Thursday, July 19, 2012

Broadstone Tour: Part Four

Well, our Wednesday's Wanderings wandered over to Thursday this week.  This is the final bit of my Broadstone tour, and we find ourselves in the library.
 Having come from a family of avid readers, of course, my dream house would have a library with floor to ceiling bookcases.  I have been collecting favorite books since before my marriage, and with such a handy husband, you may not be surprised to know that the first piece of furniture he built for me after our marriage was a  bookcase.
Many years later, after buying our dream house in 1997, one of the first projects we did, after the 'have to' stuff, like furnaces, plumbing and repairing walls, was to build this library.
 It houses thousands of books, as well as my collection of brown transferware in aesthetic patterns from the 1880's, shown below above the large window in the room which allows soft northern light into the room. perfect for the preservation of spine color in books.

I commissioned this original portrait of my husband in clothing dating to the 1890's when my house was built soon after we purchased the home.  The fireplace was practically a gift from my sister Julie who sold it to me for a song.  The original house had just one fireplace as it was built with a passive 'furnace' system.  This is one of three mantels we have since added, it is a working gas fireplace, and makes it especially cosy to snuggle in with a good book when it is snowing outside ...

Book shelves, cover all of one wall and parts of two other walls.  This room is a sanctuary and one of my favorite places in the house.
Thanks for coming along on the final installment of the Broadstone Tours.  I had intended to show you the Room of Requirement as well, but it is still evolving.  I look forward to the time I may share it as well.

3 comments:

  1. What a cool library! Do you have one of those movable ladders as well, to get to those high-up shelves? How can people have a home without books!

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    1. We wanted one of those rail ladders with the wheels, but the room wasn't big enough. But we do have library steps.

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  2. Lovely to see stuff I loved so at home with you! Thanks for taking care of it! xox

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