Open since April, The Pig at Bridge Place has changed the mini-break game for Londoners
While the interpretation of American Neoclassicism differed from one Atlantic coast city to the next, it typically drew from common sources.
Some time ago, probably in the late 1980's, I came across this oval framed print, approximately 18" x 23" at an antique shop. Being an old ...
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While the interpretation of American Neoclassicism differed from one Atlantic coast city to the next, it typically drew from common sources.
The enduring spirit of the people who came before us lives on in the interpreters of Old Sturbridge Village.
Beginning in 1909, the Oriental Limited ran between Chicago and Seattle; it offered numerous amenities, including tea in the observation car, shower baths, maid service and vacuum cleaning of the p…
As we look forward to the start of the Saratoga meet, it's also a good time to look back. Take a look at Saratoga Springs history with almost 200 photos, many of which have never been published.
But it was once the scene of cult classic film "The Princess Bride."
Oh so glamorous… Photographed by Signe Vilstrup for Vanity Fair source via DJA
The 7,000-square-foot home has been owned by Drue Heinz, Anne Vanderbilt, and Charles Merrill.
It was a time of great promise and accomplishment for some and just the opposite for others. Enter Outlander River Run.
To brighten up her flat in a Victorian-era New York building, Jessica Chastain turns over the keys to designers Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller
This beautiful home is hiding some spooky secrets.
Article: Aesthetic Era Anew by Nancy A. Ruhling on Incollect.
I mentioned in a previous post that recently I went to the Vaile Mansion in Independence, MO. I was in the area house/kid sitting for my brother and figuring it wasn’t the sort of thing to interest a very active 9 year old, I snuck away while she was at school. I hadn’t realized until I did an internet search, how many wonderfully interesting historical sites there are around Kansas City. I’ll have to make a point of visiting something new every time I go to visit my brother from now on. On this last trip I really only had time for one place, so I decided on checking out the Vaile Mansion. I don’t like crowds when I can avoid them (no phobias, just like it to be peaceful I suppose), so going at about 11am on a Monday morning turned out to be the perfect time. There was one couple finishing up their tour when I arrived, otherwise I was the only guest. One of the docents kindly offered to give me a tour and I gladly accepted! I felt like a VIP getting my own personal guide. I would have liked to ask her more questions but she kept up a wonderful running dialog throughout the entire mansion. I think she would have given the same speech regardless if it were for 1, 20, or 200 people. I learned a lot. I love the way the Mansion looks from the outside. It was built in 1881 to impress. I’ve read a lot of novels set in that time period so it was great fun to see what a high class house would have been like. Through the years it passed through different hands and served different purposes before being restored to its original look from when it was first built. Apparently it was a private home for only a short time. This is the parlor on the left once you’ve entered the door. You can see I’m now facing the front door which is in the far left corner of the photo. Through the parlor was a room full of musical instruments. I don’t play the piano, but it sure looks inviting! I love this red dress they had on display, I’m sorry my pictures came out blurry. Maybe sometime I’ll draw a character wearing this one to do it justice. There were painted details on many of the ceilings, this was one of my favorites. I love inviting spaces like this. Upstairs I thought it was interesting that the beds were placed in front of window alcoves designed for that purpose. Looking out the window brought me back to this century. Downstairs again in the dining room you can see one of the many original marble fireplaces. I really like the detailing on the chairs. The original owners didn’t entertain much so they had a relatively small dining room & table. Coming full circle in a loop through the house brought me to the woman’s parlor which is to the right of the front door (across from the men’s parlor). I was facing the front door here which would have been to the left. The photo unfortunately came out blurry (I may be an artist, but my photography skills need much improvement). Still, you can see in this room my favorite piece of furniture in the whole house. Can you guess what it is? The Victorian courting bench! Living today in a society where propriety isn’t given a second thought yet hearts are still easily broken, I find the Victorians to be very wise in their thinking. Couples were left with no opportunities to let their temptations get the better of them. At least not without some very awkward reaching! ;)
San Francisco designer Ken Fulk may be the toast of the town, but it’s when he escapes to his Victorian cottage on Cape Cod that he feels most at home.
