House of the Hill
So close on the heels of the visit to Glensheen mansion last moth, Jim and I toured the James J Hill house in St. Paul on Saturday. This tour was the start of our anniversary celebration. We've been married 29 years and we're aiming for more!
The James J Hill house was laid out just like the Glensheen, only bigger. Everything was so dark! For having a lot of windows (both inside and out, yes, inside windows, like the foot level windows in the interior of a stairwell) it was DARK. I guess they do keep it slightly dark to protect the furnishings, but the hall was paneled in dark wood and made it even gloomier. Good thing my new phone camera likes a challenge.
The James J Hill house was laid out just like the Glensheen, only bigger. Everything was so dark! For having a lot of windows (both inside and out, yes, inside windows, like the foot level windows in the interior of a stairwell) it was DARK. I guess they do keep it slightly dark to protect the furnishings, but the hall was paneled in dark wood and made it even gloomier. Good thing my new phone camera likes a challenge.
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| Mantel detail. I loved the marching cherubs. They created depth or time or whatever by having the line gradually fade back to nearly flat. |
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| heat register. I wish mine were this fancy! |
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| THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE HOUSE |
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| I love the pull marked "Blower Signal." It's there so that you can signal the poor bloke assigned to pump the bellows in the basement--this is NOT an electronic organ! |
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| I love stops! |
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| The dryer! It was a whole room! You put the just-washed items on the racks, push the racks into the heating area, close up the room, and let radiant heat do the drying. |
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| The organ bellows! Manual pump action! |
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| The house |
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