Home Tours

Breanna and I went out Saturday night for the Christmas Home Tour. We had a lot of fun. These houses were just beautiful. The period Christmas decorations were extraordinary! The people who took on these restoration projects really had "the vision" of what these houses could once again become. Many of these homes were from the turn of the last century. I was amazed at the heights of these ceilings. Many of the homes had butler pantries. A lot of the bathrooms had the antique claw foot tubs. Now, I think those tubs add to the bathrooms, but in looking at them I realized one would really have to be able to lift her leg high to get in the tub. I never realized how deep those tubs are. A lot of the bathrooms were huge. Also many of the staircases were steep and narrow. There was a very heavy set lady on the tour. Nothing against her at all, but watching her on the stairs made me consider the size of people 100 years ago. Honestly, it would have been difficult to maneuver up narrow stairs and under low eaves in many of these houses for someone who was big. I just think it is interesting the way these houses were laid out (esp. since Scott and I are in the process of working out house plans for our own house building project). These houses had staircases that led down into the foyer area. Most of these houses had fairly large foyers. The bedrooms were on the small side. ( I guess back then people only slept in their bedrooms so they figured they didn't need that much space there...unlike today where people like to hang out in their bedrooms and read, watch TV, maybe workout on the treadmill etc.) Something else I noticed was the parlor and large dining area rooms. The kitchens were not very big, but the dining rooms were huge. They could hold a large table and still have a bunch of space. I assume that meal times, esp. with large families, was a big meeting time where everyone gathered around the table. Oh, and as Breanna pointed out there were A LOT of fireplaces throughout these houses. Almost every bedroom and all the downstairs rooms had one. I'm assuming that these were main sources of heat, so each room required one? It's really pretty funny, thinking about all these things and how so much has changed. Scott and I are concerned with energy efficiency, the layout of rooms--creating a "good flow", high traffic areas, flooring choices etc. I wonder if 100 years from now people will look at OUR house and think how quaint it is and how people in 2008 lived:)