Can you post a photo of your wishing well?

Claire

That's a great story! If I believed in fate, I'd want to say that you were meant to live in that house.

I think there's a wishing well at the Falmouth Historical Society Museum on the Green, which has nice period gardens, but actually I can't recall exactly where, so I may be imagining it. Most of them DO look pretty tacky, but that's possibly because they're usually placed so inappropriately on suburban lawnscapes.

Maybe you could put it out by the road and get cash donations for your garden ... Wishes - 50 Cents or something like that.

DtD I like your idea of putting the wishing well to work. Then at least it would be a real wishing well. :-)

Claire Here is a picture of my wishing well. I think it is about 5 1/2 ft. tall or so.

{{gwi:1064952}}

Hmmm... I'd be tempted to put a gargoyle in it, on the idea of "Be careful what you wish for..."

Gaston, the Gothic Climber" Sculpture

I also did a Google image search for wishing well and there are some ideas there, although they mostly just have hanging planters.

Google Image Search

If you enjoy slightly wacky seasonal displays, I could see Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Great Pumpkin, bats, etc. rising out of the well.

Of course there's always wind chimes...

Claire

I've got somewhat of a split personality when it comes to wishing wells. Most of the time I don't like them, but for some reason, usually at first glance they *always* catch my attention and make me catch my breath. Especially when they are on the grounds of an old house (100+ years). But once that initial "Oooh!" is over, I tend to think that I don't really like them after all. Weird, I guess.

I also seem to like them - and this I guess ties into my liking them at old houses - I really like them when they are *real*. When you see a 200 year old house and there's a well in the front yard, you know it was once a working well.

I looked at a house for sale recently, built in the early 1800's, and there was a well there, complete with the roof and all. Obviously it was sealed up, but had the pail hanging there, which was used as a planter. Looked really nice. Believe it or not, the well, like the house, was not in the best of shape, but that only added to the charm.

Another thing that looks nice is when the open area between the wall of the well and the roof is filled in with lattice. There is an old farmhouse down the street, with its original well, that is like this, and they have annual vines grow up through it in the summers.

I think since you have an old house, your well will look charming. I would definitely paint it to match the house, and personally think either the pail/planter thing or the lattice would look nice.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide - and show us some "after" pictures!

:)
Dee

circa,

I too love the story associated to your wishing well and lovely home. Unlike popular opinion I would not touch a thing on the well, I think painting it will detract from it's "natural aging" and won't cover up or turn this into something different than what it is now... a wonderful example of New England yard art. The well is a great conversation piece enhance it to promote conversation with your neighbors by using some of the above suggestions or perhaps as a seasonal planter what ever you choose have fun with it and embrace the opportunity to fit into the quirky New England landscape. kt

I think Katy makes some great points - as usual - she has a really good sense of design.

If I had as much land as you do, I'd be looking for a way to stash tools, hoses etc away from the house - you might be able to use your well as an "outpost toolshed" by putting a weathertight box inside it, without changing the way it looks.

Oooohhh, wow, thanks for all of the great ideas!!

This is going to be a blast. My husband hates the wishing well AND he hates gargoyles. I have one gargoyle on my front porch already, so I can only imagine what he would say if another one showed up. Sooooo... I think I'll put the wishing well by the vegetable garden, leave it unpainted so it's not too obtrusive, store my garden tools in it, plant a cutting/cottage garden around it, grow some kind of flowering vine on it and probably some gourds or mini pumpkins (it is a pumpkin farm, after all!), and hang a gargoyle on it. Hahaha! I love it!!!

That reminds me of a time, yeas ago when my husband and I first started talking about buying a house together, a couple of years before we were married. Just as a joke I said, with a completely straight face, that I was especially excited about the prospect of having a lawn so I could get lots of statues of animals to place around the front yard - deer, rabbits etc. Oh, and one of those cute kitties climbing the shutters - maybe two of those. He replied, with an equally straight face, that that would work out very well, because he was especially excited about getting a shotgun.

It's at least 25 years later; there are no statues of deer or bunnies in the yard, and no shotgun, but I can imagine the fun, circa1825, of a few well-placed gargoyles.

Dear Circa1825,

Our wellhouse was in active use till 1980 when indoor plumbing was installed. The link here is a photo from 1918 or so, just before renovations.

The house and wellhouse were painted yellow with white trim, and given asphalt shingles when reroofing became necessary. The general strategy was to keep it maintained. I will send along a current photo when I get my scanner hooked up. I probably never would have had the nerve to paint it, myself, agreeing as I do with runktrun. I often think of planting hollyhocks, but I really would hate to obscure it. Maybe alchemilla, then.

To me it's not a wishing well. It's simply a well.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I just stumbled on this picture that may give you ideas on what to do with it.

So, here we are in 2012. Since my above post, I did go ahead and try hollyhocks with a few self seeders. The hollyhocks quickly succumbed to rust, as I was foolish enough to purchase one or two pre-contaminated. In 2011 I had loads of pink self-seeders such as snapdragons and bleeding heart, and not enough bolder flowers/colors. Now back to the drawing board. Punch up the mauve with some deep blue and maroon? Try hollyhocks again? I don't want climbers to obscure or humidify the woodwork. Simple like the alchemilla? Foxgloves and aquilegias?

I wonder what Claire decided.