old cars, old houses and hoosiers
i am now in south bend, indiana for work.
first, necessity is the mother of invention. my hotel does not have shower caps. anywhere. i had to make my own out of the ice bucket plastic bag. yes, i still use shower caps. that's my creative exercise for the week.
tonight i went to the studebaker museum!
after that, we went here for dinner...tippecanoe place, the home of clement studebaker...
how well do you know me? why did this house make me nutty?
about the home...
By the 1870's, the Studebaker brothers were quite rich and enjoyed living well. Clement Studebaker, then president of the company, had many friends who had also struck it rich in the early days of America - Andrew Carnegie, Cyrus McCormick, John Wannamaker, and J.P. Morgan, to name a few. In 1886, Clem decided to build a home suitable to his position in life.
Tippecanoe Place, with four main levels totaling 40 rooms and 20 fireplaces, is the embodiment of everything great wealth in the late 1800's could suggest. The 26,000 square-foot mansion was designed by Henry Cobb and built by local craftsmen. Work on Tippecanoe Place was completed in 1889 at a total cost of $250,000.
The massive walls are made of local granite fieldstone, and the many broad porches are paved with tile and supported by stone pillars. A flight of stone steps at the main entrance leads into the mahogany paneled vestibule. The decorative carvings on the oval doorknobs exemplify the great attention to detail throughout the entire house.
The mansion, however, was to be more than simply a monument to the architecture and craftsmanship of the period. It would serve as the setting for many lavish parties, weddings, and balls.
Guests would arrive by carriage and enter through the west doors. They would board the elevator - one of the first in the country - and be whisked upstairs to freshen up. The formally clad ladies and gentlemen would then descend the Grand Staircase into the Reception Area. Then, as today, Tippecanoe Place was known for its hospitality and as a gracious setting for fine dining.
The massive walls are made of local granite fieldstone, and the many broad porches are paved with tile and supported by stone pillars. A flight of stone steps at the main entrance leads into the mahogany paneled vestibule. The decorative carvings on the oval doorknobs exemplify the great attention to detail throughout the entire house.
The mansion, however, was to be more than simply a monument to the architecture and craftsmanship of the period. It would serve as the setting for many lavish parties, weddings, and balls.
Guests would arrive by carriage and enter through the west doors. They would board the elevator - one of the first in the country - and be whisked upstairs to freshen up. The formally clad ladies and gentlemen would then descend the Grand Staircase into the Reception Area. Then, as today, Tippecanoe Place was known for its hospitality and as a gracious setting for fine dining.
Labels: travel
posted by emily @ 10:23 PM
3 Comments:
Studebakers eh? That's all we used to drive back in my day. Of course we used to wear an onion on our belts, as that was the fashion back then.
there was no menu...we were just served...salad, bread. main course was a piece of salmon (i'd rather eat wood) and a piece of meat so red, it was still mooing. side of potato and broccoli. dessert was really tasty, but i don't remember what it was. i was thinking about what it would have been like to have had dinner there 100 years ago with much less light. also, the dining room we were in was actually the master bedroom back in the day. pretty cool.
My favorite scene in "The Muppet Movie" is when Fozzie Bear gets THE STUDEBAKER! :) Glad you are home this weekend...I was SO glad to see you. xoxoxoxoxxoo HUGS AND THANKS FOR THE AMAZING SWEATER!
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