Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Heritage Festival & Home Tour! Part 2

Hello and welcome back for part 2! Also on the grounds of this historic property is what's called the Village at Boone Junction. The buildings were relocated here to the grounds and are arranged so that they form a little village, a  village of historic homes native to Boone County.
So the first building is this Log Cabin, built in 1821 by David Gordon, Sr., the cabin is said to have served as the family's temporary quarters while the large plantation style house was built. The cabin served later as slave quarters and the home of hired laborers.





Furnished with authentic period collectibles and artifacts necessary to prosper in frontier life.
(The little booklet you see on the table is my source of information for this post and the Part 1 post.)


Below is the Ryland House, built in 1890 by Wm. Ryland. This charming  800 sq. foot Cottage Victorian style farm house has only 3 rooms...


and a beautifully carved pendant on the corner of this hipped roof...


and this wonderful gable sunburst!  As you can tell by the first photo this house is still undergoing restoration.


Below is a "Shotgun" style home built in 1911 by Luther McQuitty, an early black contractor and realtor in Boone County. This style of house is so named because a shot fired from a shotgun at the front door could reach the back door without ever touching a wall. This house is undergoing restoration also.


A peek inside and you will find lots of studs and two lovely ladies enjoying some fruit and pastries. Yum!


And as of now, this is the last building in the village (more are in the works). It is a country landmark called the Easley Store. Three generations of the Easley family provided services to the Easley community for 100 years. It was built in 1890 by Wm. Easley on the banks of the Missouri River.



The interior has been completely refurbished, reminding folks of days when shopping meant picking up all of your essentials, along with the mail, in one location.
Look at this sweet young gal, doesn't she look like a china doll sitting there in her period clothing?


Below is a photo of the Walters Boone County Museum (also on the grounds). Inside the museum are several exhibits. Being changed out from time to time. Photo from the museums website.


Below is one of my favorite exhibits in the museum. It is not antique by any means, but so beautiful. It was donated from the family of a deceased dollhouse collector and boy did she do dollhouses up right! Whew!
It is housed inside this huge glass case so it's kind of hard to see the wonderful detail.


And this photo definitely does not do the interiors any justice. I wish you could see ALL of the wonderful miniatures in here. Everything is very Victorian! Right up my alley!
To the right, attached to the house, is a cute little greenhouse.


And moving on, I found a parlor exhibit with these modern day Victorian ladies (in not so Victorian chairs) enjoying their tea in those tea cups just like the one's in the parlor of the big house that I wanted to turn over to check the marking! Can you believe that? Ignore the football player in the background, he's not Victorian either!


A neat oil painting in a gorgeous huge frame!



And another of a little girl...


And a big shadow box frame with a hair wreath in it. Love those things! It used to be in the big house but for some reason was taken out and hung here in this museum. I liked it better in the house.


On the grounds, brought in for the festival is an old buckboard...


A cute little gypsy looking wagon set up with some handmade rugs for sale...
Isn't the crow cute?


Another buckboard...


Below is Professor Farquar and his Medicine Man Show...


And a couple of gentlemen showing bread making and baking demos...


Indian fashions for sale...


And if anyone needs a chair seat recaned, here's your man...


Well that is it for my pictures of the festival, of course there was a lot more there that I didn't cover, but I think you get the idea. As always, thanks for visiting and I would love to hear from you.


Thursday, September 20, 2012

Heritage Festival and Historic Home Tour! Part 1

One of the surest signs that the Fall season is approaching are the festivals popping up all over the place. This past weekend I went to one here in town on the grounds of our local Historical Society, owned and operated by the city as a public park, Nifong Park.



This is one of the few historic homes/properties here in town that I would actually love to own. I love it so much that when my children were young we (and hubby) spent many a late afternoon here in the front yard lounging on our quilt, picnic hamper filled with good food and a fun game or two of croquet, frisbee and catch. Secretly I pretended this was our house. 



And it could have been back in 1970 (if I would not have been a baby at the time) when the property was up for sale for the very first time since it was built in 1877. If the Historical Society wouldn't have convinced the City to purchase this historic property it would have been dozed down and a shopping mall would be here at this very spot today! So many thanks to the Historical Society and the City!


The house is in the Italianate style and the original homestead included 427 acres surrounding the house. It was named Maplewood because of its setting among a large sugar maple grove on the farm. (The City purchased 60 acres out of the original 427 acres.)
Below is a north side view. The light you see in the window is in the kitchen, the front part is the formal parlor.



Okay! Enough of the outside, let's go inside!



The first room you'll see after entering through the front door is the front hall/foyer area with its beautiful walnut staircase and wonderful wallpaper. The rug is a remnant of the formal parlor carpet...doesn't look so hot with that wallpaper though. 



