After the perfect day in Dutch Country, we arrived at Beth's charming
home with just a couple of hours of daylight left. We took the
opportunity to have a grand tour of the estate house and grounds of Welkinweir.
The house was pieced together over a couple of centuries - the original
home built in 1750, then added on in 1830, 1860, and 1940. There were a lot of neat details - a hand-painted lamp shade showing the original barn on the property, tiles at the fireplace collected from around the world by the family who owned the home, and I really liked how the heating system was integrated into the windowsill.
Suzie animated the tour with the help with some handy props.
We traversed the fancy stairways to all floors.
Up one narrow stairway, we pretend-played the player pipe organ (the pipes are in a closet on the top floor, and the sound comes through the grated hole in the ceiling in the grand entry).
We even braved the dark, dusty basement. There is a great, and mildly creepy ballroom-looking room. And, in one corner of the room is a bookcase...that also serves as a door.
Yes-yes. This place has a secret door to a dark and winding tunnel complete with skulls and bats.
Back upstairs, I spent just as much time looking out the windows as at the interior intricacies. Maybe it had something to do with being in the basement, but look at the interesting views!
A dwarf door in a stone wall:
And a tree with lots of character, a little stone pump house, and that serene, reflecting lake.
Time to go outside and take a closer look! I love the old trees there. They're the kind I picture in my dream yard - good for climbing, lounging, shade, swings, all the things that call for youthful adventure and bring back fond memories.
It turns out that too much of that kind of thing can be bad for a tree - like this dying Magic Tree. It has been climbed and carved with young lovers' initials so much that it no longer produces curtains of leaves that made it the perfect romantic hideaway. Sadness.
Daylight was fading fast, as we toured the old barn site and the evergreen section (the variegated species are awesome!). It was just that time of evening - deep shadows and faintly glowing patches where the light can still reach. The resident deer found it to be perfect grazing time, and we watched them cautiously move about, making odd screeching and huffing noises when they caught wind of us.
Then, our attention was drawn to the peaceful pasture of horses across the road. The sun was hitting them last, and they stood there quietly as if soaking up the last bit of it. It was dark enough that photographing was beyond difficult without a tripod we didn't bring....so we tried to improvise.
Turns out that a laughing human bipod is even worse! :)