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Today, please welcome guest blogger Vic from Jane Austen’s World who shares with us her extensive knowledge of Regency culture and history in four posts during the event. Her contribution is on mus…
A rare view of the interior of the Pratt-Campbell Mansion (first-floor parlor) in Wichita, KS. This photo was taken c. 1890. This grand home still stands today. It was designed and built by William Henry Sternberg (1832 - 1906). High-style plant stands at every window, swagging curtains with pull-down shades, a large oriental rugs and elegant furniture including a piano. Obviously swagging fabrics were in high style at the time. The ceiling was likely wall papered as an elegant backdrop to the ornate gas-electric chandelier. The ceilings in this room at 13 feet high are the tallest ceilings of any Victorian home in Wichita, KS. Portieres (heavy draping curtains at the doorway of a room) were quite common in the late 1800s. A portiére is a heavy fabric hanging or placed either over a door or in the doorless entry to a room. Its name comes from the French word for door, “porte”. Common in wealthier households during the Victorian era, it is still occasionally used either as an ornament or as a means of mitigating drafts. It is usually of some heavy material, such as velvet, brocade, or plush. In addition to helping keep drafts out, portieres offered a stylish way to instantly add privacy to a social house call. In Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone with the Wind, the protagonist Scarlett O'Hara makes a new dress from her mother's green velvet portieres (the scene was famously parodied on The Carol Burnett Show when Carol Burnett, playing the role of Scarlett, wore not only the fabric but the curtain rod as well). Sometimes instead of a solid fabric portiere, Victorians decorated with rope portieres which were made from elaborately hand-tied ropes or cords, sometimes with beads or other ornamental niceties. Because portieres are almost always fabric and were touched and handled so much over the years, they are somewhat rarer to find today than some other items. Originally portieres were a concept and development from France, circa 200 – 400 A.D. The idea spread and made its way over to England a century or two after France. After the Civil War in the US, manufacturing plants of all types began springing up (including thread and weaving mills) and the Industrial Age was in full swing. Mechanized mills had replaced virtually all hand weaving by the early 1800s (1820s – 1830s). Mills, colors and techniques expanded as technology improved and these portieres seen in this photo were likely made in a large mechanized American factory in the New England or Chicago area sometime in the 1880s. Your thoughts, ideas, comments and/or additional information is greatly appeciated and welcome! This photo is courtesy of the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historic Museum (www.WichitaHistory.org).
Within an 1880s home. You can discern from the gun, rug, and also the antlers that this belongs to a hunting family.
Five years ago when I bought my 1845-1860 Antebellum home ,on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, in my home town of Clarksville,Mo., I could only dream that it would some day look like it does today. When I purchased this old house in the spring of " 07 " ,it had no working utilities,kitchen,baths,front porch was missing and had not been maintained for fourty years, 100 gallons of paint and five years latter, it now is the grand lady it should be. When I first bought the house I was living in St.Louis and would spend the weekends in Clarksville working on the house. Finally two years ago I moved to my old house full time, I think I got more done on it when I was only here on weekends. Somehow it always needs something done. And some of the painting I did already is needing it again. I guess one has to blame that on that old River. Up River or Ladies Parlor at Elgin/Cottrell House. Window and Ceiling Treatmment. 1860-Reproduction Wallpaper from France. Custom made Curtain Rods. One of my Store Bought Relatives. English Victorian Cranberry Glass. Curtain Tie Back. In 2008 there was a major flood and the Mississippi River raged out of its banks and came all around the historic house. I am about 200 feet from the river, good for a view but bad for a flood.Thanks to thousands of people who came to give of there time, sand bags were filled and a flood wall was made and there was no damage. Today I am going to show you pictures of the Up-River or Ladies parlor. The house has two parlors. One for ladies and one for men. After the evening meal the ladies and there guest would retreat to the ladies parlor and sew, read or sing. The men would go to there parlor and drink, smoke,tell off colored stories and spit. I call the ladies parlor the Up River parlor, because it is closest to the river and has a wonderfull river view. I am a srtong lover of color in a home. This can be seen here in the parlor. From the butter yellow walls,green ceiling, cranberry acessories to the red fabric on the furniture.
Henry Howard: Louisiana's Architect features photographs and sketches from the 19th-century architect.
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Create the Victorian room or home of your dreams with this Easy-to-follow guide organized into 4 essential design basics of Victorian interior decor: Color, Pattern, Opulence and, of course, Romance.
An interior view of a sumptuous Victorian parlor, with a Steinway piano, chandelier and ferns at the William Vilas house, 12 E. Gilman Street. A curtained ...
“Nothing exceeds like excess, ” says Charles Parmenter, “Downton Abbey” enthusiast, as his cell phone rings out the period drama’s opening score. It’s not surprising, then, that when you walk through the doors of the historic home of Parmenter and his partner Greg Reynolds, you’re welcomed with Southern grandeur on a nearly “Downton” scale. The Olde Mobile […]
