It's Not So Pretty!

Post #9

The next part of my tour is not so pretty, in more ways than one. Two of the rooms have not been re-decorated, and the story it is not very pretty, either.

I neglected to take pictures of the library before we started to sell things, so the shelves are a little bare. I've sold almost all of my antique books now, except for a few left on the shelf in the sale area.
The library is the room at the end of the hall behind the white door in a previous picture. It has floor to ceiling shelves on all four sides. The shelves were added in the fifties or sixties, we're guessing by looking at the way the shelves are constructed. Before that it might have just been part of the bathroom. We're not sure.





At the back of the library is what used to be a bathroom. This is the part that's not so pretty. We have taken the door down for ease in moving things out of storage. To the left of the bathroom door is another door that leads to what was once a bedroom.



Click here, for my other blog,Thyme for Herbs, where I wrote a post about the back bedroom/kitchen which I had used as a sewing room. Then I moved my sewing room into another bedroom. There's no sense in retelling it here.


Now for the story about why that bathroom is stripped of all plumbing. I'm warning you, it's a sad tale.

In 1947, when Doctor # 3 moved in, there were apartments in the house. He needed to use all of the space for what would soon be his 5 children, so he asked the tenants to leave. A woman (we will call her Mrs. S.) was living alone and did not want to move, so he let her live upstairs in her area. She used the bathroom at the other end of the hallway, which we will call the front bathroom. She was elderly, I believe in her 70s, so they checked on her daily.
One day, he came home and asked his wife if she had heard Mrs. S moving around and she said no. When he went upstairs, he found Mrs. S. in the front bathroom. She had hanged herself from the shower stall. She must have been depressed about something, I don't know anything about that part of the story.

In 1977, when the Doctor sold the house to the R's, he told the story. As soon as they bought the house, they stripped the front bathroom of the plumbing and put in a new tub and shower.
In 1990, when the R's sold it to the C's, the story was once again told, along with how difficult it was to get the old tub out. It had to be lowered over the balcony.
Upon a meeting with the doctor's son, he told them they had it wrong; the incident had happened in the back bathroom. So, you guessed it, they stripped the back bathroom of all its plumbing. They never finished remodeling the bathroom. They only lived here for a total of two years when we bought the house in 1992.
In 1999, our town had a sesquicentennial(150 years), and I was on the committee. I volunteered to organize a home tour, and of course my home was on the tour. Doctor #3 was in his 80s then, and he came through the tour. He was the celebrity of the day. Everyone had to say hello, saying I remember when ---
It was at that time that he told us the story of the suicide and that it had taken place in the front bathroom. So now I know what is accurate, sad but true. May Mrs. S. rest in peace.
Ghost stories have been told by at least two previous residents. I myself have had some strange happenings, but I'll save that for later. I highly doubt the ghost was Mrs. S., but there were many births, deaths, and traumas in this house over the last 100 years, so I never discount what I've heard.
And there you have it, not pretty, but all true.


Please check out my other blogs at:
Thyme for Herbs
An Herbal Bedfellow
Tickling the Ivories

Next, Please.

Post #8

If you're a regular follower, you've been wondering where the next post is. I've been so busy with this sale business, I can hardly see straight. But now I'm ready to continue the tour.
On the last post, I showed you a picture of the upstairs hallway. The doorway on the left at the end is our bedroom, which we call the Red Room. It's the only bedroom upstairs without a floral name, even though there is a floral quilt and wallpaper border.


I have showed this quilt before on Thyme for Herbs. It is one of the few quilts that I have totally designed by myself. I named it "Eye of the Iris." At the time irises were my favorite flower. I still love them, but daylilies have taken over my passion for the last 15-16 years. When I made this quilt it was just an inspiration. I didn't have any of these colors in my other house. I actually finished it shortly after we moved in. So I painted my room based on the colors in the fabric. I think it always intended to go in this room. Do you think quilts can have personalities? I do.


