Firebells and Granite Steps: The Hope Collective’s Connection to Firefighters

One of the things I love most about this property is how it continues to reveal its history little by little, like a good story told in chapters. When we bought the once Howland-Gould General Store in 2022, we knew it had once been a general store, and we soon learned about its curious turn as a teahouse. But one detail really captured our imaginations: one set of the stone steps leading up from the road didn’t go to the store at all — it led to Hope’s volunteer fire department.