The Boston Globe
March 20, 2005
Local bonds won't be broken by new Vt. farm, Aerosmith guitarist saysDUXBURY -- When Joe Perry, lead guitarist for the legendary rock band Aerosmith, recently bought a farm in Vermont, many in Duxbury wondered if the longtime local resident was leaving town for good.
The answer is no, at least for now. The Perry home is not for sale.
''It may end up that we are keeping the house," Joe Perry said. ''We spend so much time on the road. . . . If you count days where you spend the time, a lot were not in this state. We've made Duxbury our home base, and now we're spending time in Vermont."
On a recent morning, Perry and his wife, Billie, were at their Duxbury home with their 13-year-old son, Roman. They had finished moving some of their belongings 175 miles north to their new digs. It has been a difficult process, Billie said, because they are not ready to say goodbye to Duxbury.
''We have so many memories here," she said. ''It's the longest we've lived in one place. We've raised our children here. It's near and dear to our hearts. That's why we're hesitant to move to Vermont."
The Perrys moved to the South Shore town in 1988. Their 8-acre gated compound includes a main house, a guest house, barn, garages, and ponds. One of their sons may move into the guest house.
''Over the next six months we'll be here and I'll have the studio downstairs," said Perry, who will release a self-titled solo album May 3 that was recorded in the basement studio, known as the Boneyard.
As a band, Aerosmith is taking a break until the fall, and ''looking forward to a great tour, and a couple new albums," he said.
Perry frequents Farfar's Danish Ice Cream Shop on St. George Street, which features a flavor called Aerochip. But he and Billie have made their presence known in other ways, too.
If they leave, it would be ''an enormous loss for the town," said Annie Eldridge, a member of Friends of the Duxbury Animal Shelter.
In 1998, the Perrys donated $25,000 to the town for a new animal shelter. The couple threw the first shovel-full of dirt at the ground-breaking ceremony in December 2004.
''Their dedication to animal welfare causes inspired the Friends of the Duxbury Animal Shelter to get moving and eventually make this project happen," said Eldridge. ''It's remarkable that celebrities of the Perrys' caliber have taken such an interest in town affairs and activities, and Duxbury is a better place thanks to their efforts."
That same year, Perry donated an autographed guitar to the Duxbury Rotary Club auction. Signed by all five members of Aerosmith, it sold for $12,000 and helped the Fire Department buy thermal imaging equipment for use in smoke-filled buildings.
In May 2003 Perry donated two guitars to the Duxbury schools, and the family has contributed to the Ellison Center for the Arts on St. George Street.
The Perrys have always kept plenty of horses, cats, and dogs. They were among the first people in the area to own Friesian horses, a breed known for its flowing black mane, tail, and fetlocks. On a recent morning, Billie Perry was outside petting two of the horses, Franz and Orion. She lifted up the long, flowing mane on one of the horses and joked, ''Now this is rock star hair."
Perry is not the only member of Aerosmith to settle on the South Shore. Fellow guitarist Brad Whitford once lived in Duxbury, and later bought homes in nearby Norwell and Marshfield. Singer Steven Tyler and drummer Joey Kramer have homes in Marshfield.
Perry and Tyler also became restaurateurs. In 1997, they joined with Lee Kennedy and Jayne Bowe to open Mount Blue, a hip restaurant at 707 Main St. in Norwell. The restaurant's shop, named after Aerosmith's 1975 album ''Toys in the Attic," sells band memorabilia and Joe Perry's Rock Your World sauces.
Perry has described Duxbury as his ''haven," a place where he could go about his business without being hounded for autographs. Besides a handful of fence-peepers, most people have respected their privacy, he said.
The Perrys' home features funky decor, which Billie Perry describes as ''rich Bohemian meets folk countryside." Family photos and guitars are common sights in most rooms. There are also stained-glass windows based on some of her drawings. Near one staircase, guitar necks and headstocks are nailed along the railing as balusters.
An enormous hippopotamus skull is on display in a hallway. Billie Perry bought it from an antique store in neighboring Kingston as a Christmas gift for her husband. A huge sign from the Hotel Avery, which Joe Perry describes as an architectural artifact from Boston's Combat Zone, hangs on a wall.
A 10-foot-long aquarium stands in the living room, and game trophies -- deer, rams, and other wild game -- adorn the wall above the stone fireplace. Three beeswax candles in a candelabra and a glass bowl filled with seashells stand in front of the hearth. Between them lies the furry skin from a kangaroo's tail they bought in Australia. The skins are sold in many Aussie shops, because kangaroos are rampant. ''They're like squirrels here . . . annoying," said Joe.
Inside the spacious kitchen, behind a pantry door, is the entrance to the Boneyard. As he opened the door, Joe Perry said, ''This is a different world."
Stairs covered in leopard print carpeting lead to the recording studio, which is equipped with the latest computer hardware as well as a vintage soundboard Joe Perry salvaged from the basement of WGBH radio in Boston.
''I recorded my solo record here," he said.
It is also where Perry and his bandmates wrote the lyrics for songs like ''Cryin'," ''Crazy," and ''Livin' on the Edge," recorded in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
Much of Aerosmith's 2001 album ''Just Push Play" was recorded here, as was their latest album, ''Honkin' on Bobo."
''It wasn't our plan," Perry said. ''The band has a studio that we record in up in Hanover. We've set up a space up there. Unfortunately it wasn't finished in time to do most of 'Honkin' on Bobo.' But to have a band here every day during that summer, it was the most fun experience. Every day the guys would roll up in whatever they were driving that day, and [after recording] we'd go ride 4-wheelers or motorcycles. It was great experience. It reminded me of the records we recorded in the 1970s."
They will likely make Vermont their legal residence, but do not plan to cut their ties to the South Shore anytime soon. Perry also owns property in New Hampshire and Florida.
Unless the band breaks up -- which Joe Perry said won't happen -- ''the South Shore will always be a big part of our life," said Billie Perry.