I had to take the picture with the shades down or the photo would be washed out. The windows have the same diamond pattern as the front bedroom.
This little settee was in the sitting room until a few years ago. I am uncomfortable moving furniture around. I work real hard to find a piece for a certain spot and it usually stays there for years. But in this case, after painting this room, it seemed as if it needed to be here.
My mother always moved her furniture to give the room a new look. When I came home from school, I never knew where the couch would be. I guess I'm looking for more familiarity and stability.
The curtains were a JC Penney find. Once again, as in the last room, the flowers on the fabric perfectly matched the colors of the quilt.

This serpentine highboy dresser was something we brought with us from the previous house. It's my husband's favorite piece of furniture.

The quilt rack is at the foot of the bed. The pink and blue lap quilt is the first quilt I made in 1991. The green and yellow quilt was made by Duane's grandmother for his parents. She didn't put labels on her quilts but I know she always gave one to each child and grandchild when they got married. So I think it's from the 30s. Duane is the baby of his family so Grandma was having trouble with her vision by the time we got married. We didn't received a quilt so it was very meaningful that the rest of the family gave it to us when Mom and Dad passed on.

We bought the bed and dresser set in Florida. We had been looking for an oak set but thought they were too expensive for our budget. On a visit to Florida, we went into an antique shop and discovered the owners were from Michigan. They had hauled this set down with them for their new shop, but no one in Florida cares for oak and they couldn't sell it. We got it so cheap that we could afford to rent a U-Haul and take it back North with us on our return trip. Oak is the wood of choice in Michigan. Don't forget, in the 1800s, we were the lumber capital of the world and Grand Rapids was the furniture capital.

I found this wonderful water color, which is signed and marked 1900, on a barn floor in an antique sale. I was looking for a frame. It was stacked with a bunch of others and all dusty. When I asked how much, he said, "well, you know that's only a print." I didn't think so but I was in love with the little girl and so it didn't really matter anyway. He charged me for the frame only and even that was reasonable. When I got home, I found the markings: N.A. Ward. Has anyone heard of this person? I've done extensive research and never found the name. I think it might have been a local artist. She haunts me, she makes me think of Les Miserable, and reminds me to be thankful for all I've have. When I look at her, I realize I don't do enough to help those less fortunate.

I had planned to show you the library and an additional room today, but along with that comes the long story I was telling you about. So I'll end here. Tomorrow's another day.

Please check out my other blogs at:
Thyme for Herbs
An Herbal Bedfellow
Tickling the Ivories

Let's Go Upstairs.

Post #7

I think today I'll take you upstairs. On the second floor there are 6 bedrooms, (we only use three at the moment) a sitting room, a library, and two bathrooms. Only one bathroom is working; the shower and toilet in the second bathroom were taken out by a previous owner -- another long story -- and we never got around to redoing it. It's used for storage now.





As you come to the top of the stairs, you'll see an antique clock that my father-in-law had. He took it with him to every house and even the last move to Florida. We don't know for sure where he got it, but he always liked it and wanted us to have it. I think he knew it would look good here.
The light fixture is original to the house but I am not sure which doctor hung it there. The house had gas fixtures when it was first built, unless this was converted.





This is a view looking down the hall from the bathroom toward the top of the stairs. The door on the left is my bedroom. Straight ahead is the library. (sorry, about the blurry picture!
We brought the large teak Buddha with us from Taiwan. We bought it in our first year of marriage, so it's always been in our house. It's said to bring good luck when you rub his belly. Children always love to test out that story. (giggle, giggle)


To the left of the hallway picture is what we call the Lilac Room, the most recently decorated of all the rooms upstairs. It's one of our favorite guest rooms. I am selling all of the furniture in here. I had planned to cover the walls with quilt wall hangings so the walls are bare because I never got started on any before making the decision to leave.

I made this quilt and then matched the paint to the colors. It always seems so spring-like in here.


I found these curtains at Walmart! You can't see the fabric, but it's a sheer with small flowers the exact same colors as the quilt. They're even stitched in a cross-hatching pattern just like the quilt. You can see the window design through the light. I've always loved the bedroom windows. In the book that Hilda wrote she says this room was used as a guest room, also.



