I’ve posted this bottle tree before but it’s changed. It’s been nicely washed this winter and it’s been reconfigured. I guess even glass trees grow and get pruned.
Category: Houses
Life 100 years ago
The Shafer Baillie Mansion in Seattle offers an insight into the modern life of the wealthy a hundred years ago. We can also see early versions of today’s technology. The shower above is a pioneering form of shower massage.
Here are the shower controls. Happily this was not in our room. I don’t require staff for daily activities but can see the appeal of a lady’s maid to confront these controls every morning.
I was taken enough with this phone and light switch to photograph them but neglected to look carefully enough at this early communications device. I think it’s an intercom.
Sadly the fine, detailed craftsmanship that made so many places beautiful is largely a thing of the past.
Mansion living
A one night stay in the Shafer Baillie Mansion in Seattle was an interesting taste of how the other half might have lived a hundred years ago. The ground floor of the mansion was equipped with a library, above, a large dining room, and a lovely sun room. The kitchen and any other working spaces for servants were, naturally, behind closed doors.
The living room was decorated for Christmas. I took this shot with my phone. Not bad, eh?
This is one of the bed and breakfast guest rooms which would have been part of the family quarters when it was a residence.
I was taken with the gorgeous woodwork. I’ll show you a few more details tomorrow.
Shafer Baillie Mansion, Seattle
What’s better than spending a night in the ballroom of an early 20th century mansion? Having the whole mansion to yourself!
This is the Shafer Baillie Mansion in Seattle. Since we were going to Seattle last week and traveling there at this time of year can be hit and miss (snow or ice…bridge closings…traffic congestion) we made it an event and spent the night in this gorgeous 14,000 square foot bed and breakfast. And as luck would have it we were the only guests that night. Talk about living a Downton Abbey fantasy. The only thing missing were servants, though staff greeted us and provided a delicious breakfast.
The mansion has been lovingly restored by the current owners. The woodworking alone is worth a visit. I’ll show you more of this beautiful building in the next day or two.
Lumbering town
Logging and lumber was the lifeblood of the Olympic Peninsula in the early days of European settlement. Many communities in the Northwest started their lives as the company towns of lumber companies and housing was often provided to workers by “the company.” Typical worker homes were distinctive by their size – small – and style – simple. This one is located on a good sized lot and could have been built independently.
There’s a short row of these typical houses in Carlsborg. Their tiny sizes are sometimes in evidence with odds and ends that live on the front porches.
Some of them are partly hidden by trees and shrubs and all are on small lots.
This one has a bright coat of paint and the late addition of a second story tacked on that I framed out of the shot.
The ramp on this one is another recent addition but the house itself is a good example of the classic company house.
Dream on
This hotel, the Ann Starrett Mansion, one of those gorgeous Victorian era dwellings, is for sale. It’s in Port Townsend and the asking price is $750,000.
I noticed it a couple of weeks ago and it reignited a completely impractical fantasy I’ve had since I stayed in my first bed and breakfast many years ago. “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a B&B?” I wonder. Cute, cozy rooms. Interesting guests to guide to interesting places. Oh, to be back in the Hospitality Industry!
Then I remember: I hate mornings. I’m retired and I’m very happy for that. And then there’s the little matter of $750,000. Saved again from my fantasies.
The stuff of dreams
The Sequim Lavender Festival planted stars in my eyes before we moved here. So many of the lavender farms have that dreamy, picturesque beauty that fills lifestyle fantasies. For me it’s almost Martha-Stewart-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland. Too crazy good to be true. But it isn’t, at least during Lavender Weekend and most of summer. This is Oliver’s Lavender Farm.
The location is glorious and the grounds are so well groomed. A place this gorgeous needs a combination of staff and obsession. And a fistful of green thumbs, too. I love wandering through such a beautiful farm. Before moving here I held high hopes that some of it might rub off on me.
This is the home that greets you as you arrive at Oliver’s. Really, can’t you just imagine moving in? Help me, Martha!