Sunday, July 20, 2014

PLUMMER HOUSE OUTDOOR TOUR

It has been awhile since I've shared Plummer House photos and happenings. It is such a beautiful day that I thought I'd go out and take some photos. If you don't know about the Plummer House, go to my "Plummer House" page for more information. Warning: lots of photos ahead...And yup, we live here...well, in the "west wing" of the house to be more accurate.

                                   THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE...THREE BLOCKS LONG!


This stone wall formerly housed the greenhouse.

Path leading to the former greenhouse. Planning on rebuilding this to its former glory.
                                         


                                                SOME FLOWERS ON THE GROUNDS
Across from our driveway







                                         PORTIONS OF THE BACK OF THE HOUSE
The three windows on the top right are in our living room

Our living quarters extend from the end of the house to the left to the third window dormer above.

The view as we look out our living room windows...lots of birdies show up to bathe


                  MANY STONE HANDMADE STAIRCASES AND PATHWAYS ON THE GROUNDS

This one is made from wood...


Our daughter came down these stairs on her wedding day as do many others. This is a popular wedding destination.



Backdoor leads to the lowest level of the five story home. This part is underground in the front of the house.

                                           
                                          

                                          
                                             AND SOME INTERESTING DETAILS...
Door under the greenhouse... once housed the swimming pool's dressing room. But I love the neat architecture...

Three story repunzel-like tower. Formerly the family's water tower. Our daughter and her husband had a romantic outdoor wedding dinner here with caterers cooking beef and chicken kabobs huge grills.
Stairway next to the tower...leading to a path through the woods

Stone archway beside our garage... a favorite place for photographers



Looking towards the house from the tower...

A lot of unique antique fixtures but the city required the ugly new lightbulbs!

The old drive way that winds through the woods is now not in use. Our kids, grandkids, and neighborhood kids enjoy sledding down this long trail in winter. The surrounding woods bring out many deer, fox, turkey, and other interesting wildlife that we find walking the grounds often.

One of two ponds with fountains on the property. Every year our grandson, Charlie, finds tadpoles in the water and shortly thereafter, tiny little frogs hopping about. A few make it to adulthood and find their way to the top of the hill where Charlie is thrilled with the big Daddy frogs jumping around. Our daughter had her wedding ceremony in front of one of the ponds several years ago. And our son as well a few years before that. Many family memories made here.

We feel immensely blessed being able to live here. We have been here 24 years now as Resident Directors. There are 11 acres of property here but we get to just enjoy it without all the work as there is a grounds crew that takes care of everything, including plowing us out in winter.  We also have a cleaning staff and a maintenance man. We DO have to oversee what goes on with everything, however.
We have made many family memories here! But it DOES keep us busy as it is rented over 200 days a year, we have Open House on Wednesdays during the summer, and we also give group tours. We help "oversee" these events but oftentimes give the Group Tours ourselves. And now we are working with consultants to get the house back to its 1920's heydays, which is a very fun project! I also started a little gift shop during Open House days where Plummer House related treasures are sold.

Living here has increased our interest in our community's history. Les has now joined a group of like-minded people who meet and share local historical new tidbits they've learned about. They call the group,The  Fossils. Or is it that THEY are the fossils. I'm not sure. Two of the men have written books of local historical interest and one gives walking tours of historical areas in the city. We have both learned much about history in general and have enjoyed our many years of living here. We are richly blessed!


2 comments:

  1. Hi Sandy,
    Lovely photos. I remember sledding down that hill as a kid, too!! My grandfather was a landscaper/gardener at the Plummer House many, many years ago. Hope to make it to your sale again. Take care~

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    1. I didn't know about your Grandfather. Interesting!

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