A pleasant and restful corner. The radio is from the 30s and still works. I always expect old-time music to play when I turn it on.
Now that you're in the guest room, would you like to stay a while? Sit back and relax or take a nap. I'll call you for dinner!


Please check out my other blogs at:
Thyme for Herbs
An Herbal Bedfellow
Tickling the Ivories

See Anything You Like?

Post #6

This is what my house looked like on Saturday. I am leaving it set up like this for another few weeks, so we can have at least two more sale days. What a mess. But we sure were busy!! See anything you like?
I'll continue the tour on the next post. See you then.















Please check out my other blogs at:
Thyme for Herbs
An Herbal Bedfellow
Tickling the Ivories

My Story and the Parlor.

Post #5
Are you ready? It's long!

This house has always been known as the Doctor's House. When we moved in in 1992, all we had to do when we met anyone new, was say we lived in the Doctor's House and they all knew where it was. We used to sit on our front porch and watch young people ride horses to the post office, tie them up, and go in to get the mail. In the winter, snowmobiles went roaring down the road late at night. And how we laughed and enjoyed it's quaintness. But in the last few years, farmer's fields are being turned into subdivisions. It's become a highly desirable area. It's only 20 minutes from downtown Grand Rapids and 10 minutes from a huge mall and all the restaurants you could ever want, and here we are still in a farming community. The problem is the new people don't know the history of the township or even care to find out. They don't know about the Doctor's House. The majority of them think they live in a neighboring town because that is the post office and school system they use, so their address reflects that. I sometimes think of the Jay Walkers on Jay Leno when I talk to them. How can you not know the name of the town you live in, your fire department, your library, and where you must go to vote? Anyway that's another subject.

My previous house was a Spanish-style ranch. We had it built and it was beautiful. In-the-ground pool, two fireplaces, and a courtyard with native shade plants, but it wasn't me. I grew up in an old house, and the house before that one was old. I was proud of the new house, but I never really felt quite comfortable there.
I used to go by a Dutch Colonial on my way home from work and think, now that's what I really want. It was on a small city lot with a one stall garage, not attached. No, I'd think I'd like a bigger yard for my gardens, but I still like living in a city setting, not country. Where could you find a yard like that in a city? I went out of my way some days to drive by and dream. We weren't thinking of moving at all and I never told my husband about my dream.
One day, he said, "Did you see the paper today? There's an open house in the country. Look at this place. What are we doing Wednesday night? Let's go look!"
We never went to an open house for fun or curiosity in our life! But it was summer and a nice country drive. When we arrived, the place was a zoo -- cars everywhere, people all over the place. Later we were told over 80 people went through. The Realtor said it was the social highpoint of the year for the town. Everyone wanted to get inside. It was "excuse me, pardon me" all the way through the 22 rooms. We loved it, but I started to have a sick feeling at the same time thinking, my husband is going to make me move. Even though I'd had the dreams, I still had not told him, and I was really afraid to shake up my life again.
We talked to the Realtor, signed a guest list, and went home talking about all the things we could do to it -- then promptly forgot about it as being too far out of town, etc, etc.
Two weeks later the Realtor called and said "Of all the people I talked to, you were the ones I thought would call back; there was a light in your eyes." We said thanks, but no thanks. But then we couldn't stop talking about it. Every night in the dark before bed and every day over supper we would dream. I then confessed my daydreams and showed him the house I had been looking at. It was a carbon copy, white Dutch Colonial EXCEPT the country house was a double Dutch, 2-3 times as large, had a three stall garage and 1 acre of property! Suddenly it dawned on me, that this was not just Happenstance, but a true gift from God. Everything I wanted and more!
We took another look at the house, made an offer , and they agreed to take it off the market for one month while we tried to sell our house -- unheard of!
We sold our house in three weeks! Again unheard of at that time, like now, houses were taking 1-2 years to sell.
So that's my story. I named the house Happenstance House, because if it weren't for the ad placed in an unusual spot in the paper, we would never had seen it. But we always knew it was more than happenstance that brought us here. It was truly a gift, and I have always been grateful.


