Your style

violet

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Your style

Men and ladies~
What is your style in your home?
What kinds of things do you like to decorate your home with or you collect?
 
We don't have any one style but I do collect copper molds (they hang in my kitchen). We also like Terry Redlin prints (currently have two and one plate). I would like to eventually have more.
 
Since our home is also the Rectory, our decor is 'early Christian'...LOL :)
 
Hmmmm, Pastor Gary, I am imagining you live in a stucco type house then with dirt floors and lots of clay jugs and pots setting around!;)
 
Close, Violet - and it WAS that way early on, except for the 'mud walls' when it was constructed in 1879. It has been affiliated in one way or another as a meeting place for God's children over it's entire life of 128 years. It started out as a Baptist Congregation meeting place on a wagon trail between a US Military Frontier Fort and a native American settlement in 1879. It changed hands a couple times and my wife and I bought it in 1970 to continue it's heritage as a religious meeting place. We use it as a base of operations and now have Prayer Service venues in 5 states... Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida.
 
I LOVE old houses.
It is a passion of mine!
Do you have any interesting history on the house?
Have you found anything old?

:)
 
We have the Abstract for the property and that goes back even farther than the building itself... to 1867 when the location that the building was built on was just a farm field. The County Clerk's Office issued surveying measurements for about a dozen 1/2 acre lots to establish a rest stop on the wagon trail between the Fort and the tribal village. Our property is part of that original rest stop area. The survey lists our property as being a certain number of 'rods' (measurement=16 1/2 feet) from a 'Witness Tree' on the banks of the large river about a mile east southeast of our location. That tree was the basis for all lot locations here and when the tree was cut down in 1911 for a railroad right-of-way, a brass survey marker was placed there in it's place and remains there to this day. ( Also listed in the Abstract ).

Our current Rectory started life as a Baptist Church. There are still other buildings that were part of that original rest stop here, but are all residences these days. A Blacksmith Shop and Livery Stable, a Boarding House, a General Store and our building were the main features with a couple of farm houses nearby.

We did several renovations over the years and did find several pieces of history. We removed a wall in what is now the kitchen during a renovation and found some US mint coins dating to 1864. We also found a US Calvary Sword and scabbard in the attic with the normal "U.S." markings on it from the Civil War era. We donated that to the local museum where it has been on display for nearly 30 years. There was also a newspaper from a town nearby dated in 1881 with news articles about a railroad expansion from that town up into the virgin pine forests 100 miles north of us where a new logging camp was being built. That camp turned out to eventually be part of the Connor Lumber Company.
http://www.meadwildlife.org/history-06.html

In keeping with the overall history of this residence and the ties to the northern part of the state, as mentioned in that newspaper article, we established an outdoor Prayer Service venue in a small part of that pine forest that still remains intact. We call it "The Cathedral of the Pines". The 160 foot high White Pines are our walls and ceiling and the pine needles are our floor. It is marvelous to be conducting a quiet prayer service there and be able to watch white tail deer meandering past our meeting place to go drink from the lake. We also enjoy the winds whispering through the tops of the pines that reminds us that God created the beauty of the area and has given it to us all to enjoy. In the autumn, the colors of the trees across the lake brightens up our 'walls' and the sounds of flocks of geese heading south for the winter makes wonderful 'music' for our members.

We have enjoyed this residence for our 37 years here and find it to be a gift from God. The history, the charm of the building itself and what it has meant to various worshippers for 128 years makes us all feel tranquil and happy in knowing that God is our 'landLord'.
 
That's really neat that you have found some historical things in your house. Our house was built in 1892 but the only thing we have ever found in the walls was bats. (Now gone thank goodness!)
 
Pastor,
I can't wait to look at that link more.
I find these topics so exciting!
And I wish I belonged to your church!
I love Wisconsin. I couldn't actually believe a place exists where you can see nothing but land in any direction you look!
I think you are living in the kind of place I want to live!


And Shannon, does your house still look old?
 
It looks beat up - does that count? :)

Actually the whole interior is still lathe and plaster walls and the ceiling on the porch is...wow can't think what you call it but it looks like waiscotting. Maybe that's what you DO call it. And there is some funky light fixture in our laundry room that we have NO idea how to make work. My son's room has the push button light switches - the kind where you push one button in and the other pops out and the light comes on. Our bathroom is teeny tiny because it was made out of what was once a closet.

In fact, here is a link to pictures of our bathroom remodel...it will give you an idea of just how small the room is!

http://community.webshots.com/album...freshPhotos&albumID=559957240&security=sLdvCn
 
Thanks! :) I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am with it. We did it back in February and I still smile when I walk in there. (OK is that strange seeing as it's a bathroom?) We were on a pretty tight budget but thanks to help from family and friends (and a LOT of work on our part) we were able to complete the whole bathroom for under $500 and in 6 days. We hurried because it's the only bathroom we have! We are lucky that my parents and my Aunt and Uncle live in the same town as us, so we could take showers there (and go potty!)
 
You could say my style is a little eclectic, but I do like old world stuff like Queen Anne, Ball and Claw, etc. I do love to mix and match things that go well together, hence the "eclectic" claim!:D One day, I'd like to decorate my home like we did in Romania when I was growing up there. There was no wall-to-wall carpeting, so we had are rugs and for the windows, we had wide, beautifully engraved wooden valances with a hidden wooden bar on which we hang white or off-white sheers that covered the whole window. I'd also really love to have hard wood floors instead of carpets which would be much healthier, especially for someone like me that has asthma and bad allergies.

Laura:)
 
Laura, carpeting looks nice when it's new and feels good on the feet but I don't like it either.
When I got my animal Dyson I vacuumed an already vacuumed room and I filled the container FULL about every 4 square feet!

I'm pretty eclectic in that I don't like anything to match perfectly, like a picture from a furniture store ad!

I love Old World, French country, cottage, Victorian......I don't like modern at all!

The home in Romania must have been very cosy and homey!

I wish you had pictures~
 
Country Victorian! I collect roosters, hens and chicks, and angels. Im currently looking for "American" angels...;) I've found a few, usually in a christmas store. About 4 years ago, you couldn't find one, now they are popping up here and there. I did draw one, maybe I can post it one day. There is a beautiful story behind her....
Anyway, I live in a double-wide, and the front part, kitchen and dining is more on the counrty side and then it blends with victorian (romantic era) and then my bedroom and bath is victorian.
Some of my favorite artist are Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Armand Point, Tissot, Leighton, ...I know there is more.:)
 

The home in Romania must have been very cosy and homey!

I wish you had pictures~

I don't unfortunately! It was OK. Everyone decorated that way kind of because those were the only choices. I don't have too many good memories of my home in Romania, but I do like the decorating style and I think it might start a trend here if I did it and people saw it. The thing is I don't know if you're even able to get wooden valances here. Maybe special order.

Laura:)
 
Copper.jpg

Copper molds in the kitchen.


Kitchen.jpg

More copper!



LivingRoom.jpg

Living room. The shelf with my toys from when I was a kid. :)
 
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