what was it?

[crystalvision (WavyGlass)]

Question of the day.....lol...what was it? Since I can not seem to figure out how to post pics on this page ( I've tried through 2 cups of coffee) I did make a facebook page Sunnyside House. We do know it was 1,000 acres at the start. We know it was built in 1851 by Robert Gillam. It is on the National Historic Register and it has had several owners. What I am trying to get to the bottom of ( I hope) is the original owners decor? I mean was it decorated in more lavish style or simple farmer style. We believe they had slaves although can not find it on the register of slave owners? The house's summer kitchen was in the back yard of course (gone now) but one old "house" that was a servants quarters is still there and has been re-modeled.

The ceilings don plaster center medallion's, and a few room are coffered ceilings. I can sort of see it as a Tara type decor (or its my wishful thinking), but a lot of large farms in the South were not as wealthy as most portrayed. It is almost 5,000 sq ft, but not originally since it had no kitchen ...lol..or we dont know what it's winter kitchen looked like? Bangs head on table.

[Don M]

I imagine that with 1000 acres prior to the Civil war it had slaves & the winter kitchen summer kitchen were one in the same. I also imagine that as fancy as the exterior is the interior & furnishing were likely more high style rather than farmer simple. Our 1830s stone farmhouse which is much more simple still had some fairly elegant rooms.

[1850Farmer]

Welcome to Wavy Glass and congratulations on your new home! It’s a treasure & appears to be in great condition, inside & out.
Our home has large interior trims (7” wide door & window casings, head trims, big crown etc.), big windows with large panes of wavy glass and like yours, some fancy details for a farm house. The original owner of ours was a business owner from Washington DC that purchased the 152 acres of land in 1830, retired & built the house somewhere around 1845. It’s obvious that they spent some additional money to “fancy up” a simple farmer.
I agree with Don's thinking, based on your Facebook photos, that your house was decorated in a more lavish style than the average farm house.
You have a beautiful home! Good luck on your future projects, keep working on the photos and give us updates often.

[SouthernLady]

I'd say you'd have a middle to upper-end-middle class family with the land, slaves, and size of the place--especially the plaster medallions. Isn't it fun trying to recreate the past?

When I began research on my Victorian (which I bought being told it was built 1900), I traced the deeds back as far as I possibly could, then Googled the names of the owners. I discovered a link of relations and that the house had actually been passed down through the women of the family (more of an unusual thing, especially in our area). Once I established through Googling that all of the women were related, I did obituary searches and discovered the last of the family to own the house was the great-granddaughter of the builder. She is still alive, and I called her. She was so excited to learn I had bought the place and planned a slow restoration of the property! She gave me many details of the house from when she was a little girl visiting her great-aunt, including details of how many lived in the house, and told me the house was built when her great-grandfather wanted to get married. He built the house and completed it shortly before their wedding, which I discovered on Ancestry.com was in 1884. So my house is older than actually thought, according to family history.

Because of my research, I discovered the family was in that middle to upper-middle class when I had thought otherwise. I have decorated my house according to little clues I have found from materials in the home, as well as things I have learned about the family and their connections. (Two of the sons became doctors an studied in Charlotte, NC, and the only daughter went to nursing school.)

Try searching some on previous owners of the house. That may help you. Someone may have photographs from the later 1800s that could help you.

Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[crystalvision (WavyGlass)]

I'd say you'd have a middle to upper-end-middle class family with the land, slaves, and size of the place--especially the plaster medallions. Isn't it fun trying to recreate the past?

When I began research on my Victorian (which I bought being told it was built 1900), I traced the deeds back as far as I possibly could, then Googled the names of the owners. I discovered a link of relations and that the house had actually been passed down through the women of the family (more of an unusual thing, especially in our area). Once I established through Googling that all of the women were related, I did obituary searches and discovered the last of the family to own the house was the great-granddaughter of the builder. She is still alive, and I called her. She was so excited to learn I had bought the place and planned a slow restoration of the property! She gave me many details of the house from when she was a little girl visiting her great-aunt, including details of how many lived in the house, and told me the house was built when her great-grandfather wanted to get married. He built the house and completed it shortly before their wedding, which I discovered on Ancestry.com was in 1884. So my house is older than actually thought, according to family history.

Because of my research, I discovered the family was in that middle to upper-middle class when I had thought otherwise. I have decorated my house according to little clues I have found from materials in the home, as well as things I have learned about the family and their connections. (Two of the sons became doctors an studied in Charlotte, NC, and the only daughter went to nursing school.)

Try searching some on previous owners of the house. That may help you. Someone may have photographs from the later 1800s that could help you.

Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Your home is stunning! I hope our turns out as well You have a work of art there...love love love seeing all the history!!!!

[crystalvision (WavyGlass)]

Welcome to Wavy Glass and congratulations on your new home! It’s a treasure & appears to be in great condition, inside & out.
Our home has large interior trims (7” wide door & window casings, head trims, big crown etc.), big windows with large panes of wavy glass and like yours, some fancy details for a farm house. The original owner of ours was a business owner from Washington DC that purchased the 152 acres of land in 1830, retired & built the house somewhere around 1845. It’s obvious that they spent some additional money to “fancy up” a simple farmer.
I agree with Don's thinking, based on your Facebook photos, that your house was decorated in a more lavish style than the average farm house.
You have a beautiful home! Good luck on your future projects, keep working on the photos and give us updates often.

Oh my...your home looks like a Currier and Ives painting! That needs to be a postcard!!!

[crystalvision (WavyGlass)]

I imagine that with 1000 acres prior to the Civil war it had slaves & the winter kitchen summer kitchen were one in the same. I also imagine that as fancy as the exterior is the interior & furnishing were likely more high style rather than farmer simple. Our 1830s stone farmhouse which is much more simple still had some fairly elegant rooms.

Ok no fair you have animation!!! Your Christmas decor makes the house look like you want to come in hot chocolate!

[phil]

Ok no fair you have animation!!! Your Christmas decor makes the house look like you want to come in hot chocolate!

dumps his hot chocolate and runs away,, never seeing the picture of the house but feeling just a bit scared ..:}