The pre-view didn’t open until 1:00 PM so we drove around the tiny town square and spotted a small place to eat named “Tater’s Café”. It was a cute little place with home made tables and mix matched chairs, tin ceilings, a hodgepodge of wall coverings and a lot of local customers enjoying each others company. Hubs ordered a hamburger steak plate and I ordered a steak finger basket. The simple fare was really good and we will likely make a trip back just to eat there again.
After lunch we made our way to the pre-view. It is a grand old house on first appearance with a huge stone porch wrapping around the front and side. I spotted a wrought iron patio table and chairs and made note to hubs I liked it then we went inside. The ceilings were 12-15 feet tall in all the large rooms and the original wood floors were awesome. It was immediately evident the former owners were very talented and imaginative with decorating. Several people walking through the house mentioned they knew them and that they created most of the items themselves. Call me impressed!
In the first of three living areas was a table in front of two white sofas built from an old wooden window. I didn’t take a picture of it because there were a lot of items on top and I got distracted looking through them. Sorry, because it really was cool. The sitting room adjacent to it had an ornate white wrought iron headboard hanging on the wall with a quilt draped over the bottom bed rail. I told hubs to bid on it for sure. We moved into a formal dining room loaded with all sorts of dishes then stepped into a farm style kitchen. A collection of old aprons were hung on the windows as curtains and from hooks high on the walls. My eyes traveled up and saw a wood border around the room that had knives and flattened spoons as hooks. SO COOL!
In a small laundry room off the kitchen the window coverings were antique children clothing and what I think may have been cotton grain sack printed cloth all hung on strings with clothespins. We made our way past a butlers pantry through a long hall into a small bedroom. Cotton cloth curtains with ribbons were tied to a collection of antique door knobs on a wooden board. We walked past a bathroom with a small bicycle with a basket of flowers on the handle bars hanging above white claw foot tub, a modern bowl sink mounted on an old chest and a darling chandelier sporting some whimsical lady figures and beads. OH, and behind the chest with the sink was an old door. It had a mirror where once was the window and two door knobs on the sides as towel holders.
Upstairs were four huge bedrooms. One was decorated in a western Indian motif. Small tree limbs held Indian print rugs and small blankets as window treatments. I pointed out a coat stand made from rebar and a brake drum to hubs. At the end of the upstairs hall was a very large room that had been a crafting room. There was a floor to ceiling fabric storage cube full of projects waiting to be sewn and lots of Coca Cola décor. I spotted two writing desks in the other two bedrooms that I coveted and an antique photo frame hung like a diamond surrounding an antique child’s gown.
In the gardens were various metal chairs and swings plus a bird bath that had buttons grouted on. There were several chimes hanging in the trees made from an odd assortment of small pot lids, tin cups, and old kitchen utensils. After hubs checked out the garage and shop things we walked slowly on the sidewalk that circled around the house admiring a hodgepodge collection of dinner plates used as flower bed borders.
The whole tour was well worth the trip over there and quite inspirational to a crafter and blogger like me. If I hadn’t already committed to attend a blogging workshop during the auction I’d be right by hubs side encouraging him to purchase things he has no idea what I would do with! Just cross your fingers he brings home something!
