A Victorian Home

For my blog entry this week in GD History, I will stay with the theme of the week- Victorian, and share pictures of my mother-in-law's house in Evanston (which she just sold).
The house was built in the 1870s and actually faced the other direction on another street about a block away. During the 1930's a wealthy stock broker moved the house to a less busy street.
The house has 12 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, and 5 fireplaces. It also has a separate two story coach house which still has the horse stalls intact.

Being a historic landmark, this home can only be preserved. For a while people with homes like this in Evanston were having them renovated into apartments which really played with the aesthetics that Evanston is so famous for,

For each entry in your blog, write one paragraph describing your selection:

* Describe what it is- a Victorian House
* Describe its function- to house people :)
* Describe where you saw it- Evanston, Illinois
* Discuss the style of the design & typography- Victorian craftsmanship
* Discuss the quality of the artwork- Excellent
* Discuss what attracted you to the piece- I've been looking at it for 25 years.

This is a picture of the back of the house.What you cannot see is the screened in porch and the garden on the left side.

This is a picture of the front of the house. The picture is cropped which distorts the actual size of the house. But, the detailing of the front remains as it was when the house was built. The only difference is that about 10 years ago my inlaws decided to paint the house beige with white trim. It had always been white up to that point.

This is a picture of one of the smaller fireplaces. Notice the hand made design that is so Victorian.

This picture of one of the smaller bathrooms. Notice the bathtub- it's original with the "cat paw feet" on it.

This picture is of of one of the ceilings. It is representational of the house, meaning that just about every room had a beautifully constructed ceiling. The wonderful molding, the ornate design and the chandelier are all original to this house.

Like most homes from this era, there were a domestic staff. This is a 'communication device' that was on the third floor of the house. Someone could call down to the maid to bring some towels upstairs.

I wish that I had a picture of the dumbwaiter. It was used for 'hauling' items between floors. This house also had a maids bedroom in the attic and a walk-out roof probably used to hand laundry to dry. You can see most of Evanston from the rooftop.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures!