Beautiful Houses - Page 8

ilaughead · 08-05-2007

Please tell me that the dining room is actually an optical illusion! There must be over 40 seats!

...That's is so my kind of house.

seanutbutter · 08-05-2007

I love unique, out-of-the-ordinary homes, so I decided I'd go on a frenzied image search and show you all my idea of a "beautiful house."

flickr.com

adorefaith · 09-05-2007

went to see this place today.....
it was wonderful....i think the owner is an interior designer....

domain

jakeee · 09-05-2007

omg seanut!! ^^ that third house you posted is crazy!!! love it haha

seanutbutter · 09-05-2007

^I know! I don't think I'd feel safe sleeping there.

renata75 · 09-05-2007

^ I'm wondering does it even has a toilet or just a hole and everything goes down to the water

SomethingElse · 09-05-2007

^

Sad but true, once upon a time, everything was thrown out the window!

I've only heard about this place but it must be amazing - The Winchester Mystery House. http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

History

Sarah Lockwood Pardee married William Winchester of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1862. Their only child, a six-month-old daughter died in 1866, and William died of tuberculosis a few years later. The distraught woman visited a Boston psychic who told her the deaths were revenge from the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles, and that Sarah could escape the spirits' wrath by moving west and building a house that would never be finished.

Winchester took her $20 million cash inheritance and $1,000 a day income and moved west to California in 1884. She bought an unfinished eight-room farmhouse near San Jose that is now known as the Winchester Mystery House.

She soon started building on the house maniacally, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and she never stopped. For the next 38 years, the house grew like kudzu along a Virginia highway, swallowing up everything around it, including the barn and water tower.

Opinions vary about why Sarah kept building the Winchester House. While some say she thought it would prevent her death, others reckon that she was just a crazy rich woman with too much money and a poor sense of building design. Every night, Sarah is rumored to have retreated to her seance room to consult the spirits, who gave her building instructions. Neither Sarah nor her spirits were good architects, and the Winchester House grew without plan or blueprint.

By April, 1906, the Winchester House rose seven stories high. A massive earthquake struck, setting off fires that destroyed much of San Francisco. In San Jose, Sarah Winchester was imprisoned in her bedroom. When freed, she announced that the earthquake was a message from the spirits that she was spending too much time in the front rooms. She boarded up 30 of them, blocking access to her new $3,000 front doors, and never used them again.

Sarah spent over $5 million building and rebuilding the bizarre Winchester House, but it didn't ensure her immortality. She died in her sleep on September 5, 1922. Construction stopped abruptly. Some say carpenters stopped without hammering in the nail they were working on. By then, Winchester had created a sprawling structure covering 6 acres with 160 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 6 kitchens, 40 staircases, 47 fireplaces, 2,000 doors and 10,000 windows.

A small clue to Sarah's thoughts was found in the contents of her safe after she died. Servants opened it, no doubt thinking it might contain items of great value, but all they found were locks of her husband's and infant daughter's hair, along with copies of their obituaries.

Even if Sarah really believed that the building would help her live forever, she had a contingency plan: a will written in 13 parts and signed 13 times. She provided for some of her servants, left her furniture to her niece and said nothing about the building she had spent so much of her energy on. The niece sold most of the furniture, which was carried away by the truckload: eight truckloads a day for six and a half weeks. The Winchester House was sold and turned into the tourist attraction it is today.

On a saner note, Sarah donated almost $2 million to the Winchester Fund for treatment of tuberculosis at New Haven Hospital, which she founded after her husband's death.

Sarah was also sometimes a practical and inventive woman, and there are many unusual innovations in the Winchester House, including a shower specially designed so the diminutive Sarah could wash without getting her hair wet, an elaborate servant call system, a conservatory room designed to save water, and a patented laundry room sink with built-in scrub-board and soap holders.

Big image link: http://edp.org/Travel/California/Tou...erExterior.jpg

A staircase that leads nowhere...

