Every paradise needs a name. When we first bought Gnome Knoll in late 2002, it was called the Hall Brook Camp because it was our camp on the Hall Brook. But as far as names go, while that was descriptive, it wasn’t inspiring.

The name Gnome Knoll just popped into my head one day. Once I had hit on the silent alliteration, I couldn’t let it go. I am a geek and it tickled my funny bone.  While I don’t know exactly where it came from, there were some influences that lead to the name.

There is a good sized knoll right there in the middle of the property. It’s got a rather flat top, and certainly might be a good place for a community of gnomes if they were looking for a place to live. The real estate agent had suggested that it would be a good location for a house. Since the knoll is the only good location for a house on the property that’s not saying much.

Lengthwise shot of the knoll, or most of it.

Ben was attending the nursery program at Cape Ann Waldorf school at the time and that curriculum is heavily influenced by folk tales of fairies, gnomes and other mythical creatures. They had little knit gnomies in the classroom, and it was something he was familiar with.

Picture of the northwest end of the knoll from 2002

Then, of course, there was our neighbors up the hill at Faerie Camp Destiny. If faeries occupied the top of the hill, then no reason that gnomes wouldn’t be down in the valley.

In 2012 I got a job up here in Vermont and bought the house across the street. So now Gnome Knoll applies to all the acreage in the two lots. Gnome Knoll isn’t just a place to visit on the weekends anymore, it is home.