Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Mountaintop Home

These photos were taken just after Christmas last year at Burritt on the Mountain in Huntsville, AL. We went there with our daughter Jamie: each time we visit, we make one day for "an adventure" and try to go see something new.

This place is awesome. There's a mansion up there but pppffffffft.....who cares about that: this is the place to see! (I'll show you the mansion another time...okay?)

It's a lovely village preserve set up at the very top of a mountain that is just wonderful to explore. If you're in the area, I've heard it's most beautiful at Christmas time decorated for the holidays.

Above is the view to the yard and the shed and the neighboring cabin from the wood box on the back porch of the home that is pictured below. The whole village smells wonderful...the wood box is full because they only use wood to heat the homes. The barns are wonderful too. (This is where the photos of the sheep came from a few days back.
)

A welcome from the kitty and the tour director or "lady of the house" ...while we were visiting, I found out she's originally from Michigan, not far from where I live!



I just love those moss covered fence posts...
(Click any photo to enlarge)


Interior shots, a woodbox with water carrying vessels, the old wood stove, a clock shelf holds a beautiful old clock and a coffee grinder. Makes one appreciate modern conveniences. How strong pioneer women had to be to lift and lug those water jugs!


I just loved the old, worn farm table and chairs, and the worn floorboards. There was no gloss to the hard-working farmhouse floor!



I spy a McGuffey reader, the same one I used when I taught my son to read. Some of those old books are the best!




Here you can see the original log home walls that are now whitewashed. The cabin was added onto and made into a farmhouse...but nothing was wasted. The old walls were used and I love how they look.

My grandpa used to have a shop full of furniture like this that he restored and sold. This reminds me of him. If the dresser was missing a handle or the decorative molding around the keyhole, or the mirror frame broken or missing a piece, he'd make a new one and mix stain to make it match the piece and you could never tell it was new. This is a gorgeous piece and I'm sure was a source of pride for a farm wife.


The window above the table was part of the original cabin, and left in when the farmhouse was made. If these walls could only talk....

I was noticing the caned seat on one of the chairs here. Have you ever caned the seat of a chair? I did once, and let me tell you, it's worth EVERY CENT someone might charge for doing it for you. WHAT a LOT of work! I love these old pressed-back chairs.





I thought the back porch was a picture. The light was gorgeous on this day. I love the sage green with the raw wood. It's a soothing combination.

I am so glad people take the time to preserve history, there is nothing more interesting to me or my family. I hope you liked your little tour of a mountaintop village that sits up at the end of a pleasant winding road and rests in the fog...

6 comments:

Sue said...

Gorgeous pictures! And I'm with you-I'd rather see the simple houses over a mansion ANY day!!
:D

savvycityfarmer said...

my ♥ just stopped ....the line about the fog put me over the edge (of that mountain)

Michelle, All Home and Love said...

That last picture looks like a postcard, so beautiful. I love looking at the simplicity of how people used to live. They had what they needed instead of the excess we have today. It's a great reminder of all we have and to appreciate it a bit more.

Thank you so much for your comment on my fire post. I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
~Michelle

Donna said...

Thank you for the lovely tour!

mary your sis said...

Beautiful in all it's simplicity. if congress and the pres pass cRap and trade, there will be no more wood burning to heat with. we won't see scenes like the wood pile any longer, and kids won't grow up learning to cut wood for family fuel. one more work ethic will be gone. sad. let's all work to ensure cRap and trade dies a quick death!

Farmgirl Cyn said...

What I like best is there's no TV and no phones!!! As much as I love those things, I believe i could live without them!