Wall detail

Conservatory

Hallway

Organ

Daguerreotype

Google it further. The images are incredible, straight across the board.

content.answers.com . terragalleria.com . gocalifornia.about.com . math.utoronto.ca . snoobug.com . insolitology.com . members.tripod.com . images.43things.com

ilaughead · 09-05-2007

Whoa! That house is gargantuan! And it sounds so creepy!

jakeee · 10-05-2007

omg...how do u people find these crazy houses!??!

marywalsh · 10-05-2007

Wow- this thread is so inspiring...i love looking at crazy houses.

Nyni · 11-05-2007

Windsor Castle have an amayzing work but to heavy for me i like it simple and cousy...and simple and cousy doesn't mean without glamour!!!

ilaughead · 13-05-2007

^I agree. I like the idea of living at Versailles, but I think I'd die of clutter and ornamentation if I actually had to spend lots of time there.

Nyni · 16-05-2007

Versailles it's amazing but extrimely heavy... i'll get depress if i must live there, i love the style and special the inspiration, the story it's fantastic and the resolt to, but in sec. XVIII, now it's beutifully heavy, Louis XIV was a excentric king but he really was THE KING!!!

shannyD · 18-05-2007

For the person who likes the White House, you should go to http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/ ... it allows you to look in every room

marqueemoon · 26-05-2007

I am completely smitten with the Spanish house posted on the last page, especially the porch. How I love beautiful houses.

FAQ	Calendar	Search	Today's Posts	Mark Forums Read	Rules	Links	Mobile	How to Join

08-05-2007	107
seanutbutter the crying of humanity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: West Coast U.S.A. Gender: femme Posts: 25,337	I love unique, out-of-the-ordinary homes, so I decided I'd go on a frenzied image search and show you all my idea of a "beautiful house." flickr.com __________________ My Photography

09-05-2007	108
adorefaith i'm almost ready.. Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: rocky mountains Gender: femme Posts: 14,438	went to see this place today..... it was wonderful....i think the owner is an interior designer.... domain __________________ That's who you wanna go in the woods with, right? Somebody who finishes your sentences for you

09-05-2007	110
seanutbutter the crying of humanity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: West Coast U.S.A. Gender: femme Posts: 25,337	^I know! I don't think I'd feel safe sleeping there. __________________ My Photography

09-05-2007	112
SomethingElse Press escape to continue. Join Date: Mar 2007 Gender: femme Posts: 5,517	^ Sad but true, once upon a time, everything was thrown out the window! I've only heard about this place but it must be amazing - The Winchester Mystery House. http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/ History Sarah Lockwood Pardee married William Winchester of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1862. Their only child, a six-month-old daughter died in 1866, and William died of tuberculosis a few years later. The distraught woman visited a Boston psychic who told her the deaths were revenge from the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles, and that Sarah could escape the spirits' wrath by moving west and building a house that would never be finished. Winchester took her $20 million cash inheritance and $1,000 a day income and moved west to California in 1884. She bought an unfinished eight-room farmhouse near San Jose that is now known as the Winchester Mystery House. She soon started building on the house maniacally, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and she never stopped. For the next 38 years, the house grew like kudzu along a Virginia highway, swallowing up everything around it, including the barn and water tower. Opinions vary about why Sarah kept building the Winchester House. While some say she thought it would prevent her death, others reckon that she was just a crazy rich woman with too much money and a poor sense of building design. Every night, Sarah is rumored to have retreated to her seance room to consult the spirits, who gave her building instructions. Neither Sarah nor her spirits were good architects, and the Winchester House grew without plan or blueprint. By April, 1906, the Winchester House rose seven stories high. A massive earthquake struck, setting off fires that destroyed much of San Francisco. In San Jose, Sarah Winchester was imprisoned in her bedroom. When freed, she announced that the earthquake was a message from the spirits that she was spending too much time in the front rooms. She boarded up 30 of them, blocking access to her new $3,000 front doors, and never used them again. Sarah spent over $5 million building and rebuilding the bizarre Winchester House, but it didn't ensure her immortality. She died in her sleep on September 5, 1922. Construction stopped abruptly. Some say carpenters stopped without hammering in the nail they were working on. By then, Winchester had created a sprawling structure covering 6 acres with 160 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 6 kitchens, 40 staircases, 47 fireplaces, 2,000 doors and 10,000 windows. A small clue to Sarah's thoughts was found in the contents of her safe after she died. Servants opened it, no doubt thinking it might contain items of great value, but all they found were locks of her husband's and infant daughter's hair, along with copies of their obituaries. Even if Sarah really believed that the building would help her live forever, she had a contingency plan: a will written in 13 parts and signed 13 times. She provided for some of her servants, left her furniture to her niece and said nothing about the building she had spent so much of her energy on. The niece sold most of the furniture, which was carried away by the truckload: eight truckloads a day for six and a half weeks. The Winchester House was sold and turned into the tourist attraction it is today. On a saner note, Sarah donated almost $2 million to the Winchester Fund for treatment of tuberculosis at New Haven Hospital, which she founded after her husband's death. Sarah was also sometimes a practical and inventive woman, and there are many unusual innovations in the Winchester House, including a shower specially designed so the diminutive Sarah could wash without getting her hair wet, an elaborate servant call system, a conservatory room designed to save water, and a patented laundry room sink with built-in scrub-board and soap holders. Big image link: http://edp.org/Travel/California/Tou...erExterior.jpg A staircase that leads nowhere... Wall detail Conservatory Hallway Organ Daguerreotype Google it further. The images are incredible, straight across the board. content.answers.com . terragalleria.com . gocalifornia.about.com . math.utoronto.ca . snoobug.com . insolitology.com . members.tripod.com . images.43things.com __________________ “Above all, remember that the most important thing you can take anywhere is not a Gucci bag or French-cut jeans; it's an open mind” Gail Rubin Bereny