Here are photos of the parlor to the right of the front entrance.









Please check out my other blogs at:
Thyme for Herbs
An Herbal Bedfellow
Tickling the Ivories

Come and Sit a While

Post #4

It's been a week since I last posted. Things have been crazy around here. We're having a big sale tomorrow and the house has been temporarily turned into an antique shop. It's a good thing I started this blog when I did.
So come in and sit a while. I have a lot more to tell you about my house.


You enter the living room to the left of the door. Once there were oak pocket doors, but the last doctor (number three) took them out in an effort to modernize. I've always mourned the loss of those doors.
Doctor number two had an oak grandfather clock built into the wall -- who knows why. His son, a doctor also, remembers it being installed but did not know the reasoning behind it. Maybe for stability,because his 5 children were known to be wild. All became doctors, nurses, and/or married doctors.

Doctor number one's youngest daughter, Hilda, was born in this house. She wrote a book about the house when she was in her eighties. I corresponded with her a few times and through a series of events received a copy of her book. It tells about each room, whose bedroom was whose, and even where furniture was placed. Her mother used to sit in this corner in 1907 and look out at the hummingbirds in her trumpet vine while she quilted. I used to host a quilting bee and many times we would sit in this room while we worked.


Hilda wrote about the fact that she had to take piano lessons and the piano sat on this wall, the very same place where I had placed mine. She remembers being the first house in town to get electricity and tells what that was like when the workers removed the gas chandeliers.



Looking into the dining room, you can see my husband's Victrola. He has several throughout the house. Some we will sell, but we are keeping this one.
The doll on the lid was my grandmother's. I had new hair and eyes put on her and then I made her dress and bonnet, much of it stitched by hand. I was younger then and had more patience.
We also have a lot of things from the Orient, as we used to say. We lived in Taiwan for two years when he was in the Navy and I was a new bride. I've always loved the mixture of Oriental and Victorian antiques.

This antique Queen Victorian chair was in a house my parents bought when I was 12. No one wanted it, it was just an old chair to them. But I loved antiques even then. I had it in my bedroom and used to read in it and dream about my future husband and what my life would be like.


As I look at these pictures, I can see we have been over the top with our collections; plates, vases, music boxes, eggs, geisha girl, blue willow, cobalt glass, canes, books, perfume bottles, Victrolas, eye wash cups (yes, Duane loves the colored glass ones) watering cans, etc. etc. It really is time to part with some of it.

In the cupboard, you can see some depression glass, mostly ruby and lots of Bavarian dishes, as well as my smoke blue crystal glasses I bought in Taiwan.


The hutch, for the most part, houses my good china. The plates and black vase on top were Duane's grandmother's. She got them as wedding gifts in 1910.
THe red vase as well as the one on the buffet were gifts from my daughter. She brought them back from one of her trips to Romania. We took the large one to Antiques Roadshow this summer when it was in Grand Rapids! So now it has a claim to fame.
We found the picture in an antique shop about 15 years ago. It literally stopped us in our tracks because it looks like Duane when he was a child. It was odd placing him in that era, so we had to have it. People that we know will look at it and at first say, Is that Duane? No it can't be!


The plate rail is a little bowed but it's still holding. These are not real old houses. I painted them myself in the 80s when apparently my eyesight was exceptional. Now I look at them and wonder how I ever did it.

A stained glass window we bought at a flea market for dirt cheap! We brought it home and popped it in. Just like it was made for that window. The clock was in one of our antique shops. No one wanted it so I brought it home. I did that a lot which is probably why the shop never made any money :) It also was a perfect fit for this spot and the dark wood matched the dining room set.


This stained glass was made by the same lady who made the insert on my piano. When I was giving lessons to adults as well as children, we struck a barter deal. We figured out labor hours only, I paid for the glass, and then I gave her lessons to equal the same number of hours she put in on the window. I will not part with this either.

Is your tea getting cold? Need a refresher? Oh, I'm so sorry you have to go. Come again soon so we can see more of Happenstance House. Maybe next time I'll tell you how she got her name.