Until WWII Esperanza, though not the farm cottage, was shut for the winter usually sometime between October and December.  However, as with all older New England houses, there was heat (if no insulation or storm windows): the north end had a coal-fired hot-air system put in when it was built in 1893; the rest of the house relied on the fireplaces until 1930 when the steam system was installed.   Today the steam system runs well, but it would seem that there may have been some glitches at first:

“Thanksgiving, November 26-28, 1930. Celebration: Turkey, lots of Radio, and Grand Failure of the new heater.”

Somehow, such a sparse description is nonetheless quite vivid.   One does wonder exactly what failed and how!