|
West Room & Sleeping Porch
According to original house plans, this bedroom was not a part of
the house, and it may have been added at the time of the laundry
room. The grandchildren remember the west side upstairs as the boys'
part and the east side the girls' room, so the arrangement was created
when children were very young. Added to this west room was the boys'
sleeping porch, a pleasant alternative for sleeping during hot summer
months, but Mrs. Gilbert had her own agenda since she felt it important
to provide plenty of open air sleeping for her children to ward
off the dread disease of tuberculosis which could only be treated
with fresh air and sunshine. The older boys, Curtiss and Elon, occupied
this room, and later Horace needed a place of his own, so the small
room on the north side was added along with the large storage closet.
A shaving sink was attached to the south wall under the cabinet
built in, but it was removed in later years. Horace's room closed
off the view from the hallway window seat, but his privacy seemed
more important. The sleeping porch took the place of the view out
of the south bedroom, but Mrs. Gilbert was strong in her convictions
as to the necessary priorities for the family. There was a gazebo
in the garden also for summer sleeping.
Mrs. Donelson had found that shaking out her paint brushes from
restoration work in the lower level on the neglected upstairs floors,
she could cover many imperfections by creating a "spatter"
pattern which was a popular linoleum pattern in the '50's. All have
been sanded off now in the bedrooms, and only a few places on the
linoleum in the hallway are the spatters still visible. Restoration
has included painting the sleeping porch, repair and papering the
boy's room, and finishing the floor. Left untouched on Horace's
floor is the carved initial "H".
|
