No, not a house where you mount.
The house is named the Mount.
Why? According to Edith Wharton –
“On a slope over-looking the dark waters and densely wooded shore of Laurel Lake we built a spacious and dignified house, to which we gave the name of my great-grandfather’s place, the Mount…There for ten years I lived and gardened and wrote contentedly…”
It’s very hard to get a picture from the front, because it looks more like the back and there’s a large wall surrounding the courtyard.
We entered and poked around for a bit while waiting for the guided tour.
Basically, if you don’t take the tour all you’ll see is the kitchen.
Which was quite small considering the size of the house. Not that ole Edith ever did any cooking. It was said she only stepped foot in there 2 or 3 times.
The tour began upstairs, which was considered the first floor even though it’s the second.
Rich people, what do they know?
(Note- trying to get pictures with no one in them is a challenge on old house tours. Upstairs photo number 1? Fail.)
At the top of the stairs you entered a long grand hallway with imported Italian marble floors, which is where you stayed until the butler decided you were important enough to enter. (The chairs were for us to sit in while the docent gave a lecture. Edith would have made you stand.)
Edith designed the house herself with the help an architect friend, which was quite unusual in those days.
Sadly none of the furniture is original. Edith moved to Europe later in life and took everything with her. The pieces you see have been deemed proper to the period and donated by antique dealers or on loan from historical societies.
It was a large, but livable home.
With a small, informal circular dining table. Edith hated long halls that seated 40 people. She wanted to talk to her guests.
Please note the elaborate plaster work. It was amazing, and totally restored after the house was bought by the state.
From 1942 to 1976 the house was turned into a private school for girls.
Can you imagine bunking here as teenagers?
So ends the interior portion of the tour.
Up next?
The grounds and gardens.
You’re welcome.
River's world..... 
I’m guessing they copied the Brits in their use of ‘first floor’. In England, we have the basement, ground floor then first floor and so on, it’s the first floor above ground. It’s another of the things that really screws me over when I go back to visit
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That makes a sort of sense. But there was probably a basement, then the floor above it with the kitchen, which was above ground…. then what we would call the second floor, and another on top of that. All told 4 levels and they called the third the first. I’m still confused.
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I liked the kitchen the best . . . and her intimate round dining tables. 😀
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It was a lovely, livable home. Fancy yes, but not overwhelming. Her dogs were often underfoot at the dining table sneaking treats…
😊
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:::blink blink:::
It was the 1st floor because they counted from the top to the bottom.
Right?
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No. There was another floor on top of that… so it makes no sense whatsoever.
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was there a basement in the ground?
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I’m not sure. If there was we weren’t allowed to tour it….
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probably rusty farm implements down there that Fred would have tried to stick in his pocket to take home……..
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Good thing we missed it then. We have plenty of rust already…
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we know.
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Did she have servants? Maybe the servants were on the real first floor and the family rooms started upstairs; therefore, the real second floor would be the family’s first floor. Gives you a bit of a headache, doesn’t it?
I love the old stove in the kitchen. My “new” house (built in 1939) has a hole in the ceiling in a corner of the kitchen, and judging by some damage to the floor under that hole, I believe the house was originally built with one of those woodburning stoves and later converted to accommodate an electric stove. I kind of wish the old woodburner was still in place. It would look awesome now. (But then I wouldn’t have room for the refrigerator, so I guess I’m better off with the newer electric stove.)
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No, the servants quarters were on the third floor… so the headache still stands.
Those old stoves were awesome for keeping the kitchen warm in the winter…. but I can’t begin to imagine how oppressively hot it would have been in the summer cooking with that thing.
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your husband could do some great diy on that house . Did you ask for that girl to post in that picture?
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My husband shouldn’t be allowed to DYI any house. I am currently waiting for an electrician because after he finished the garage siding? We suddenly had no power out there. Coincidence? I think not.
And your question confuses me. If you’re wondering if I asked her to pose, no. If you’re wondering if I asked her permission to post her picture, no.
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Can he cut grass?
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He can. And does, very nicely… every week.
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Hey you said you do it!
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We both do… it’s a big ass lawn!
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Well that’s lovely! I love the height of the windows and the kitchen. I pretty much only need the space of the library and the kitchen, and like, indoor plumbing.
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Indoor plumbing is a definite deal breaker.
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