Shadow Rock Farm

Simenon lived at a place called Shadow Rock Farm in Lakeville, Connecticut for five years or so after he married his second wife, say 1950-1955. This morning, I was moved to find out exactly where this might be.

Bing turned up reference 1, which claims to have run the farm down to 27 Cleveland Avenue and offers a couple of pictures, one perhaps from roughly the time that Simenon was in the area, one from a realtor of today.

Next stop gmaps which answers to this address, but does not offer Street View. With the snap above showing an aerial view of what is probably the right place, with the snaps above being taken from the south, from near the bottom of the aerial view.

The nearest that Street View gets is the junction of Farnum Road - left fork above - with Sharon Road, aka CT.41, just by the Mobil gas station. Farnum Road eventually leads to a junction with Cleveland Street. According to reference 4, the house looks to be worth less than $400,000, despite the seven bedrooms and twenty seven acres. So very cheap compared to a comparable house in the UK and probably not expensive for the US. So why did the Street View camera not bother with it - particularly considering the very remote places it does get to?

The story at reference 1 is confirmed by the rather longer story at reference 2, part of the large Simenon site starting at reference 3. Another ramification of the Simenon industry. I wonder who gets his royalties these days - with a lot of his stuff still being in copyright? With a quick peek suggesting that this might run for 70 years after the author's death, in this case 1989, taking us to 2059, by which time important chunks of the world might be under water.

I wonder also whether the municipal property records from the 1950's are still available to be inspected in the vicinity of Lakeville, which would be closer to proof positive. Here in the UK, I dare say, without checking, that one could dig up electoral rolls from that time, which would do the trick.

DPLA of reference 5, had nothing for 'shadow rock farm lakeville' and nothing for 'simenon lakeville', but it could manage the poster above for 'simenon', thought to be from 1957 Nashville. Among a small number of records about other simenons. An adaptation of a book which I read more than ten years ago now and noticed in a very cursory way at reference 6 and in a slightly less cursory way at reference 7. Before, again without checking, I got going on Maigret. Not sure about 'The snow was black' as a translation of 'La neige était sale', which I have always understood to mean that sort of dirty, messy grey that street snow often goes to at some point between white arrival and wet melting. Also that 'sale' has a rather unpleasant aura about it that 'black' does not. That said, I cannot presently think of a better translation.

Furthermore, I don't seem to have twigged back in 2008, that the town in question was probably mainly Simenon's home town of Liège. Which certainly runs to a big river - the Meuse - and some fairly steep looking hills. Time for another look.

Reference 1: https://findery.com/Chung123/notes/simenons-mystery-shadow-rock-farm-location-found.

Reference 2: http://www.simenon-simenon.com/2017/02/simenon-simenon-dream-house-for-novelist.html.

Reference 3: http://www.simenon-simenon.com/.

Reference 4: https://www.redfin.com/CT/Lakeville/27-Cleveland-St-06039/home/109715310.

Reference 5: https://dp.la/.

Reference 6: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2011/11/double-georges.html.

Reference 7: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2008/06/dt.html.