A Home Is Not Just a House
“Home is the nest we yearn for after a stressful day at work or a long time away. Home is the heart of our family’s existence.”
—Andi Axman
THERE MAY NOT BE ANY ERA in recent history during which people have thought as much about, or spent as much time inside, their homes as right now. On March 26, New Hampshire’s governor issued a stay-at-home order to combat the spread of COVID-19. And even though the governor allowed the stay-athome order to expire on June 15, transitioning us to a “safer-at-home” advisory, the changes wrought by the pandemic continue to reverberate through our lives, and we continue to spend an unusually large part of our time in our homes.
Which makes for an interesting time to reflect both on the meaning of the word home, and the multifaceted nature of change.
A home is not just a house. It’s the place you live, with all the complexity a human life entails. As Andi Axman, who became the editor of New Hampshire Home to launch the Spring/ Summer issue of 2007, wrote in her first editor’s letter: “Home is the nest we yearn for after a stressful day at work or a long time away. Home is the heart of our family’s existence, a place to enjoy specially prepared meals with friends, a canvas for expressing our artistic side. Our homes speak volumes about who we are and what’s important to us.”
This magazine speaks volumes too, about Andi’s deeply insightful vision as an editor. Under her direction, New Hampshire Home has become an indispensable resource to, as Andi put it, “spotlight the work of [New Hampshire’s] talented architects, interior designers, landscape architects, garden designers, artists and craftsmen.” It is a publication as beautiful as the homes it covers.
The July/August 2020 issue of New Hampshire Home was the last for which Andi served as editor. I can say unreservedly how much gratitude we owe her for the incredible work she’s done shaping this magazine, and how much we’ll miss working with her each month.
Which underscores the emotional duality of change.
Because I’m also excited to introduce you to New Hampshire Home’s new editor, Erica Thoits. You may already be familiar with her work as managing editor of Home’s sister publication, New Hampshire Magazine.
Erica has worked at New Hampshire Magazine for 13 years. She’s known she wanted to be a part of making magazines since the seventh grade—when she successfully petitioned the school board to start a literary magazine. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor’s degree from the English/Journalism program, she worked as a reporter for a newspaper in her home state of Maine. During her time at UNH, Erica interned at McLean Communications, and hoped she’d eventually be able to return to the company. Things aligned when the assistant editor position opened up at New Hampshire Magazine.
Erica and her husband, Josh, live in Manchester and love to travel, both in state and around the country and the world. Though devoted to the Granite State —as of 2020 she’s officially lived in New Hampshire for half her life—Erica often returns to Maine, where she and her family enjoy sailing Casco Bay.
In her spare time, Erica volunteers as a mentor in the Girls Inc. of New Hampshire’s Bold Futures Mentoring program, and is the committee co-chair for the annual On Tap for CASA of NH benefit.
Erica is a gifted editor, and I can’t wait to see her vision for upcoming issues of New Hampshire Home, building on the magnificent foundation Andi has laid down.
So thank you, Andi. Welcome, Erica. And thank you to the great design community whose stories we tell, and to the readers who support them and us. Welcome home.
