Wednesday, November 02, 2011
In the fall I often picture Victorian houses in my mind. It may be partly because I went to college near Rhinebeck New York. In the fall I would return and admire the many beautiful Victorian houses. Also one often sees Victorian style in the fall seasonal art of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Montgomery County Public Library has a number of books with pictures of Victorian houses. My favorite is the Painted Ladies series. I've scanned some pictures to share with you from the Painted Ladies books.
One of my absolute favorite places is the house of artist Frederic Church, Olana. It is sited on a bluff with a fabulous view of the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains. It is a Victorian Moorish conglomeration. Church had a reason for everything he did, including his use of materials in the interior to manipulate light. We used to go up to Olana to admire the design of the house and also just to sit on the lawn and take in the panoramic view. Here is a partial view of Olana, taken from the side of the front entrance. 
Olana, from
America's Painted Ladies
The Pink House was built in Wellsville New York.
After Edwin Bradford Hall (a descendant of a member of the original Plymouth Colony) and his bride Antoinette fell in love with Italian castles while on their honeymoon on Lake Como, he designed and built this delicious towered Italianate villa in 1869-1870 with the help of architects Henry Searle & Sons. The fourth generation of the family still summers at The Pink House.
America's Painted Ladies
The Gingerbread House in Chicago
[It] is said to have been built by a Mr. Schmidt in 1884, thirteen years after the great Chicago fire destroyed the neighborhood. ... In 1978 Dr. Marshall Bruce Segal purchased the house and - before moving in - began a five-year renovation of the interior. ... A few years later he completed the exterior painting.
America's Painted Ladies
The Carson Mansion in Eureka California
Lumber baron William Carson built this truly astonishing ediface to keep his workers busy during the off season and to be used as a showcase for the different kinds of wood he sold. ... It is a temple of the woodcarver's art, a one-stop museum of "drop-dead" Victorian decoration.
Daughters of Painted Ladies
The Gingerbread Mansion in Ferndale California, 1889, now a lovingly restored Bed and Breakfast inn.
Dr. Hogan J Ring and his wife, Orcelia Lowe Ring, built this scrumptious house and later enlarged it to include a small hospital in back.
Daughters of Painted Ladies
There are four Painted Ladies titles in MCPL:
America's painted ladies : the ultimate celebration of our Victorians Daughters of painted ladies : America's resplendent Victorians Painted ladies : San Francisco's resplendent victoriens The painted ladies revisited : San Francisco's resplendent victorians inside and out
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