Walking into Fern Crete’s home in Burlington is an overwhelming sensory experience. Classical music plays nonstop, and an orchestra of clocks tick and chime. The house resembles a French château inside and is packed with sumptuous antiques, including chandeliers and lamps with unique shades that gently illuminate a seven-foot-tall stuffed peacock in the Bird Room and a roaring polar bear head mounted in the living room.
Crete, 79, is a retired nurse who grew up in Barre, and he has been collecting antiques since his early twenties. That’s also when he moved to Burlington and came out as gay. For the past 30 years, Crete has been adorning his home in the New North End with his treasures. The walls are covered in decorative hangings as well as his own artwork — he began painting six years ago. In contrast to the busy house, the backyard is a soothing, lush green space. It’s filled with art, too, but also bonsai, conifers and, of course, ferns.
In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger got a tour of the maximalist dream home and walked through the peaceful gardens. Crete’s scene-stealing rescue pug, LouLou, tagged along.
Filming date: 5/19/25
Music:
- Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” & “Waltz of the Flowers”
- Aaron Kenny, “A Baroque Letter”
- Jeremy Black, “You Know Me”