08-05-2007	106
ilaughead V.I.P. Join Date: Jan 2006 Gender: homme Posts: 4,790	Please tell me that the dining room is actually an optical illusion! There must be over 40 seats! ...That's is so my kind of house.

09-05-2007	109
jakeee fashion elite Join Date: May 2006 Gender: femme Posts: 2,639	omg seanut!! ^^ that third house you posted is crazy!!! love it haha

09-05-2007	111
renata75 fashion insider Join Date: Feb 2006 Gender: femme Posts: 2,292	^ I'm wondering does it even has a toilet or just a hole and everything goes down to the water

09-05-2007	113
ilaughead V.I.P. Join Date: Jan 2006 Gender: homme Posts: 4,790	Whoa! That house is gargantuan! And it sounds so creepy!

10-05-2007	114
jakeee fashion elite Join Date: May 2006 Gender: femme Posts: 2,639	omg...how do u people find these crazy houses!??!

10-05-2007	115
marywalsh backstage pass Join Date: Apr 2006 Gender: femme Posts: 632	Wow- this thread is so inspiring...i love looking at crazy houses.

11-05-2007	116
Nyni backstage pass Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Gender: femme Posts: 549	Windsor Castle have an amayzing work but to heavy for me i like it simple and cousy...and simple and cousy doesn't mean without glamour!!! __________________ "... bad taste is wanting to be too fashionable" www.pinkyreport.com

13-05-2007	117
ilaughead V.I.P. Join Date: Jan 2006 Gender: homme Posts: 4,790	^I agree. I like the idea of living at Versailles, but I think I'd die of clutter and ornamentation if I actually had to spend lots of time there.

16-05-2007	118
Nyni backstage pass Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Gender: femme Posts: 549	Versailles it's amazing but extrimely heavy... i'll get depress if i must live there, i love the style and special the inspiration, the story it's fantastic and the resolt to, but in sec. XVIII, now it's beutifully heavy, Louis XIV was a excentric king but he really was THE KING!!! __________________ "... bad taste is wanting to be too fashionable" www.pinkyreport.com

18-05-2007	119
shannyD windowshopping Join Date: Jan 2006 Gender: femme Posts: 36	For the person who likes the White House, you should go to http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/ ... it allows you to look in every room

26-05-2007	120
marqueemoon tfs star Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,881	I am completely smitten with the Spanish house posted on the last page, especially the porch. How I love beautiful houses.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode