Roseland Cottage, Built 1846

Roseland Cottage

555 Route 169

Woodstock, Connecticut

https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/roseland-cottage/

Because this house was almost pink and quite pretty, I was anxious to see the summer cottage of Henry Chandler Bowen (1813-1896) and his wife, Lucy Maria Tappan.

In addition, I was anxious to see the garden and boxwood. Per the house's website, "According to Henry Bowen’s detailed orders the garden comprised 600 yards of boxwood hedge which surrounded twenty-one beds of more than thirty-five varieties of perennials and thousands of annuals. Roseland Cottage’s formal parterre has been an important feature of the house and landscape ever since."

The Gothic-style house that was built in 1846 was quite dark in some rooms. The staircase was the first thing we saw.

Seating area.

A double parlor above. There is a sliding door to separate the two rooms. The front portion is shown below.

Photo of the Bowen's 10th child, deceased. Took this picture because of the wallpaper and fireplace.

Modern-style stained glass was installed when the house was built.

The wall-covering was quite unusual to me, called Lincrusta-Walton. Below, our guide is holding a sample of what the "paper" originally looked like compared to the silver tone now.

Dining Room with fancy fireplace.

An unusual item in the bathroom...an old safe! (If I hadn't asked what it was, it wouldn't have been shown.)

A few bedrooms.

The bowling alley is the oldest surviving indoor one in the United States. It was built when the house was, 1846.

From Wikipedia, I copied, "Starting in 1870, Bowen hosted large Fourth of July celebrations at Roseland Cottage. Four United States Presidents visited Bowen's summer home as his guests and speakers for these celebrations: Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley. Other prominent visitors included Henry Ward Beecher, Julia Ward Howe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and John C. Fremont."

A tree-shaped rhododendron tree. Many years ago, the gardeners trimmed and trained this bush to grow this way.

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My reason is that from November 2017 to May 2018, I received no comments, but upon investigating I found that I had indeed received 167 legitimate ones and 1,000 were in the spam folder. Google Blogger had made some changes that I was unaware of. Please be aware that I do not know who reads my blog, I may know who subscribes, but that is all.

Wilson Castle in Vermont -- The Minute I Heard About This Place...

Wilson Castle

Physical Address: 2708 West Street, Proctor, Vermont

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 290, Center Rutland, Vermont, 05736

The minute I heard about this place, I knew I wanted to visit. Thanks to a magazine write-up about it, I was alerted to this place. Then I signed on to Wilson Castle's Facebook page, which provides information. In June, we made a visit, and I was happy to cross this off my "Bucket List." As I entered the property, I was amazed at the size. The 32 room castle sits on 115 acres in a beautiful area, north of Rutland, Vermont.

http://www.wilsoncastle.com/history/ From this site you learn that the castle's construction was begun in 1885 by Dr. and Mrs. Johnson, and lasted over seven years. After their death, the castle was bought and sold numerous times. It wasn't until 1939 that Colonel Herbert Wilson purchased it as a summer home. He opened it in 1962 for tours.

Grand staircase, and three stained glass panels, shown above and below.

From Wilson Castle's Facebook page, July 2018, "This massive stained glass window along with the two on each side were purchased from a deconstructed church in France and are said to be over 500 years old. They are original to the Wilson Castle and the building was designed to incorporate them. Colonel Wilson had them strengthened in the 1970s by adding the steel bars running horizontally to prevent the window from sagging from its own weight."

Front hallway, stairs to the left.

This is the room where we sat, below a Tiffany chandelier, and watched an informative DVD about the history of Wilson Castle. Just look at the ceiling.

The four photos below are of the formal living room. There are antiques from around the world, including a Louis XVI crown jewel case.

The Music Room (above and below). While looking at the photos on the piano, I mentioned I was into genealogy. I was told who these people were, by the granddaughter.

Dining Room, with Tiffany chandelier. 

Our tour guide was the granddaughter of Colonel Herbert Wilson who bought this castle. She told us that this is the place setting they used for holiday meals that were served in the dining room, shown above.

Pantry, looking into the Dining Room.

The Pink Room. Usually used for brides prior to their marriage in the castle.

Various seating areas, and bedrooms, all have great views. I read there are 84 stained glass windows!

I love fireplaces, here are three of the 13 in the house.

Veranda

Something this old always needs some touch-up.

I learned there is a ballroom on the 3rd floor, now closed to visitors, but when repair work is completed, it will be open. I can't wait to make a return visit.

All statistics were confirmed by Wilson Castle on July 8, 2018. I had been given a few from my tour guide, but I didn't have the number of rooms or number of fireplaces. Searching the web showed that some sites had different figures!

As we left the property and got on the main road, we saw this view of the castle. Fortunately, a day later the above photo appeared on Wilson Castle's Facebook page, June 22, 2018 page! I called Wilson's Castle and got permission to use this on my blog.

Their Facebook page is loaded with information.