I am humbled
 

On Christmas eve, for the second time, I had the pleasure of spending the evening in the home of the King and Queen of DoDads.
The house belonged the the Mayor of Springfield, MA in 1903 and was moved to it's present location about 20 years ago after being home to vagrants and dopers.

This is the center hall, with ornate ceiling, fireplace with cherry woodwork and steps to the landing. It is the entrance to the house from the foyer and has a full width bow window across the front of the house.

first thing out of my mouth was "oh wow". bruce that place is COOL!! do you have any more pics?

All the woodwork had been painted dozens of times with lead paint. I can't imagine how many hours it took to restore just the trim.
To the left is the foyer and the dining room.

the wall paper gave me an anurism. ow. it hurts!

To the right is the parlor through heavy drapes and 6" wood pillars with another room through sliding doors. Both contain period furniture and carpets with more DoDads than you can absorb in an evening.

bruce, you were definitly in doodad hog heaven! you say all the woodwork was lead based? whew! that's a lot of man hours to restore!

Through the dining room or up to the landing then down 4 or 5 steps is the kitchen. The kitchen has a walk in pantry, soapstone sink, ice box (and refrigerator) and DoDads galore. From the kitchen leads the stairs down the the cellar where the Urban Wildlife Rehabilitation Center resides. Ever seen an albino racoon?

Back up to the landing then left is the stairs to the second floor bedrooms and bath in the same period and detail. The third floor is Dee's business of Davenport & Co. which supplies fine period clothing to museums, theatrical productions, costumers and people that like that sort of thing. She even has newer things like polyester and doubleknits. He builds jet engines at Hamilton Standard.

Sure, it wasn't that long ago that all paint except whitewash was lead based. You don't want to burn it or sand it for health reasons. Chemicals are no fun (for paint removal ;) ) so that leaves scrapers and elbow grease.

Dee said when they were still living in an apartment and working on the house every night and weekends, there was a vagrant in the house but they could never catch him there.
She finally left him a note saying she was glad he was there to protect the house from vandals and they would pay him to help clean up the place as the refinishing made a big mess. He never came back.:D

apologies to anyone who claims her as their kin, but DAMN that kid is creepy.

Yep, that was the evil eye for sure.

btw, I've seen an albino raccoon.

I must say that I like all the woodwork but the wallpaper is overwhelming.

Usually she looks normal but she has a "camera face" she puts on whenever you pick up a camera that's chilling. The lipstick adds to the ghoulish look.

i really like that glass work done for the window on the stairs.....very cool!

Yeah, that's a beautiful window. It's pretty high off the ground but I'd like to get a shot of it lit from the inside. Maybe next year.

"Play with us. Forever. And Ever. And Ever."


Quzah.

I didn't know Mayor Quimby could afford such a house...

Quinby was getting kickbacks from another "house".:D

I found this newspaper story about the house.
Entering the McKnight area of Springfield is like stepping into another era. The huge, elegant mansions that housed prosperous families at the turn of the 19th century seem to have escaped the ravages of time.
That's an illusion. Much hard work has gone into restoring these grand homes. The new urban pioneers of the 1980s took a chance on this once-decaying neighborhood and transformed it into the work of art it is today.
Dee's picture album on the history of the house shows the enormous structure tipping as it is raised onto wheels for transportation. It's an amazing sight.
At that point it was a mess, its facade shorn of the front porch. A week of rain at its new location made things worse. Even the neighbors thought Tom and Dee were crazy.
But these two people love to rehabilitate things, and they are remarkably handy. In fact, they used to work in furniture restoration. Today Dee sells vintage clothing online. www.davenportandco.com
Add to that their passion for Victoriana and their family histories, which trace back to the Mayflower, and they were just the people to nurse the house back to its former splendor.
"We think of it as our big art project," says Dee.
Tom built a two-story front porch identical to the original one, and the couple scraped down the whole exterior by hand. Today the house is resplendent in authentic "hunting-lodge" colors of the period, gray and dark green with red trim.
Inside, the combination of architecture and decor dazzle. The foyer has a fireplace, a wall-to-wall window seat, a red velvet couch and oak wainscoting.
And heaven forbid that a guest in 1895 should walk straight into the foyer. It's preceded by a small "vestibule," complete with chandelier, carpet, and a portrait of Dee's great-grandmother.
In the living room is a baby grand piano that once belonged to Tom's grandmother. It's covered with a pink long-fringed "piano scarf" and topped with framed antique photos. A photo on the wall shows Dee's great-grandmother holding a parasol. Dee whips out of the room and returns a moment later carrying that very parasol.
The dining room has original latticed windows and, like the other rooms, a "plate rail" over the wainscoting that bears all manner of interesting curiosities. Off to the side of the dining is a solarium with a piano.
Tom's father, Bob Howe, built the couple an old-fashioned slate sink for the kitchen. The wood of the cabinet on which it stands matches the wainscoting. Two pantries are divided by a wall with a small sliding window that allowed the cook to hand food to the butler.
There are treasures at every turn: a marble tabletop, a stained glass window, a little doll's-trunk inscribed with the day Dee's great-aunt received it: Dec. 25, 1891.
Some of the treasures are from family, but others are from tag sales, flea markets and the side of the road. Dee spotted the green "fainting couch" in a farmer's field. She and Tom recognize beauty, she says, even under layers of age. And they have a gift for coaxing it out.
They bought their house in 1986. "It was such a great old house," says Dee, "and it was in such horrible shape that we just had to rescue it.

