The Film

A house is more than just a physical shelter. It is a reflection of its inhabitants, a container of memories, a touchstone of history and change. In this portrait of one ordinary farmhouse, recently torn down, as told in the words and voice of someone who once lived there, this film is, on one hand, a dreamlike evocation of a bygone rural life, colorful individuality, and community spiritedness and, on the other, a sympathetic eulogy of those who have come before us, their hard-living and sacrifice, accomplishments and dignity, and the forgotten beauty of ordinary lives. 

Background

“Every gaze that fell and lingered on that house was hungry not for boards and dormer windows and porches and chimneys, but for a story.”  

“Good-bye to a House” is a documentary-short based on the words of Jodi Farwell -- a mother, farmer, former school teacher, and writer -- who was a one-time resident of what’s most recently known as the Seaver Farm in Harrisville, NH. The film features evocative footage of the farm in all seasons and weather: its decaying barn, a hayfield on a hill, overgrown apple trees, stone walls demarcating the encroaching woods, and grand vistas of a looming Mt. Monadnock. This location footage will be complemented by impressionistic re-enactments plus a rich collection of archival and more recent images of the house, farm, and its people from over the years, culled from the town historical society’s collection and local residents.

A lifelong resident of Harrisville, Farwell’s personal musings on the meaning of a house and place sets a tone that has resonated with many in Harrisville, a town of less than a thousand in southwestern New Hampshire, and will undoubtedly with many other residents in small rural towns throughout New Hampshire and New England. 

As Farwell says about the torn-down house: “In the absence of the house... we are approaching exactly what the people before us had and held dear above all: a good place upon which to freely exert a good will.” The latest chapter for the Seaver Farm has seen the property protected by a conservation easement through the efforts of people in town working in collaboration with a regional conservation organization.

Project Status 

Filming on the Seaver Farm property started in March 2021 and has continued until the present capturing the property in all seasons and weather. Picture research has tapped key resources including: 1) Historic Harrisville’s collection via its director Erin Hammersteadt; 2) the unseen visual record of Edgar Seaver and Paul Geddes who resided on the farm, via  proxy John Newcombe; 3) Rebecca Upjohn, a local photographer who took a series of evocative house portraits before its demolition in November 2020; and 4) Dave Dodge, local en plein air painter, who has captured the farm and vistas in paintings. The script was adapted from Jodi Farwell’s essay and serves as the film’s voice-over.

Post-production began in winter 2023 and includes: 1) rough, fine, and finish cut editing; 2) animation and motion graphics; 3) musical scoring and composition; 4) sound design, audio mixing and mastering; and 5) color design. Completion of the film is scheduled for late spring/early summer 2024 with local screenings scheduled for late summer/fall 2024. 

The idea for “Good-bye to a House” came from a chance encounter with Jodi Farwell’s essay in the Harrisville’s Common Threads newsletter (Dec/Jan 2020) in which the piece’s unique voice, point of view, and cinematic possibilities shone through.

Audience 

The audience for the film includes, first and foremost, the residents of Harrisville, Nelson, and surrounding towns in the Monadnock region of NH. Potential local screening hosts include Historic Harrisville, Nelson In Common, the Harris Center, the Cheshire County Historical Society. Further afield, the film should be of interest to audiences in other New Hampshire and New England towns, as well as town historical societies and state historic preservation associations throughout New England. In addition, the film will be submitted to regional film festivals and public television stations in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

Filmmaker

As founder of High Cairn Films, Chris Hardee creates documentaries focused on the environment, sustainability, and education that help illuminate a path forward. Recent projects include a feature-length documentary with other filmmakers on the destruction of forests for energy, and two short films on nature-based education for Antioch University New England.  These films have been accepted and won awards in national and regional film festivals and have been broadcast on Public Television stations in New England. Prior, Hardee co-founded and co-directed Monadnock Media, a non-profit media organization that continues to serve museums, parks, and historic sites nationwide. 

To Support the Film 

High Cairn Films is seeking post-production, and screening/distribution funds. Until post-production , the project was almost entirely self-funded through in-kind contribution of time, equipment, and expenses.

To support the film: ‘Good-bye to a House’ GoFundMe webpage.