I was sifting through some old photos that I took and thought that I should put up a few of this interesting old mansion.  I previously posted the water tower photos but until now neglected the main house.  Here’s another great set of detail photos of the house.  There must be a small fortune’s worth of copper in the rear roof and chimney top.

The Saal, the Meetinghouse

After a recent trip to photograph 120,000 Snow Geese during a migration stop at Middle Creek in Pennsylvania, I took a quick tour of the historic religious community, the Ephrata Cloister.  Started in 1732 by German Settlers, it is one of the earliest religious communities in America.  The buildings have been beautifully restored and maintained and it is an enjoyable visit if you find yourself in the area.  The museum is also worth perusing as the textiles and artifacts are a joy to see.  I snapped a few photos to share here on OHT.

As part of a 9 mile walk that my joints endured this past weekend I had a chance to appreciate the architecture of the “Please Touch Museum” in Philadelphia.  This structure has recently undergone an $81 million renovation and the results are stunning.

This building was part of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition and was originally known as the “Art Gallery” at the time.  More of the history from the Fairmount Park website:

Fairmount Park Chief Engineer Hermann Schwarzmann created this national significant Centennial Art Gallery as one of America’s first examples of Beaux-Arts architecture. Memorial Hall’s price tag was $1.5 million, quite a sum at that time. Consider though that Memorial Hall was built without wood and was fireproofed. The dedication of this fine building was made by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant at the Centennial. Memorial Hall served as the city’s art museum until the Philadelphia Museum of Art opened in 1928.

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A few years ago I spent Christmas in Key West (which I highly recommend by the way) and toured Ernest Hemingway’s house museum.  He moved there in 1931 and his wife collected the furnishings and chandeliers that are still present today.

You’ll see a few of the polydactyl cats (they have extra toes) in the photos from the many that reside there.  They are descendants of Hemingway own personal cats.

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Cape May is a beautiful place, especially for its old houses! There have been many renovations, to bring houses up to date with modern comfort and home security standards, and they are truly gorgeous places to stay. High ceilings and intricate detailing, not to mention the historic value, adds to their charm. Just looking at the house in the image above, you get an idea of how picturesque they are.

Staying in one of the Bed & Breakfasts is a real treat. Unlike in Europe, where many countries still have very old houses, it isn’t every where in the U.S that we can experienced staying in a house like this. It makes for a lovely weekend getaway or a little holiday with your family. Book in advance to make sure there are still rooms free– these houses sometimes only have four or five rooms on offer.

My wife and I spent last weekend in Cape May, NJ;  ground zero for Victorian historic homes.  We stayed at the Queen Victoria on Ocean St. and it was a very enjoyable stay.  The owners and staff are very cordial and work very hard to make sure you understand the basics of the Inn and are quickly able to get to the ralaxing part.

We spent a good bit of time just walking the streets to admire the homes.  The size and scale of these old buildings makes you realize why today so many of them get rented out or turned into Bed & Breakfasts – they’re huge and could house a family of 15 if you were so inclined.

The Cape May oceanfront homes are seeing a flurry of rebuilding and restoration as you will see some of that in some of the photos.  Click on the image above for a meager sampling of the hundreds of Victorians in Cape Mayor for the full-screen experience, see the slideshow, here.

St. Michaels, Maryland is one of my favorite places to be in the U.S. and is a great place for the appreciation of old homes. Imagine a quaint historic town with cute little shops and big-city caliber restaurants and you’ve got a good feel for the “downtown”. Drive away from the town area, down winding roads and past lush greenery, and you’ll find hundreds of miles of waterfront property and some of the most picturesque scenery anywhere. … and your historic home of your dreams can be right there at the water’s edge. … and you can catch Maryland’s treasured blue crab right in your back yard. I can’t take it. It’s just too good to be true.  That’s why I see more smiles on peoples faces than anywhere else I visit on the East Coast.

St. Michaels is located in what I believe to be the most beautiful county in all of Maryland (but I’m biased), Talbot County. You can get a good overview of the region by seeing this map.

The photo above is of the Tarr House, purportedly one of the oldest houses remaining in St. Michaels from that era.

Each year St. Michaels holds a Christmas home tour and if you’re in the area in December, you should check to see if it coincides with the timing of Christmas in St. Michaels when the home tours run.  Of course, any time of year is worth a trip to St. Michaels and during the warmer months it is at it’s peak.

The photo below will take you to our first photo tour from St. Michaels and only represents a small sampling of what is there.

The chief carpenter on the home at the time of construction was said to have described Scheidt as a stickler for details who inspected every piece of wood that went into the house.

What follows is an architectural review provided to me by Donald J. Weiss, Esq., who is offering the home for sale for $1.3 million, which for the area and property is very reasonable.  I thank Donald for the opportunity to tour and photograph Stonebridge.  The video tour of the home will be available in the coming weeks, so please check back.  Click on the photo above for the tour when you are ready.

Stonebridge is an imposing 5 bay, 2 1/2, story Georgian Revival house of gray coursed cut stone. There is matching stonework in the wall surrounding the house, in the stepped gateposts at Webb Road and Route 1 entrances and the bridge crossing the stream. Stone is worked in arch radiating voussoirs with keystones over all windows, even basement windows. The three exterior chimneys on gable ends and interior chimney on “L” are of the same stone.

Front (south facing) facade has a high style entranceway: a 2 story, 1 bay portico with dental-work trim, fluted Ionic columns, and a balustrade flanked by 2-story Ionic columns. Formal centered doorway has leaded glass Sidelights and a Palladian window in story above.

The 2-story portico is repeated, this time 2-bay, on West side of house. Room below is enclosed with small paned windows. 1 story flat roofed sun porch with modillioned cornice is on West side of house. Three dormer windows break the roofline on South facade. Central one has paired windows with dental-work in pediment and modillioned cornice. Flanking hipped dormers repeat the cornice detail.

Two dormers on North facade: 1 hipped, 1 pediment with wide window and sidelights. 1 story, 1 bay entrance on North facade has one Ionic column on Northeast corner, again, modillioned cornice. Leaded glass stairwell window above has 2-light half-elliptical transom and 2-light sidelights. “L” wing, projecting to North, has a pedimented gable with dental-work and half rounded window. Modillioned cornice and a decorative frieze wrap house. Proportion of rooms and interior details are very impressive.

A 2 1/2 story carriage house (garage/apartment) North of driveway carries out the high style elements. The south facing carriage house has an apartment over the two-car size garage (driveway level) and two on the lower level (entrance from North). To the left of the South facade is an old stone stairwell leading to the back lower level garage and a second building (60 x40).

Click on the photo for the complete photo tour comprising 99 images across 4 pages.  For the best viewing, I recommend selecting the slideshow link near the top.

Detailed location information at Panoramio