April in Washington, GA & Old Houses

It's April and time for a"pilgrimage" to Washington, Ga.  For years, we have visited this sweet little town outside of Athens, GA.  To be honest, we love to have lunch on the 1st Saturday in April at the First United Methodist Church.  There is always a Tour of Homes.  Here are a few pictures of homes around town not on the tour and I'll post a few on the tour at the end. 

 

This house has a beautiful side porch in the back.  Very ornate .....

Next are three homes that were on the tour.  I was so overwhelmed I forgot to take pictures of the others.

The 1894 Inn

 

Fireplace mantel in living room in 1894 Inn

 1886 Granade Home

1827 Wisteria Hall

And here are a few interior photos of Wisteria Hall.

Ballroom that runs across the middle of the house.

               
     Porch off the ballroom and next to the kitchen.

Other side of the porch. (Yes, that is me in the mirror talking.)

Men's parlor or study.

More children's bedrooms ...

Wisteria Hall is named after all the Wisteria growing on the trees in the front and back yard.

We love April in the South.  It was a wonderful day.  Thank you for joining us on our trip!

Love,

Lottie

Update on House Restoration

Some of you have asked about the progress on Miss Willie's House.  Well, it has been slow but good!  One thing we have really realized is that we're not as young as we used to be! LOL!

DH has been working on the attic windows this fall. He re-glazed the windows intact instead of taking them down because the glazing was so old he was afraid the glass would fall out. This kind of delicate work is very time consuming but he doesn't mind.  

The attic window and bay roof over Miss Willie's bedroom is completely finished.  One day (far in the future), the green shutters will be rebuilt and replaced.

The front attic window and bay is completely finished.  The ladder on the roof shows the height above the bay to work on the window.

I worried about DH the whole time he was up there working but he said he enjoyed every minute!  By the way, before DH retired he spent his days in the classroom teaching art.  I guess standing up painting on top of a house can be fun when you look at it from that perspective.

The windows look beautiful!  Next project will be the porch in the spring!

DH has stained the floors in four rooms in the house, too, and they look beautiful, but most of the furniture is out of place now.  I did minimal Christmas decorations this year.  I seem to like it better that way.

And we celebrated my DB's birthday in the house this year.  Here is a picture of me, my brother and my DSL.

I have to be honest about work on our someday retirement house.  It is hard work and takes lots of money.  And like I said in the beginning of this post, we're not as young as we used to be!  And the money seems to disappear fast when working on an old house.  DH is doing all the work and I'm glad he loves it!  

 

  Wishing you and your family a happy holiday! 

Love,
Lottie

Favorite Decorated House for Christmas

Do you have a house that you make a point to drive by just to see it decorated  for Christmas?  I do!  My favorite is the Toddle Inn - Williams  house located in the Silk Stocking District in Talladega, Alabama.  I just wanted to share a little bit of Christmas favorites with you today. The house was built in 1890 by the Cook family and later was a daycare center named Toddle Inn.  It seems every citizen of Talladega went there as a child.  Then the house stood empty for years and years before the present owners lovingly restored it!  The Christmas lights are a true gift to families who drive by.  Both the adults and children look out the car windows to see Santa on the porch.  Enjoy!

 

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Lottie

Christmas Open House Tour at Hill House

We were just taking a Sunday drive in Abbeville, SC, when we saw a sign at the gates, Open House 2-5.  We asked ourselves if Hill House, owned by the Hill family was for sale? No, the Hill's were just sharing the house decorated for Christmas and refreshments. The Christmas Open House is open every Sunday afternoon beginning Thanksgiving weekend thru the Sunday before Christmas with free admission.  It is a beautiful home and the family said I could take all the pictures I wanted!  So, hope you enjoy the tour!

The house was built by David Lesly in 1839 and was purchased by John Livingston Hill in 1893.  It has been in the Hill family since then. All the family lives in other homes and keep the house in good order for weddings and events.  We were greeted by the family with a warm welcome in the front hall.

The Front Hall  (how inviting!)

 

An elegant view into the Back Hall

Let's go into the parlor.

I love the yellow walls! The family has kept the home very cozy!  And I love the stripes on the sofa!

Original piano that has always been in the house.

This is the formal dining room with a door that leads to a side porch.

This organ was in the corner of the formal dining room.  I started inserting the web page for the wedding and events, but I've just taken too many pictures to do that individually.

The everyday dining room is my favorite room in the house.  Both dining rooms and kitchen are all now on the same side of the house for easy access.  I love the colors in this room!

This beautiful modern kitchen was built on to replace the detached original kitchen.

DH is looking out at the pasture.  What a wonderful place to look at the sunset while preparing meals.

We are in the back hall again.. 

The law books and deed holders look beautiful in the back hall.

Now into a downstairs bedroom.  The gorgeous  furniture is original to the family.

Let's go upstairs into the wide middle hall.

At the end of the hall is another beautiful Christmas tree!  The upstairs has four large rooms originally used as bedrooms.  The first room is used as an office now.

There is a blue bedroom.

The second bedroom is the master bedroom. 

And the fourth bedroom is where the owner keeps her dolls!

I will stop here for now and post pictures of the dolls soon! Click here.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! I certainly did!

 Thank you to the Hill's for graciously opening up your family home. 

Love,

Lottie