Tuesday, December 8, 2009

History Lesson


Sunday, Pat, Debbie and I ventured into the past and took a look at what a home decorated for Christmas in 1800's would have looked like. The wreaths in the background were made of vines and fresh fruit. The two behind us had lemons and apples and evergreens. This is the Belle Mont mansion that is south of Tuscumbia. We are standing on the second floor balcony and looking over the front lawn. Many houses in the south depict a an Ailee of Oak trees. This one was unique in that it had cedars.
Several had died so it was not uniform as it may once had been.

I'm always excited to find treasures in my own "backyard" when it comes to writing.
The house was built for Dr. Alexander Mitchell and was sold to Isaac Winston in 1833. It is thought that Mitchell was a neighbor of Thomas Jefferson and that this was the influence for this house.

I have visited this house for the last three years and was amazed at the restoration that is taking place. Each year adds a new improvement.

The house is now owned by the State of Alabama Historical Commission.

1 comment:

Patricia J. Weaver said...

And they served snacks with the tour, you forgot to mention that Sheila.
This manison had closets in every bedroom. This was very unusal in manisons in the south because they taxed them like another room and the window panes were taxed... this manison's owner had to pay high taxes because there were at least one windows floor to ceil in every room and most rooms had two or more. I love sharing history with my writing buddy, we so understand each other's joy of learning new things.