Part II: The Hall and Library

The first time I visited M&A in this house, they'd only lived there for a year or so, and it was just after I'd moved back to the States. We had a flying visit and there was a lot of work being done on both the house and gardens. While there is still work being done, it's much more settled and lived in, and you can see both M's and A's personalities shining through.
A little history: the house was built in the 1820's and was passed through the family for the next 80 years or so. The house was abandoned for many years and at one point was used to store grain. In fact, you can see pitchfork marks in some of the heart pine doors. In the early 1960's, it was purchased and the new owners set about a serious renovation. They sold it to their daughter in the 1970's and M&A bought it about five years ago.

In the image below, you can see the center portion of the house, with a section of ivy running down the middle. The family uses the shutters to conserve energy during the summer heat.
The house has a hall along the front with a staircase along the front wall, and a library and dining room are on the back side. A kitchen and bedroom wing was added on one side and a sunroom was added on the other. There are only two bedrooms in the main portion of the house and two more in the wing.

M and I are both the middle children and both have the collecting gene. It's so interesting to see how he's arranged his collections, whether of paintings, etchings or canes. All of the rooms have brass rods running along the top of the walls and the artwork is hung with brass chains, so they don't tilt.

M found four of these sconces, with the globes intact! The other two are in the dining room. You can see how the staircase bisects the front window.

In the image above, the library's on the left and the dining room's on the right.
Clearly, this is a family that loves dogs. These are part of M's collection of canes and shooting sticks.

The library is obviously a well-loved and well-used room. It opens onto the dining room to one side and the gardens on another side.
The huge book case, which I spent lots of time checking out!
A detail of the book case.

The library fireplace, which gets used a lot in winter. It's a perfect place for a sit and a chat. The chandelier is out being worked on, but you can see where it should be!

Tomorrow, I will show the dining room and some other views.