Boring old fart that I am, I was back 1895 on Christmas Eve again this year. :)

This is a new room for me. :biggrin:

Imagine hand scrapeing multi layers of lead paint from that woodwork. :greenface

This year I got pictures of the little alcove off the dining room before anybody parked their butt in it. ;)

About midnight I was out in the backyard having a smoke. Full moon and very cold but no snow. I glanced over at the cellar window and staring back at me were 2 racoons, 1 plain and 1 albino, which startled me. Of course in the cellar (not Cellar.org) is the Urban Widlife Rescue that Dee runs. They had 4 'coons, a skunk and a prarie dog someone had dumped in a snowbank the week before Christmas. :(
I met another couple, for the first time, that have a wildlife habitat. nice people with good intentions but rabid tree huggers. :)
I also met a woman named Nancy Skowyra, who is one of Dee's volunteers and a (fe)mailman. She's a bright, funny person with the gift of gab and an infectious smile. She had me laughing out loud...a lot. :angel:

Oh, I almost forgot bowls of homemade chocolate truffles. Some rolled in cocoa, some in confectioners sugar, some in nuts and some plain. :yum:

I think I need to come with you for Christmas next year, bruce.

Oh, and what's the detail on the reflector (is that what they are called?) in the fireplace ... is that a harvest fruit, wheat sheaves and vegetable motif, or something else?

I don't remember what the design was on the spark screen. If it was something very unusual I'd probably remember it and have photographed it.

And you can come with me anytime. :biggrin:

Wonderful. I finally see a real Christmas.

Not really, Billy. That house is not normal. The furnishings are very old, many of them, and the Christmas decorations, are in the syle of 100 years ago.
If you look at the whadjaget thread, Jinx posted a picture of her kids opening presents. That's closer to modern Christmases. :)

Nice looking house, Bruce. I wouldn't want to do the dusting though. :eek:

Is one of those stocking hung by the chimney with care yours?

Me too! I'll ask Marci to bake one of her cheesecakes. The ironwork in the fireplace does look unusual.

BTW, does anyone play the piano? It wouldn't be an old-timey Christmas without singing around the piano. :violin:

His is the one with the big balls.

You know, I've looked at all the nooks and crannies making sure I didn't miss any DoDads and in 3 years I've never seen a speck of dust.
Dee runs the Urban Wildlife Rescue and her vintage clothing business as well as a reasonable social life. Keeping this place clean PLUS hauling out and putting up all those decorations is all mind boggling to me. I honestly don't know how she does it. :eek3:
At least one of the three pianos (on the first floor) will play itself. But who the hell wants to sing when they can be stuffing their face with home made chocolate truffles? :yum:

I'm having a minor fit over the old furniture. Is it original? How did they keep it in such great condition? I started watching those antique appraisal shows on TV and gained yet another addiction: wishing I knew stuff about old stuff. The furniture always fascinates me the most. That, and the old books, of which I noticed a couple sitting on those tables.

Yeah, the furniture is old, but some reupholstery with repro fabrics. The wallpaper is repro too. How they keep it nice...or clean is a mystery. :confused:

Heh heh heh. I thought the same thing. It's a little "busy" for my taste. And I am still frightened of the child, although she seems to have lightened up a bit in the second photo. Very cool house though!