Turning to the right you'll find the formal parlor. The carpet looks better in this room. Sort of. They say it is a repro of the original. Love the wallpaper in here too and the oil painting! Most of the furniture throughout the house are the original furnishings that were purchased with the house.



Another view of this beautiful room...




A close up of the tea set, from the above photo. I wanted to turn it over and check out the marking but decided against it. Hmmm....


Leaving the room this is another view of the front hall. I WANT THAT MIRROR! 



Going down the hall and turning left is a view of the gentleman's parlor (I believe that is what they called it). 



Below is a photo of Lavinia (Lenoir) Nifong. She was the only daughter to the original owners of this home. Her parents (Slater and Margaret Lenoir), she and her husband (Frank Nifong) were the only one's to ever live here. In 1905, she and Dr. Nifong moved into the home. It was at this time the house was wired for electricity and bathrooms were added.



An oil painting in the music room. Isn't it huge? Sorry it's a little blurry.



Moving on into the dining room...


and into the kitchen. Don't you love these tall built in cabinets? The china on the left is the same pattern as the tea set I showed you in the formal parlor.



And on the left side is their family monogrammed china. At Christmas they usually set the dining room table with this. Very pretty!



Upstairs, the first bedroom you come to is this quest bedroom, on the other wall is a fireplace and beautiful walnut wardrobe (sorry no picture).



This is a feather mattress on this bed. Isn't the quilt beautiful?



And stepping into the master bedroom you'll find this absolutely gorgeous walnut bed! My favorite piece in the whole house! 



Here's the matching dresser...



And look what I found in this room! Ohhh, more dolls! They may be long lost cousins to my dolls. Hmmm...
This bedroom was the seamstress' bedroom. The family lived so far out of town at the time, that when the seamstress came she would need to spend the night. 



And I spotted this antique shellwork box! You know how I love those! 



Well, that is it for the inside. A few of the outbuildings include the carriage house and inside you'll find a buggy, coupe and fringe-topped surrey. They are usually on display for the festival but were not this year.



And I believe they said this one was once the outdoor kitchen. It looks more like servants quarters. So I don't know.


Okay, I think I had better stop here but I will post a part 2 of this festival another day so it won't be quite so long. I don't want to lose you guys to boredom. The next post will show what else is on the grounds, historic building wise, and a little of the festival. So please come back for Part 2.
As always thankyou so much for visiting and taking the time to read my posts and for leaving such nice comments.



Monday, September 17, 2012

The Victorian Dolls

Hello everyone! I would like for you to meet Ruth...



Ruth is an antique china doll from the Victorian era. I got her at an antique shop almost 10 years ago. I know this is her name because it has it on her shoulder part. Ruth is an only child (doll) and stays here in this buggy which has been kept in my daughter's bedroom. But this year Lydia (my dau) decided she was too old for dolls and Ruth and the buggy had to go into hiding in Lydia's closet. Awww...poor thing!
But lucky for Ruth she is now out and enjoying her 3 new (old) sisters. You might be thinking how that came to be, well let me tell you! 
This weekend I went to an antique auction and adopted them! 
So let me introduce you to them.



L to R: Charlotte, Lora and Lydia. Aren't they pretty?! I love their apple cheeks! 
Ruth, the previous owner, was 95 years old and was a serious doll collector. She literally had HUNDREDS of dolls and they were all up for sale at this auction and she had them all labeled by name and date. So Charlotte and Lora were labeled with a name but Lydia was not (in the cream dress), so my Lydia wanted this one named after her. (I hope this means we can keep them out in her room now and not in the closet!)
Below is a photo of the back of these dolls and you can see the labels I was talking about. They are all 3 dated 1860. Charlotte's black head paint is really worn but I like that, it shows me that she has had a lot of loving through the years!



The previous owner (Ruth) made all of the dolls clothes. She did such a good job. Her niece  told me that Ruth never had children so these dolls must have taken their place I believe. Check out the bustle on this one...



I know this isn't very lady like of me to take a photo of their unmentionables but I wanted you to see how fancy they are.  And the shoes! My favorite are those brown button up boots! Pretty snazzy!



Speaking of button up boots, look at Ruth's! Even though one is broken I still think they are cute. 



Now, one more time! You get Charlotte...



and Lora and Lydia... 



and put them with Ruth and you have a buggy full of girls!! Aren't they cute?! 



They are sure to have a fun time together, don't you think?
Oh! I almost forgot! I have to tell you something funny! I was out, yes-on the front porch again!, taking these photos and on my camera popped up "Did someone blink?" Now is that a hoot or what? The camera thought the dolls were people! 



Sorry for showing so many doll photos, I'm just so excited. I do hope you enjoyed it though.
Have a great week and thankyou so much for visiting!