Looking at the photos sure brings back memories! My Dad and aunts grew up there. My aunts say they think the place shrunk! I think perhaps we all turned into giants. It looks like the people who have been living there have kept it in nice shape. The present owner sure loves light blue. I'd forgotten how many built in cupboards and features there are in the house. So pretty and you don't get that in homes today.
 |
| This pic is taken in the same room as the 6th pic on the link - with the tiffany lamp. Momo and Bubba are in the pic along with Mom's mom - who we simply called Grandma. Susi has our dog Jud on her lap. Betso was not yet born. |
When we visited my grandparents, we'd park in the alley behind their detached single car garage. Momo always had flowering peony bushes planted in the back. The kitchen looks about the same as it did back then - I remember the excitement when Momo got her first dishwasher installed. Back then, the formal dining area contained a beautiful table that sat 12 or so easily.
I like how the owner has the entry decorated. My favorite piece in the house was there when we were kids - a pine chest of drawers that held the toys and games. There a board game - Speed Racer? It was Dad's. And a suede bag of marbles and tiddly winks. We used Momo's wrought iron corn muffin pan to "wink" into. I grew up thinking that was part of the game, until I was older and figured out those corn shaped things were for baking. Genius!
The end of the house was the combo room - living/family room. To the left - Momo and Bub's easy chairs and the center of their universes (by that time they were getting up there in years) - the color console television. Bubba's pipe collection and tobacco sat by his chair. I loved to smell the stuff, wrapped in foil packages. Momo always had her Salem cigarettes by her side, along with her fingernail file.
On the other end of the room sat Momo's upright piano - she could play by ear. In between there was a gorgeous wood burning fireplace and a floral print couch. Momo's prized mirror (she never would tell anyone what it set her back $$) was in the room too. There were built in book shelves that contained Momo's cruet collection. Connecting the living room and the kitchen was a long bathroom - stool, sink and a large bathtub. I bet it's got a shower now.
The door to the dark basement was in that room. On the wall, in the plaster in the stairwell were my handprint belonging to Dad and his sisters Martha and Jean. The basement included the washer and dryer, and huge hold stove and the room where the coal was kept before gas heat was installed. There was a little area where we were sent to play - there were a few toys down there. But we never stayed long. It was cold and dark.
Stairs in the entry way lead up to the four bedrooms and bath. I didn't remember all those built in cupboards on the way up those stairs. Bub had the largest room, and by then Momo slept in her own room. Bubba was an oil painter - he took it up after he retired. His paints and painting in various stages took over one bedroom. The fourth bedroom was where we stayed when we overnighted with our grandparents - it was a good jumping bed too!
In the middle of all those bedrooms was the door that led to the attic (it looks like the door is gone now), up creaky wooden stairs. Back then it contained various treasures including my aunties prom dresses. Along the steps there was a built in bookshelf where I found many beloved books - Happy Hollisters, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew and more left behind by Dad and his sisters. I still have a few of those books.
I'm glad to see that today the home still looks loved - much more so than our old house at 202 Crombie in Atlantic. The people that own that house don't even paint the exterior. I'm glad my Aunt Jeanie's friend let us know that the house is for sale - so we could take a walk down memory lane, right through our Dad's childhood home.
No comments:
Post a Comment