with it during the last thirty years. Built in 1843 in the Worthington Valley of Maryland, Thornhill Farm was a sorry derelict when Dee Hardie and her husband first saw it. Today it is sometimes featured in Dee's monthly column for House Beautiful. Its presence and character have molded the Hardies, even as they have molded Thornhill into something far more than a house surrounded by land. "Hollyhocks, Lambs and Other Passions" shows how a house can embrace a family's joy and provide shelter in sorrow. It tells of the ups and downs of raising four children and forty sheep, of the importance of celebrating everything from christenings to Christmas, of stenciling pineapples on the dining room floor and keeping a piano in the kitchen, of digging a rose garden and painting hollyhocks on the barn wall, of Tom Hardie's Sunday cooking, and tea parties for small grandchildren. Dee's determination to keep-- and make-- traditions runs throughout the book. Dee Hardie herself is the heart of Thornhill Farm. The absolute passion she brings to everything she does, the grace and care with which she lives her life, her infectious delight in the world around her, have made her accounts of Thornhill memorable. With her commitment to living life deliberately, she slows us down, for a time, in a world that moves at breakneck speed.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

252 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

Reviews

[Stephanie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never heard of this woman or her home & garden magazine columns, but I picked this up off the free cart at the library and in about 2 seconds flat I had decided to take it home with me and start reading. (farm? memoir? midcentury family photos? sold)

And it was, indeed, everything I want to hear about always in terms of proudly reminiscing about the historic but worn 19th century farmhouse + land that a young couple bought in 1955 and immediately began both fixing up and raising a family in. I put off this review too long so I hope to come back and add more detail later, when I've had time to flip through it again, but for now, suffice to say this is one of the most pleasant book surprises I've ever had.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the third time I’ve read this book. I remember reading her columns in some magazine. This is our 22nd Retreat Read Aloud book.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful memoir filled with heart-warming stories about starting a life and making a home on a farm in Butler MD. Stories of sheep, birds, gardening, cooking, decorating, family, children, and living in the country before McMansions. Her book is filled with wisdom, life's sadness and joy, and of course the lambs and hollyhocks. As I finished the book I read that Dee Hardie passed away in 2015 after a long (b. 1926) and fulfilling life. She seems to have been a person who was a delight to have as a friend or an acquaintance and her book reflected her inner light.

I'll pass this book to Dylan as it has some classic Maryland recipes including one for Maryland Oyster Stew.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to read Dee Hardie's column in House Beautiful and enjoyed her writings. When her book was published I'm sure I was one of the first to buy it. I thoroughly enjoyed the life she had created for her family. I still like to take out the book from my library shelves and browse through it.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dee Hardie is a firecracker of a gal, traveling the world, raising kids and building a farm from a neglected house and piece of land. This memoir aptly describes the trials and tribulations of doing all of that, and more. So good, I wish I could meet this dynamo in person!

[Sandy Emmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was like finding a jewel in the rough. I found it at the library in the old bios and just fell in love with the title. It's the true story of Dee Hardie,who was a writer for House Beautiful, about her life with her family on their farm called Thornhill set in the 1970's.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, light reading.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully charming.