LWL Fellows Root House Rules
Please look over and fill out this form to agree to our rules to stay in the Lewis Walpole Library's Root House. It is advised to keep a copy for your records as well.
Accommodations at the Timothy Root House
Accommodations in the Timothy Root House are provided for all Visiting Scholar award recipients at no charge for the duration of their research visit to the Lewis Walpole Library. The Timothy Root House, 158 Main Street, Farmington, is an eighteenth-century house located on the Library's campus across the drive from the main Library building. Renovated in 2001, the Root House has nine bedrooms, each with its own bath, and shared sitting room, kitchen, and laundry facilities for the exclusive use of residents. Residents are welcome to use the other rooms and the terrace on the first (ground) floor as well (except for the staff kitchen) unless there is a Library function going on.
There are two ground-floor bedrooms in the Root House, one of which is handicapped accessible. Please be sure to inform Michelle Privée if you require one of these rooms.
The Root House, like the Library itself and the entire LWL campus, is a non-smoking facility.
Partners and guests are not permitted to stay overnight at the Root House.
What is provided
Bedrooms are furnished with bed, chest of drawers, closet, writing desk and chair, and lamps. In addition, bed and bath linens are supplied. The kitchen is well equipped with large and some small appliances, dishes, glassware, utensils, pots and pans, etc. There are a clothes washer, dryer, and an iron and ironing board. The house has central heating and air conditioning throughout.
For security and operational reasons, please do not leave windows open for an extended period of time, and please be sure they are closed when you're not in residence.
What you need to bring or buy here
In addition to the obvious clothing and research materials and equipment, you will need to provide your own personal care items and toiletries as well as food and drinks. Hairdryers are not provided in the rooms. There is a small stash of toiletries in the bottom drawer of the secretary in the Keeping Room at the Root House, so do help yourself if you find yourself caught short.
Cleaning and Laundry
The Root House is cleaned weekly. The guest rooms are cleaned each Friday. Bed sheets and towels are changed weekly on Friday. The shared kitchen area is cleaned twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday. Residents should clean up after themselves. Please tidy the kitchen after use, put any plates or glassware in the dishwasher and do not leave food on the counters.
Residents are responsible for their personal laundry; a washer/dryer and ironing board are available in the kitchen. The bed and bath linens will be laundered as needed. There are extra sets of bed linens and towels in the closet of each room.
At the end of your stay, please purge the kitchen refrigerator and cabinets of any unused food.
Network Access
The Library building is equipped with wireless access throughout. 10Mb Ethernet connections are also available in the Reading Room and other public areas. A public PC is located in the reading room as well as a monochrome laser printer. The Root House is also equipped with wireless access throughout the building. 10Mb Ethernet connections are available in most public areas and in each room. To access the wireless network, open the network and sharing center on your computer and select the “Yale Guest” network. Once your computer obtains an IP address, you will see a “Terms of service” page. Read the terms and scroll to the bottom to accept. Once you accept the terms, you will have access to the Yale network. The Library Service Assistant in the Reading Room will also make arrangements to register your device on the Yale network which will enable you to access all of Yale's subscription databases.
There is a business center, if needed, in the first floor sitting room next to the dining room. This includes a printer/scanner machine, a monitor to plug into, and any needed office supplies. If anything is running low or missing, please let the Senior Administrative Assistant know.
Telephones
There are telephones for residents’ use in the kitchen (860-409-7098) and in the front and upstairs halls (860-409-7097). These may be used for local calls without charge. To gain access to an outside line, dial 9; to call to the Library, simply dial 2140. Cell phone service can be erratic. Verizon seems to offer the best network service in this area. If you want to use your own cell phone and need a sim card, sim cards can be purchased at stores like Best Buy and Walmart as well as at local Verizon, AT&T, at other wireless carrier stores, and online.
Parking
Residents are asked to park their cars in the parking area west of the Root House. The area directly in front of the Library is reserved for deliveries and for handicapped parking spaces.
Receiving Packages
You are able to receive packages at the LWL. For United States Postal Mail packages, please use:
The Lewis Walpole Library
P.O. Box 1408
Farmington, CT 06034
For FedEx, UPS, and all other expedited services that are not part of the USPS, please use:
The Lewis Walpole Library
154 Main Street
Farmington, CT 06032
Services in the Immediate Area
A grocery store, liquor store, post office, fitness facility, dry cleaner, and other services are located in a shopping center an easy quarter-mile walk from the Library. Just turn right out of the driveway onto Main Street.
Games, music, and more
Several games, a jigsaw puzzle, and an acoustic guitar are kept in the readers' lounge. The games and puzzle are in the corner cupboard, along with a few dvds and a selection of volumes from the Yale Edition of Walpole's Correspondence. There are other books available in the lounge as well, and there are copies of Lewis's autobiographical works and the recent Modern Library edition of Selected Letters of Walpole in each bedroom.
In the "New Library" in the main library building there is a Steinway piano which you are welcome to play as long as the room is not in use.
Bicycle
Men's and women's bicycles are available for your use during your stay at the LWL. There is one of each, and their availability is on a first-come-first-served basis. Please see the Senior Administrative Assistant to sign a waiver for its use and to receive the key. A helmet also is available, as well as locks and baskets for each bike.
Croquet
The croquet lawn is set up during warmer months. A set of mallets and balls is available in the closet to the left of the central entrance to the Root House.
