Victorian House Tour Part 4...

Yoohoo...

Up here...


Today we are headed upstairs.


If you missed the main level tours, go here for the outside on day one.  
Here is the dining room and kitchen on day two.
And here is the living room and front parlor on day 3.

Come on up and let's check out the upstairs!

First, take a gander at some more of that wainscoting that Tom made from those 100+ year old beams!


The plates on the wall to the right are metal portrait plates.  Sorry!  I didn't think about the fact that you might want to see them.  If you do, let me know and I will scoot over and takes some pix!


See the light?  There are beads dripping off of them.  


That stuff at the end of the hall?  Well, we will get down there later...

This is the staircase that we just came up.  Take a second to ooh and ahhh over the wainscoting again!


The pictures on the right are family pictures.  Some are old and some are not so old, but we are going to look at what I like to call the amphibian tree.  During the tour, I misspoke and called it the reptile tree.  The lady and her kids were not sure they wanted to go up!!!!  Ooops!

See?  It is actually turtles and frogs.  Tom collects those.


Come closer...

It is hard to see all of the little guys on the tree, but they are all different kinds of turtles and frogs--even some beanie babies!


At the top is a huge bow made by Nina.  

Isn't the blown glass turtle cute?  But, a frog with wings playing a guitar????  Really????

See the prince over there on the right?  And just below him is a bride and groom frog?  See them?  Well, I snuck them onto Tom and Nina's 25th wedding anniversary cake which I made.  When I found it, I just KNEW it was THEM!  :)

And down here around the bottom are the victorian stuffed frogs along with a couple of brass turtles--their shells come off and I am not sure what they actually were--perhaps salt cellars?  Speaking of salt cellars, see the glass piece on the left?  Sorry.  Didn't get a great picture of it, but it is a frog too.  And see the little frog on the golfball on the right?  Tom likes to golf.   He and Gman golfed in a couple of tournaments this year.  Once, GJr got to come and play as well!  Fun times!


I never noticed the plates on the wall next to the tree, but they are from the World's Fair, which takes us into Tom's office...

This light in Tom's office is the only original fixture in the house.  It was originally in the front parlor but was brought up here.  Nina festooned it with drippy greenery and a big old bow.


See the wall of cabinets that Nina is working in?  Those are bookshelves with some of Tom's collectibles from the World's Fair to NASCAR and golf balls.


The door to the left of the glass doors holds a pull out shelf with the computer and the TV.

This is Tom's desk.  It is was a cabinet grand piano.  When Tom and Nina found it, the insides had been removed, but the cabinet makes a wonderful (if really HUGE and HEAVY) desk!


There's a little village here and you can see Tom's revolver.  There is also a viewer with a slide of the big ferris wheel from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.  Tom collects memorabilia from the St. Louis World's fair since it and the house share some history.


See the picture of the dog to the right?  That is Lady.  She was smitten with Tom and totally Tom's dog!  She was a great family dog, but really showed a great love for Tom.  Great dogs should always be remembered!  


The papers on the desk were also from the World's Fair.

This is another shot of the desk.  Here you can see Tom's collection of guns--both antique and not--as well as knives and a brass powder holder.


Above the guns are a collection of arrowheads.  My dad got each of us a collection from the Schuylkill region of Pennsylvania which is the area that our family originated.

To the right of his desk is the loveseat and the newest member of the family, Bailey.  She was adopted from a local shelter just before Halloween.  Does she look like she is sticking her tongue out at me????

Did I mention that Tom collects memorabilia from the 1904 World's Fair????  Well, here are some of the plates and on the little shelf are some of his paperweights.


See the pictures of the ferris wheel?  Tom really likes the ferris wheel (also known as the observation wheel or big wheel).  It was HUGE!


The wheel was 264 ft high and had 36 gondolas.  Each of the 36 gondolas could hold 60 people which gave the wheel a total capacity of 2,160.  It carried 38,000 passengers daily and took 20 minutes to complete two revolutions for the cost of 50 cents.  The wheel was originally put up at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL in 1893.  The wheel rotated on a 71-ton, 45.5 ft axle.


The wheel was dismantled and eventually transported by rail to St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair after which it was destroyed by controlled demolition using dynamite on May 11, 1906.


Tom & Nina worked and traveled for years for a local carnival which traveled throughout the central US (and still does though he no longer works there) and still has a great affection for ferris wheels and carousels.

This bookcase contains more of the memorabilia.  See the row of etched seashells on the second shelf?  And see the ferris wheel books behind them?  You can click on the picture to make it larger so you can look closer.  All of the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them...

This is the door to the main bathroom which is located in the 1905 house addition right above the kitchen.  Let's go in there...

This was originally a single large room that is above the kitchen, mudroom and bath off of the mudroom.  Tom and Nina divided it into two bathrooms.   


See this row of cabinets?  These are the ones that were originally in the kitchen.  They were moved into this room and they created a wall behind which they created a large walkin closet.  


This is such a great cabinet to put all of the linens, TP and other things needed in a bathroom with both glass cabinets and closed cabinets.

As we come into the room, we see the pedestal sink and get an idea of the decorating scheme for the master bath with the white feather boa above the antique mirror.


Look at the ceiling and you can see the really cute tongue and groove ceiling. 

While I am not all that excited about pictures of loos, I thought I would point out how cute the toilet is.  See the fluting and the china flush handle?

This is the tub area.  I am SO JEALOUS of the jetted tub!  And who wouldn't love to pull the curtains shut along that beautiful rail system and just enjoy a quiet soak?


That is one of the main things I really miss living in an RV!


I suggested that a bunch of iridescent ornaments in the tub would look really cute and look like bubbles.  Nina said perhaps next year.  We're gonna have to check back next year to see if we get bubbles!  ;-D

At any rate, see how she hung the shiny snowflakes and the vignette on the shelf with candles, the oil lamp and white roses?

Look at the cute little vignette next to the tub on the window seat.  


Isn't that little feather tree adorable sitting in the antique potty chair?  And the branches and lights make such a cute picture!

And here you see another view of the tree and one of Nina's portrait plates and some more of her angels along with some shiny jewel ornaments on the shelf topped off by another white feather boa.


So, that's all for today...


Gman is flying in shortly so we will continue our tour on Monday.  


We will head to the other end of the hallway and visit the guest room, sleeping porch and the master bedroom which is located in the bow front!


See you on Monday!  Have a great weekend!