One frequent guest has been busy at Harvard--Umberto Quattrocchi has been writing a book we could all use:
http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781420080445#.T609bDCEm_o.facebook
Umberto, we hope you enjoyed your time in Cambridge and that you found your accommodations with us to be both comfortable and inspiring for your work!
And of course, we hope to see you again--
We just had a lovely comment from a guest who stayed here 18 years ago! She was a law student then, wayyy wayy back before or during our first renovations. She has come back with her daughter now looking at colleges! And she loves the changes, thinks we are on the right track. I so love hearing from guests who knew us when....
We are trying some new ways to entice you to stay with us. Just now, with some open nights coming up this week, we are teaming up with Get Privy and the Harvard Square Business Association to offer coupons leading to discounts and goodies with us. We are also working on a calendar of local cultural events to help you plan your visit. Stay tuned!
When our friends at Yayla Rug recommended Irving House to the co-founder of Machik for her stay in Cambridge, she was given room 108 just by chance. It turns out that, in Tibetan tradition, 108 is the number of beads in the full mala, a circle of beads used in counting mantras. Tashi Rabgey was so pleased with her coincidental room assignment, she posed for picture taken by Zoia:
As many of our guests have happily discovered, we give books away. Most of the books in our guest rooms and throughout the house are hand picked from yard sales and the give and take centers. Some come from my own library as I make room for new favorites. Some come from our guests who either bring their own, or send them to us to be part of our large and diverse book sharing circle. But my favorite source just now is that I am buying (some times reading) and then putting in to the collection, books of authors who stay with us. Poets, historians, biographers, entomologists, philosophers, novelists, we are honored to host many fine writers here. You just never know what you will find on our book shelves, AND you can take books you like! Keep them moving around, keep reading! And thank you to our writing guests...
Plaid Friday is coming! Check out your local independent businesses FIRST when you start your holiday shopping--
One of my favorite singer song writers, Mary Gauthier stayed with us recently, even gave us a shout out in her blog! And here she is in our very own parlor:
thank you, Mary!
It was 21 years ago this week that Irving House started operations under the current ownership. Back then, we were establishing ourselves anew, leaving behind the good name of The Kirkland Inn, started on Kirkland Street in 1945, and beginning what felt like a new business.....
By AMAZING good fortune, this week, randomly on the street in West Newton, I met the manager of the Kirkland Inn, who also worked for Irving House for a while.
Now, after the years of hard work and all sorts of interesting challenges, I have time to look more into our history of hospitality. I hope to tap this long time manager for the stories and maybe post them here.
We are honored to be accommodating Bruce Sunpie Barnes and Matt Hampsey as they are in town to perform at the Museum of African American History with songs of the Abolition Movement. We have so been enjoying the music Bruce and Matt play on our front porch on these sunny mornings!
At Irving House, our staff has long enjoyed the baked goodies coming from the ovens at Petsi Pies. Now we have regular deliveries of Petsi Pies' scones, tarts, cakes and savory cheese twists. Yum! Enjoy them at breakfast or afternoon 'tea'!